Vibe Coding Is Real: What Happens When You Build a Website with AI in Half a Day
Vibe coding — building software by describing it in plain English to an AI — is not a gimmick. Here is what actually happens when you try it for the first time.
The term "vibe coding" has been floating around developer Twitter for a while now. It means roughly this: instead of writing code from scratch, you describe what you want to an AI in plain English — and the AI writes the code for you. You refine it by describing what is wrong. You keep going until it works.
A lot of experienced developers are sceptical. And honestly, if you have spent years learning to code properly, watching a non-developer produce something functional in an afternoon is a strange feeling.
But here is what I have seen happen when people try it for the first time in my workshops: the scepticism evaporates within about 20 minutes.
What "vibe coding" actually looks like
You open VS Code. You have Claude Code running in the sidebar. You type something like: "Create a homepage hero section with a dark green background, a large serif headline that says 'We help Dorset businesses get found online', a subheading in a lighter weight, and two buttons — Book a call and See our work."
Claude Code writes the JSX. The component renders in your browser. It looks roughly right. You say: "The buttons should be side by side, not stacked. The headline needs more line height. Can you add a subtle gradient to the background?"
Claude Code makes the changes. You approve them. You move to the next component.
This is not magic. It is an unusually efficient working method. And it produces real code — not templates, not no-code blocks you cannot edit, but actual React components sitting in a GitHub repository.
Why it works better than people expect
The sceptic's objection is usually: "But you still need to understand the code to know if it is right." This is partially true. But the bar for understanding is much lower than the bar for writing.
Most business owners who go through my workshop leave with enough understanding to:
- Know when Claude Code has produced something sensible versus something that will break
- Make simple changes themselves without needing help
- Have an informed conversation with any developer about what their site is doing
That is a meaningful shift in capability. Not full-stack developer territory, but not helpless either.
What happens in a half-day session
The workshop follows a four-phase structure: Plan, Design, Code, Deploy.
The planning phase is where most people are surprised by how much clarity it forces. Sitting down and answering "what is the single most important thing this page should make a visitor feel or do?" for each page of your site is harder than it sounds — and more valuable than any amount of clever prompting.
By the design phase, people are starting to see that communicating with Claude Code is a skill in itself. Vague descriptions produce vague output. Specific descriptions — with reference to layout, hierarchy, colour, and intent — produce something you actually want.
The code phase is where it clicks. Building a real homepage from scratch in under two hours, watching it take shape component by component, is a different experience from anything a page builder offers. It feels like making something rather than configuring something.
And then deployment. Your site on a real URL by lunchtime. The reaction to that moment is pretty consistent across every person who has been through the session.
Is it for everyone?
No. If you want someone else to build your website for you, my website design service is the right answer. The workshop is for people who want to understand what they are building and own the result completely.
But if you have been curious about AI-assisted development — if you have read about vibe coding and wondered whether it is real or hype — the most honest answer I can give you is: come and try it. Half a day is a small commitment to find out whether it changes how you think about building things.
Sessions run across the South West of England — Bristol, Exeter, Salisbury, Bournemouth, Poole, and other locations. Maximum four people. £347 per person including lunch.