Describing What You Want

In vibe coding, you build software by talking to an AI assistant. You don't type code yourself — you describe what you want, and the AI writes it.

But the AI can only help if it understands your idea. So your most important skill is describing clearly what you want to build.

This lesson teaches you how to do exactly that.

Begin by saying what your app does in one plain sentence. Keep it short and human.

Don't worry about technical words yet. Just describe the goal, like you would tell a friend.

Here is an example you can type to your AI assistant:

The AI gives better results when it knows who the app is for. A water app for kids looks very different from one for office workers.

Add a short line about your users and where they'll use the app.

Picture the screen in your head and describe it. What does the user look at first? What buttons or text are there?

You don't need design words. Just say what should appear.

Now describe the actions. What can the user tap or do? What happens after they do it?

This helps the AI understand the flow of your app, step by step.

You don't need to know words like database or API. The AI knows those. Your job is to explain the idea in everyday language.

Compare these two:

• Hard: "Persist state across sessions."
• Easy: "Remember my water count even after I close the app."

The easy version works great.

When something is hard to explain, give a small example. Examples remove confusion fast.

Instead of only saying "show a friendly message," show the AI what you mean.

Sometimes it helps to say what you want to avoid. This keeps the AI from adding things you don't need.

A short "please keep it simple" can save you a lot of cleanup later.

You can also tell the AI how the app should feel. Calm? Playful? Clean? This shapes colors, text, and design.

Even a few words guide the result a lot.

A strong description usually has a few parts: the goal, the users, the main screen, the main actions, and the style.

You don't need perfect grammar. You just need to cover these basics so the AI has a full picture.

You don't need every detail before you start. Describe what you do know, and tell the AI where you're unsure.

The AI can suggest options for the rest. Describing is a conversation, not a perfect speech.

Let's see what you remember about describing your idea.

You learned how to describe an idea so an AI can build it. The key points:

• Start with one simple sentence about the goal.
• Say who it's for and what they see and do.
• Use plain words and give examples.
• Mention what to avoid and how it should feel.

Next, you'll learn how to break a big idea into small, clear steps.