Vibe Coding is Not a Design Process
Speed without intention just builds broken things faster. Bring design into the room before the first prompt.
Working and usable are different
Vibe coding can build you an app. But can it build a usable one?
We are at a genuinely exciting moment in product development. Over the past year I have been playing with tools like ChatGPT Codex, Claude Code, Bolt, Lovable, Replit and others. You can spin up a working app prototype in a single evening. But "working" and "usable" are two completely different things, and right now, a lot of teams are confusing the two.
The Gap Nobody Talks About
When you vibe code your way to an MVP, the AI is optimizing for functionality. It generates screens, stacks features, and connects the logic. What it doesn't do is ask: does a real person know what to do on the very first click?
That's a design problem. And I have seen it show up fast, usually in my support tickets, drop-off rates, or user interviews.
4 Things You Can Do Right Now
If you're building with AI tools, start here:
Define the user journey before you prompt. Know the flow, the key decisions, and the moments that matter before you ask AI to generate anything.
Audit for usability, not just functionality. A working button is not the same as a button people will actually use. Test it with a real person.
Anchor to a design system early. AI-generated UIs drift into inconsistency fast. Set the foundation at the beginning or you will be cleaning it up later. I have found Google Stitch to be helpful here.
Utilize UI/UX AI skills or create your own. New AI skills for better UI & UX practices are popping up like UI UX Pro Max. Try one out in your next build or build your own.
Designers Will Be More Important Than Ever
The designers and product leaders who lean into AI are going to build faster than anyone who doesn't. But speed only creates value if the experience holds up.
That's not a developer problem. That's a design problem. And it's exactly where creative thinking and UX become the most important skills in the room.
10+ years in product design taught me this: the teams that build the best products don't just move fast. They move with intention. That means having a design lens in the room before the first prompt gets written, not after.
Are you bringing a design lens into your AI-built projects, or just shipping and hoping for the best? Drop your thoughts below.
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