Vibe coding process - do we jump in or plan it out?
I'm super curious how everyone starts to vibe code? In the beginning I would simply jump into @bolt.new or @Cursor and just do a prompt and continue refining with the AI. I quickly realized this created a lot of issues as I didn't think about the structure, tech stack, and how I wanted the features to interact with each other and how the way I was building things would impact the user experience. I now do the following:
Write down a simple problem statement: "what am I trying to solve?"
Write down a simple solution statement: "what does the thing I'm building do (to solve the problem)"
Share the above with @ChatGPT by OpenAI and word vomit my thoughts, ideas, how I want the user to interact with my app, etc and ASK ChatGPT to turn everything I said and want into an easy to understand directive and instructions for an Engineer.
I then take the Engineer instructions and give it to a new chat in ChatGPT and ask it to turn those instructions into a prompt for an AI engineer and to break up the project into sections so that each time we focus on a section the app is shippable and keeps things easy to work on.
I take the output and paste it into my notes. I then give it to Cursor.
Once in Cursor, I create a new project folder and got at it!
Curious what everyone else does and if you've experience any things to avoid or must do
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UXDesigner.top
Hey Gabe, I really resonated with this, especially the part about jumping into tools like Cursor or Bolt and figuring things out as you go. I was doing exactly the same, and I often ended up rewriting entire flows or realizing too late that my feature ideas didnโt quite connect.
Thatโs actually what led me to build a little side project: lovableprompts.app. Itโs super simple, just helps you generate a first optimized prompt to kick off your project in Lovable, Cursor, or wherever youโre working. You describe your idea in plain text, and it gives you back a structured prompt that includes the problem, the user flow, the ideal UX, and even some suggestions for how to break it down into features or milestones.
I originally made it just for myself, but I started sharing it with friends who were also vibe coding and itโs been surprisingly helpful to others too. It doesnโt try to do too muchโit just gives you a really solid starting point so you donโt have to stare at a blank input field.
Would love for you to try it and let me know what you thinkโany feedback is super welcome!