One Man’s Journey to AI App Creation Without Knowing How to Code
Allow me, if you will, to tell you a fine little story about my recent “vibe coding” journey.
And what a journey it has been thus far.
My “patience is a virtue” that I so often preach has been put to the test …
…let’s dive right in, shall we?
Since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, I’ve been an eager student of the AI game – curious to see what this “life will never be the same” technology has in store for us.
If you’ve been paying attention, the AI world has been moving at warp speed over the last few years, and a lot has changed in just the last two years.
What started as a simple “chat” interface, AI has moved beyond the Large Learning Model (LLM) – today we’ve got custom GPTs, AI Agents, etc., and it just keeps evolving from there.
I dove head deep into the Chat LLMs when they launched, fascinated by prompt engineering – determined to keep experimenting and improving the outputs.
And then came along “vibe coding,” and after getting my head around it I was all in.
What is “vide coding?”
Simply stated, vibe-coding allows you to create AI apps with zero coding knowledge.
Vibe coding is a software development method where people can become AI collaborators and build (code) A.I. tools with prompts.
Here’s how it works:
- You create an account with a vibe coding platform (or use your favorite LLM).
- You start with a prompt and describe in detail what you want to build.
- Then your AI assistant generates code based on your prompts.
- You work back and forth with the AI assistant to refine it with continuous feedback.
- You continue to iterate in a conversational manner until you finish the product.
- You test, debug, test, debug, etc., until you are production-ready.
Sounds simple, right?
Well, let me get this out of the way right out of the gate…
…it ain’t simple…
…it’s anything but…
…but it’s opened a whole new world of possibilities, and I’m committed to getting my first AI app launched and ready for the world to see.
My vibe coding journey started about 30 days ago, and I’m “super close” to a production-ready product – but since “success is in the journey,” let me take you on a ride that I hope you find interesting and inspirational too.
The Vibe Code Question #1: What Should I Build?
Now this is where it gets tricky – starting with the “what should I build” question?
My advice – If you want to build something to sell in the market…don’t start with this question because it’s the wrong one.
Start with this:
What problem can I solve in the market in a unique/differentiated way that will provide real value/results?
Always start with the problem.
But first, validate that the problem exists by doing some research.
Market research should confirm that a real problem exists, and it will help you articulate/formulate a value proposition so you gain a critical understanding of “why you should exist” in the first place.
Do not make any ASSumptions…
…because you know what happens next.
OK, let’s get back to it.
For my AI app, I went “wide then deep” with my research to find a problem in the market that was a) worth solving, b) I was interested in solving, and c) confident that I could “make a dent” and help to solve it.
I reminded myself to take the “what if nobody wants this?” pressure off, because the reward is in the trying…
…there are no guarantees in business, so I’m not going to even try and control the outcome because I can’t.
What I can do is to make sure what I’m vibe building passes the “who cares test.”
Be honest with yourself here – ask yourself…would I use this?
In my case – I kept refining and iterating until I had a “hell yes!”
If you decide to take this journey too, I advise you do the same.
Vibing Out With My Nerdy Cyber Friend
The real run started when I gave my first “I want to build…” prompt to the AI assistant…and the moment that I knew there was no turning back.
My previous experience with LLMs is that they’ll default into agreeing with you if you let them – don’t do this, it’s a trap!
AI is lazy too – it wants to be done with your “silly work” and get back to world domination building, so it will tell you everything is great, everything will work, every one of your ideas is ‘great,’ etc. No!
So, I made sure to set my own rules of engagement before I got too deep in the building phase, and tried to get an ‘honest’ and ‘critical’ assessment of my thinking or strategy before moving on to the next step. This was a huge win for me.
But as I mentioned earlier, my patience has been tested!
After wasting tens of hours going back and forth on refinements / testing / debugging, I realized that I needed to be a solid co-pilot and not just blindly defer everything to the AI assistant because it…
…makes errors…
…looks for shortcuts…
…hides the “root causes” …
…doesn’t THINK like a human…
…and doesn’t understand the human experience.
Its customer is CODE.
It objective is to accurately PREDICT: what you want, what the code should be, what the workflow should be, etc.
In sum – vibe coding can quickly turn into a $h!tshow.
And in my experience, it’s hard to get out of that and back on track.
So… I reminded myself to be…PATIENT!
And my AI Assistant buddy has worked very closely together over the last 30 days and has been through a lot – but we are close to the finish line, and I can’t wait to get this to market.
Wait a minute…what’s that you say?…
…You want to know what I made?
Don’t worry – I’m gonna give you the full details in PART II next week and a sneak peek of what’s inside…
…and if you’re trying to grow your network, build your audience, sell more stuff, grow your business, boost your brand authority, and be positioned as a most trusted advisor…
…you’re gonna like what I created.
