The Relevance of PRDs in Vibe Coding
Build fast. Anchored in understanding.
“If you can’t explain what you’re building and why, you’re not designing, you’re decorating.”
Introduction
A new phrase is spreading through design and developer communities: Vibe Coding.
It celebrates speed. Flow. Intuition. Shipping quickly. Letting ideas emerge as you build.
And while this energy is exciting, it hides a quiet risk:
building without understanding.
This is where many teams start to believe they no longer need a PRD (Product Requirements Document).
They believe PRDs are slow, rigid, corporate, and incompatible with creative momentum.
They are wrong.
Not because PRDs are sacred documents.
But because clarity is sacred.
Vibe Coding without a PRD is not agility.
It is improvisation without intent.
What Vibe Coding Gets Right
Vibe Coding encourages:
These are good things.
They help teams escape analysis paralysis and actually make things.
But making things is not the same as making the right thing.
Speed amplifies direction. If the direction is unclear, speed only gets you lost faster.
What a PRD Really Is (and Is Not)
A PRD is often misunderstood as:
A real PRD is none of these.
A real PRD answers only a few essential questions:
That’s it.
A PRD is not paperwork. A PRD is evidence of thinking.
Why Vibe Coding Fails Without a PRD
When teams skip the PRD, something subtle happens:
They start designing for:
This is not design. This is guessing.
And guessing feels productive because screens are being created.
But screens are not solutions.
The absence of a PRD turns design into decoration and development into activity without purpose.
The PRD as a Thinking Tool, Not a Document
The PRD should not slow you down.
In fact, it should take less than one hour to write.
If it takes longer, you are writing the wrong kind of PRD.
A lightweight PRD for Vibe Coding might be:
This becomes a compass, not a contract.
You do not follow it rigidly. You refer to it when you feel lost
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Vibe Coding With a PRD: The Ideal Pairing
Vibe Coding is powerful after clarity exists.
This is not bureaucracy.
This is disciplined creativity.
The most effective teams do not remove structure. They make structure invisible and lightweight.
How PRDs Protect Users From Our Assumptions
Without a PRD, teams default to their own mental models.
Design becomes based on:
A PRD forces one uncomfortable but necessary act:
writing down who the user is and what they actually need.
Once written, assumptions become visible. And visible assumptions can be challenged.
Invisible assumptions run the product.
The Myth: “We’ll Figure It Out As We Go”
You will.
But you will figure it out by:
A PRD does not prevent learning.
It prevents unnecessary relearning.
The Simpler the Product, the More You Need a PRD
Ironically, the smaller the product, the easier it is to drift.
Because “it’s just a small feature” feels safe.
But small features without clarity accumulate into incoherent products.
A PRD keeps even tiny ideas connected to purpose.
PRDs Do Not Kill Creativity. They Focus It.
Creativity without constraint is chaos.
Creativity with purpose is design.
The PRD provides the constraint: the problem.
Everything else can be explored freely.
A Practical Template for Vibe Coders
Before you start building, answer:
If you can’t answer these in plain language, you are not ready to code.
Vibe Coding is a wonderful way to build.
But it must be anchored in understanding.
A PRD is not a relic of old process. It is the smallest possible act of respect for the user.
You don’t write a PRD for your manager. You write it so that your creativity serves a purpose.
Build fast. But know where you are going.
That is the relevance of PRDs in Vibe Coding.
This article was originally published on Medium. https://medium.com/@oluchiejikam/the-relevance-of-prds-in-vibe-coding-b3d5c561244c
If you’re moving fast in the wrong direction, you’ll just be wasting your time. That is where PRDs come in in Vibe coding, bringing structure. Nicely written, Oluchi
Speed without clarity just adds noise, Using a PRD to anchor thinking is still key.
Agile development does not eliminate the need for proper design and documentation just like no builder should erect a structure without an architectural plan.. Nice piece.