Double Click: When Coding Becomes Conversation | Figma Blog

Vibe coding replaces much of traditional programming with an ongoing conversation with AI: users describe an idea, review the result, and iterate through prompts. It lowers the barrier to creating software and makes experimentation faster, especially for prototypes and side projects. However, the approach can become unreliable as projects grow, producing tangled code and weak internal architecture.

From Code to Conversation

• Andrej Karpathy coined “vibe coding” to describe building software by talking to AI tools such as Cursor Composer and using voice input.
• The process emphasizes seeing results, describing changes, running the project, and copying or pasting outputs rather than understanding every line of code.
• The idea reflects a broader history of abstraction, from punch cards to assembly, C, Python, and now AI-assisted development.

Faster, More Accessible Prototyping

• Vibe coding lets people express interactive ideas without mastering syntax or a programming language.
• Charmaine Lee of Val Town compares it to casually writing in a document or creating a spreadsheet.
• Figma designer Nikolas Klein argues that the main benefit is shortening the gap between imagining an interaction and seeing it work.
• Replit CEO Amjad Masad reported that 75% of Replit customers never write a line of code.
• Figma engineer Vincent van der Meulen used AI to create projects, including a running coach and a loading animation, despite lacking SwiftUI expertise.

The Complexity Ceiling

• Vibe coding is most effective at the beginning of a project, when requirements are simple and experimentation matters more than structure.
• As complexity increases, AI-generated solutions may stop fitting together coherently.
• Developers can reach a “valley of despair”: an initial burst of progress gives way to difficult debugging and maintenance.
• Vincent described ending up with “spaghetti code” and no consistent internal data model after reaching roughly 80% of his goal.

Vibe coding is best treated as a powerful prototyping and exploration technique, not a replacement for engineering judgment. Teams should still inspect, test, refactor, and architect AI-generated code when projects become complex or production-critical.