Intent Prototyping: The Allure And Danger Of Pure Vibe Coding In Enterprise UX (Part 1)

Remember those early days of web design? When you’d stare at a blank Photoshop canvas, fueled by nothing but caffeine and the vague notion of “making it pop?” We’ve all been there. Today, in the fast-paced world of enterprise UX, we're sometimes still fighting this battle. The tools are fancier, the stakeholders more demanding, but the fundamental challenge remains: How do we move beyond pretty pictures and build actually useful software? This is the question we’re tackling today, specifically in the realm of what I call “vibe coding” and how it stacks up against a more structured, intent-driven approach.

The problem I've seen time and again is the over-reliance on polished, high-fidelity mockups. They look fantastic. They get the thumbs-up from executives who love a shiny visual. But often, they're built on a shaky foundation. The underlying conceptual model? Underdeveloped. The user flows? Patchy at best. We're essentially building a beautiful house on quicksand.

The Allure of “Vibe Coding”

So, what is “vibe coding”? It’s the seductive practice of focusing on the aesthetic and surface-level interaction design early on. Think of it as building a prototype based on pure intuition, a sense of what "feels right," and a lot of visual flair. It's about crafting a polished user interface (UI) that looks and feels modern, often using tools that emphasize pixel-perfect design and animation. It’s about creating a “vibe” that stakeholders will love.

Here’s the appeal:

Speed: You can whip up visually appealing prototypes fast, especially with the help of AI-powered tools that generate interfaces from text prompts or even hand-drawn sketches.
Visual Impact: High-fidelity mockups impress. They're easy to sell to stakeholders who are visually oriented. They are great for initial pitches.
Tooling Sophistication: Modern design tools are incredibly powerful, allowing for intricate animations and interactions with minimal coding.

Case Study: The Over-Designed CRM

I worked with a team once that was tasked with revamping a clunky CRM system. They were all about the “vibe.” They created stunning mockups with sleek animations, a clean interface, and all the latest design trends. The problem? They hadn't deeply considered the core user workflows or the actual needs of the sales team. The result? A system that looked amazing but was utterly useless. Sales reps found it difficult to navigate, struggled to find the information they needed, and ultimately reverted to using spreadsheets. The project was a costly failure, a testament to the fact that a beautiful UI doesn't automatically equal a good UX.

The Dangers of Putting Vibe Over Substance

While the initial allure of vibe coding is strong, it comes with significant risks. The focus on aesthetics can lead to:

Conceptual Weakness: The underlying information architecture and user flows may be poorly defined. The prototype might look functional, but it lacks a solid foundation.
Feature Creep: Driven by the desire to create a visually impressive product, teams may add unnecessary features, leading to complexity and bloat.
Missed User Needs: Without a deep understanding of user behavior and requirements, the design may fail to address the users’ core pain points.
Expensive Iteration: Making significant changes to a high-fidelity prototype is time-consuming and costly. If the underlying concepts are flawed, you'll be forced to rework the entire visual design – a massive waste of resources.

Anecdote: The Button That Didn’t Work

I remember a project where a team created a beautiful dashboard for a data analytics platform. The prototype was sleek and modern, complete with animated charts and graphs. However, during user testing, we discovered a critical flaw: the primary action button – the one users needed to click most often – was hidden by default. The designers had prioritized visual consistency over usability. The button was beautiful, but it didn't work. The user's ability to interact with the data was severely compromised. This is a perfect example of vibe taking precedence over substance.

Intent-Driven Prototyping: A Better Path?

So, what’s the alternative? It's a more structured, intent-driven approach to prototyping. This focuses on the purpose of the design. It starts with understanding the user’s goals, defining the core workflows, and building prototypes that prioritize functionality over aesthetics in the early stages.

This is where intent prototyping comes in. It's about building prototypes that focus on:

User Needs: Understanding the users’ tasks, goals, and pain points before starting any visual design.
Information Architecture: Designing a clear and logical structure for the information, so users can easily find what they need.
Core Workflows: Mapping out the essential steps users need to take to accomplish their tasks.
Early Testing: Gathering feedback on the functionality and usability of the prototype before investing heavily in visual design.

The key difference is the order of operations. Instead of starting with the visual design, you start with the user and the purpose of the application. Low-fidelity prototypes, wireframes, and clickable prototypes are used to validate core functionalities and user flows before investing resources in visual polish.

Part 1 Conclusion: Is Vibe Coding Right for You?

In enterprise UX, the allure of “vibe coding” is strong, but the risks are real. While visually appealing prototypes can be useful for selling concepts and demonstrating potential, they shouldn't come at the expense of user needs and core functionality. In Part 2, we will explore how to implement an intent-driven approach, and how to utilize AI prototyping tools effectively to achieve the best of both worlds. Stay tuned!

This post was published as part of my automated content series.