What Is Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding is writing software by describing what you want in plain language inside an AI tool, and then possibly using a supplementary tool to further edit the code.
For example, someone might use Claude coding to create a vibe code app, then refine the codebase in a vibe-coding tool like Base44.
Vibe Coder Meaning: Who Counts as a Vibe Coder?
Someone who uses AI to supplement coding is still the main coder. They understand the code, make the key decisions, review the output, fix issues, and could keep working without the tool.
Someone who relies on artificial intelligence tools to generate code is closer to a vibe coder.
They describe what they want, let the tool generate most of the code, and depend on tools like Claude, vibe code platforms, or Base44 to build, debug, and make changes.
So, the difference is control: a coder generally uses AI as help, while a vibe coder uses AI as the main way to build.
Vibe Coding Combined with the Dunning-Kruger Effect Has An Interesting Result
There’s a psychological concept called the Dunning–Kruger effect. It describes the tendency of people to overestimate their knowledge or ability in a given subject.
I think about this concept constantly when I look at the web design and digital marketing industry. Because candidly, this industry has a massive Dunning-Kruger problem…and a false confidence problem.
And I don’t mean confidence from seasoned professionals. I mean, confidence from people who have absolutely no idea what they are doing.
Vibe coding makes this even more interesting and potentially problematic. When someone can use AI to build a website, app, or piece of software without really understanding the code, strategy, UX, SEO, or maintenance behind it, it can create a lot of confidence very quickly.
But the tool is doing most of the heavy lifting, and that can make the gap between what someone thinks they know and what they actually know even wider.
The Web Design Confidence Curve
The Dunning–Kruger effect is often visualized as a graph in which, at the beginning, someone learns a small amount, and their confidence skyrockets then drops sharply as they realize how much they do not know, before gradually rising again as real competence develops.
Mount Stupid
The phase in which someone has little knowledge but huge confidence is sometimes jokingly referred to as “Mount Stupid.”
In the case of web design, let’s say they build one cookie-cutter website. Run one ad campaign. Watch a few YouTube videos. Prompt an AI tool successfully.
Suddenly, they feel like they can charge thousands of dollars for subpar work.
Valley of Despair
But eventually reality arrives when projects become more complex, and campaigns fail.
When tracking breaks or clients become difficult, or websites slow down and develop unforeseen problems, or maybe conversions disappoint after someone charges thousands for SEO when they shouldn’t.
That is where confidence collapses into what many call the “Valley of Despair.”
While the learning doesn’t start here (early overconfidence is part of learning), the Valley of Despair is the point where learning becomes more grounded, because the person starts to see the full complexity of the subject. You can’t always just “AI” the problem away.
Plateau of Sustainability
Over time, truly competent people regain confidence, but in an ideal situation, it is a different kind of confidence: less ego, more awareness, more precision, and more respect for the complexity of the work.
Expertise can inflate ego, too, which is why the right professional is not just the person who knows the most. It is the person who can stay curious, listen carefully, and collaborate even when they are the expert.
The Web Design Industry Looks Easier Than It Really is
From the outside, web design appears simple. You see drag-and-drop builders or AI-generated layouts or YouTube tutorials saying stuff like, “How to build a website in 30 minutes.”
The barrier to entry is low, which creates the illusion that mastery must also be easy. That is where the problem begins.
Some examples:
- Someone installs WordPress once, and suddenly they are a “developer”
- Someone edits a template, and suddenly they are a “designer”
- Someone punches out some code with Claude, and now they are a coder
With AI, someone can generate output faster than ever before and convince themselves they’ve replaced years of experience.
Professionals Develop Greater Problem Awareness Through Experience
A big difference between amateurs and professionals is greater problem awareness based on experience. Professionals understand how many moving parts actually exist beneath the surface.
In web design, a real website project is not just “making something look nice.” It involves:
| Messaging | Positioning | Conversion pathways |
| Information architecture | Typography | Responsive design |
| Speed optimization | Hosting | DNS configuration |
| Analytics | Scalability | SEO structure |
| Accessibility | Integrations | Security |
| Quality assurance | Stakeholder requirements | Ongoing maintenance |
Now layer on digital marketing:
| Google Ads | Meta campaigns | Attribution |
| Remarketing | Landing page strategy | Conversion optimization |
| Call tracking | CRM integrations | Reporting |
| Creative direction | Audience segmentation | Budget allocation |
| Testing |
This is not simple work. Not if the goal is to do it well. The deeper you go into this industry, the more you realize how much nuance exists in every decision.
