How I Use Vibe Coding Today. What I Have Learned from My Experience.

"Vibe coding" has become my secret weapon for rapid prototyping and iterating on ideas at FlickBloom. It's not about replacing traditional development—it's about knowing when to use different tools for different stages of product development.

What is Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding is using AI assistants and tools to rapidly prototype and iterate on ideas by focusing on the "vibe" or intention of what you want to build, rather than getting bogged down in implementation details upfront. It's about moving fast from idea to working prototype.

How I Use It at FlickBloom

• Rapid Prototyping: Testing new features with customers within hours instead of days
• Internal Tools: Building automation scripts and dashboards quickly without a dedicated dev sprint
• Data Analysis: Creating one-off analysis scripts to answer business questions immediately
• UI Iterations: Quickly mocking up different interface approaches to test with users

What I've Learned

When Vibe Coding Shines:

• Early-stage prototyping where speed > perfection
• One-off tools and scripts
• Exploring new technologies or frameworks
• Building MVPs to validate ideas with customers

When Traditional Development Matters:

• Core product features that need to scale
• Performance-critical components
• Complex business logic requiring careful design
• Production systems with high reliability requirements

Key Lessons

1. Iterate Faster: The ability to test ideas quickly has dramatically improved our product-market fit discovery process.

2. Lower the Barrier: Non-technical team members can now prototype their own solutions, freeing up engineering time for complex problems.

3. Know When to Refactor: If a vibe-coded prototype proves valuable, invest time to rebuild it properly for production.

4. Embrace the Tool: Fighting against AI-assisted development is like refusing to use Google in the early 2000s. The winners will be those who learn to use these tools effectively.

The Bottom Line

Vibe coding isn't about replacing good engineering practices—it's about having another tool in your toolkit for the right situations. As a founder, the ability to rapidly test ideas and iterate based on customer feedback is invaluable. The question isn't whether to use vibe coding, but when and how to use it most effectively.