Common Mistakes With Vibe Coded Websites
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖AI design tools enable rapid website creation but often produce generic, 'vibe-coded' aesthetics like purple gradients and specific animation patterns.
- ❖The ease of implementing complex animations (e.g., scroll jacking, moving buttons) often leads to their overuse, distracting users rather than enhancing the experience.
- ❖Founders must critically evaluate AI-generated design outputs, acting as editors to ensure originality, visual consistency, and clear communication of their product's value.
- ❖Poorly implemented hover effects, hidden functionality, and lack of mobile responsiveness are common AI design flaws that hinder user interaction.
- ❖A website's primary goal as a customer acquisition channel means design choices should prioritize clarity, conversion, and brand distinctiveness over flashy, unoriginal AI-generated elements.
Insights
1Ubiquitous AI Design Patterns Lead to 'Vibe-Coded' Websites
AI models, trained on popular and frequently linked websites, tend to reproduce common design trends like purple gradients, specific fade-in/fade-out sections, and 'dumb hover effects.' This results in many startup websites looking identical, diminishing brand originality and specialness.
Raphael Shod observed 'dumb hover effects on landing pages of startups these days presumably white coded' () and noted 'purple gradients and all of a sudden all startup websites had purple gradients everywhere' (). This was evident in sites like new.ai () and Rosebud AI ().
2Ease of Animation Implementation Leads to Distracting Overuse
AI tools make it incredibly easy to implement complex animations (e.g., scrolling lines, chasing buttons, scroll jacking). This often leads to designers including these features simply because they can, even if they distract users, obscure content, or hinder navigation, rather than adding value.
On new.ai, a 'distracting' line follows the user (). Get Crux featured a 'button that's chasing me around the screen' () and 'meteors that are shooting down from the angles' (), both deemed distracting and not value-adding. Sphinx had a 'very confusing' animation with shifting buttons and unclear functionality ().
3Inconsistent Visual Language and Poor Information Hierarchy in AI Designs
AI-generated websites often exhibit a lack of visual consistency across different sections, making the site feel disjointed. Additionally, AI can create overly complex information hierarchies with too many font styles or unnecessary labels, which detracts from clarity and professional graphic design principles.
Get Crux showed a 'lack of visual consistency' with sections looking like 'an entirely different visual language' (). Sphinx's homepage had 'many many styles mixed' (), complicating the hierarchy and adding unnecessary vertical space.
4Hover Effects Should Enhance, Not Obscure or Distract
Effective hover effects should invite interaction or reveal non-critical, supplementary information. AI-generated hover effects often make elements disappear, fade out, or shift erratically, which is counter-intuitive and hinders user experience, especially given the lack of hover on mobile devices.
On new.ai, navigation elements 'disappear' on hover instead of popping (). Raphael stated, 'a designer would almost never choose to do' this (). He also criticized using hover to 'disclose additional critical information or functionality' () as an 'anti-pattern' ().
5The Importance of QA and Intentionality in AI-Assisted Design
While AI simplifies design, it doesn't eliminate the need for thorough quality assurance and a strong human editorial hand. Bugs, confusing interactions, and a loss of brand identity are common when founders simply accept AI outputs without critical review and refinement.
Build Zero had a 'bug with the selection' in an interactive element (). The host noted that with AI, 'you just ship things that are that you wouldn't have because you don't even notice the little bugs that the LLM made' (). He stressed the need to 'be opinionated as the human that's in the loop' () and 'not outsource your thinking to LLMs' ().
Key Concepts
AI as an Editor, Not a Designer
Founders should view AI design tools as powerful assistants for execution, but retain the role of the primary designer and editor. This means critically evaluating AI outputs, making intentional choices, and refining suggestions rather than passively accepting all changes to avoid generic 'AI slop'.
The 'Vibe-Coded' Website Phenomenon
This model describes the trend where many AI-generated startup websites adopt similar aesthetic elements (e.g., purple gradients, specific animations, dashboard layouts) because AI models are trained on popular examples. This leads to a loss of brand originality and makes sites indistinguishable from competitors, despite appearing modern or 'cool' in isolation.
Lessons
- Critically evaluate all AI-generated design elements: Don't accept AI suggestions blindly. Question if each element (animations, colors, hover effects) genuinely adds value, enhances user experience, and aligns with your brand, or if it's merely 'AI slop'.
- Prioritize brand originality over AI defaults: Start with your unique brand identity, color palette, and messaging, then use AI tools to execute that vision. Avoid common AI patterns like purple gradients or generic dashboard layouts that make your site indistinguishable from others.
- Thoroughly QA your AI-generated website: Actively test all interactions, animations, and responsiveness across devices. Look for bugs, confusing behaviors (e.g., scroll jacking, disappearing menus), and ensure all content is readable and accessible.
- Ensure clear value proposition and call to action above the fold: Design your homepage to immediately communicate 'what it is, who it's for, and why they should care,' along with a clear call to action, without relying on distracting animations or excessive scrolling.
- Use hover effects sparingly and intentionally: Hover effects should invite clicks or reveal non-critical, supplementary information. Avoid using them to hide essential functionality, and ensure they don't detract from readability or create confusing visual shifts.
Quotes
"Just because we now can, just because LLMs are kind of good at these type of like SVG, you know, buildups or transforms, doesn't mean that it's actually a good design and helps you convert potential, you know, visitors into into customers, basically."
"If you want to add a CSS effect then you know make it maybe like a little pop. Maybe make it like one shade lighter or more active or add like a little you know a little glow around it but don't make it go away."
"Just because something is possible doesn't mean you should say yes to it."
"If you look at a demo and that demo does not have a base level of quality design, it seems like the person just didn't even try because it's so easy to do it now."
"You are still kind of like responsible to not outsource your thinking to LLMs and actually just use them as tools to get your brilliant ideas, designs, novel maybe kind of like interactions out on the web to dazzle your customers."
Q&A
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