That realization tends to humble competent people. That is the Dunning–Kruger effect playing out in real time.
Cheap Confidence is Everywhere
One reason businesses often hire lower-quality services in web design and digital marketing is that confidence is easy to fake in this industry.
Anybody can say:
- “We do SEO”
- “We build websites”
- “We run ads”
- “We do branding”
- “We do social media”
- “We do AI automation”
The problem is that business owners often don’t know what good looks like until after they’ve been burned. Sometimes the cheaper solution becomes the most expensive decision in the room.
I’ve seen businesses spend years rebuilding damage caused by:
| Terrible development | Fake SEO promises | Broken tracking |
| Hacked websites | Poor hosting environments | Bad user experience |
| Low-converting landing pages | Meaningless traffic | Outsourced chaos |
| Unrealistic “All-in-one” promises |
AI is Making This Better and Worse at the Same Time
This is the part people usually expect me to resist, but I’m actually not anti-AI at all. I think AI is an incredible tool. The issue is not the tool. The issue is the operator.
A competent designer, developer, or marketer can absolutely use AI to move faster, brainstorm ideas, improve workflows, and increase efficiency.
But AI also creates a dangerous illusion. A person with little professional experience or technical understanding can now generate output faster than ever before.
Vibe Code Software Isn’t the Answer to Everything
From the surface, it may seem like coding, web design, and digital marketing are all getting automated, but that is not really true.
Yes, certain processes and steps are getting automated, but these are evolving spaces with a lot of moving parts. There are simply too many variables, be it strategy, user experience, performance, security, or long-term maintenance variables.
It takes active attention to navigate all that complexity.
Where Vibe Coders Fit Into Web Design and Programming
Vibe coders can be great for testing ideas, creating prototypes, or getting a rough version of something started.
This is not meant to diminish vibe coders.
Vibe coding is a real starting point, and as a vibe coder gains more experience, they can graduate into being a true programming professional.
But it’s important to make a distinction. There is a difference between someone who understands the code they are writing at a reasonably sufficient level and someone who does not really understand the language yet.
Experience Changes the Way You Think
Professionals with substantial experience undergo many lessons that change the way they think because they understand things like:
| Tradeoffs | Unintended consequences | Edge cases |
| Long-term scalability | Maintenance realities | Business implications |
| Conversion psychology | User behavior | Technical debt |
They understand that changing one thing often impacts ten other things and that good outcomes are usually the result of process, iteration, communication, testing, and accumulated experience.
The people who actually know this industry deeply are often less arrogant than the people who just entered it because experience reveals complexity.
Why Businesses Get Burned So Often
I genuinely believe many businesses are not bad decision makers. I think they are trying to navigate an industry filled with noise.
The overnight SEO expert. The AI guru. The person promising impossible results with impossibly low pricing…or ludicrously high pricing.
Meanwhile, the competent professionals are usually talking about:
- Process
- Strategy
- Discovery
- Systems
- Positioning
- Conversion
- Maintenance
- Long-term thinking
Those conversations are less flashy, but they are rooted in reality.
Competence is Earned
I’ve spent years inside this industry, doing the following:
- Designing websites
- Leading projects
- Fixing website disasters
- Managing hosting environments
- Running paid campaigns
- Reviewing analytics
- Building a refined process
- Working with businesses across multiple industries
Businesses are investing in how their company presents itself to the world, acquires customers, builds trust, generates revenue, and scales over time.
That responsibility deserves more than surface-level understanding.
Vibe Coding vs. Experience: The Conclusion
Vibe coding can be a useful tool. It can help people move faster and test ideas, but it does not replace experience.
Experience is what helps you know if the output is good, if the strategy makes sense, if the website will convert, if the code is maintainable, and if the final product is actually solving the right problem.
AI coding can help build the thing.
Experience helps you know whether the thing you built does its job, or even if it should have been built a certain way in the first place. For that, you need developers and other industry professionals with real-world experience.
