Talking to a coding assistant is like giving directions to your house: the more precise you are, the better. “Turn where the tree is” doesn’t work, “Turn right at the second traffic light” does. You’ll learn the magic template “I want to make X, that does Y, for users Z”, the art of intelligent follow-up, and the healthy principle of “a few lines at a time”.
🧠 One big word at a time. Communication with AI improves with practice!
Remember when you had to explain directions to someone over the phone?
Vague version: “Go straight for a bit, then there’s a curve, look for the yellow building… no wait, it’s orange…”
GPS version: “Continue for 500 meters on Vibe Street, turn right onto Prompt Boulevard, destination on your left.”
The AI is like a super intelligent GPS: it knows how to get anywhere in the code world, but you need to tell it EXACTLY where you want to go.
Vibe coding is still a young concept, but here’s a simple formula that often WORKS:
"I want to make [WHAT],
that does [SPECIFIC ACTIONS],
for [WHO WILL USE IT]."
❌ Vague and confusing: “Make me a site to publish projects”
✅ Clear and precise: “I want to make a PORTFOLIO SITE, that SHOWS MY PROJECTS WITH IMAGES AND DESCRIPTIONS, for POTENTIAL CLIENTS LOOKING FOR A DESIGNER.”
❌ Too generic: “I’d like a todo app”
✅ Specific and actionable: “I want to make a TODO LIST APP, that can ADD TASKS WITH PRIORITY AND DEADLINE, for UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO NEED TO ORGANIZE EXAMS.”
Wrong: “Make me an app that does everything: social, e-commerce, chat, video, AI, blockchain”
Right: Start with ONE main function. Amazon started selling books, not the entire universe.
Wrong: “It doesn’t work, fix it”
Right: “When I click the ‘Save’ button nothing happens. I expected it to save the text in the database. Here’s the console error: [paste error]”
Wrong: “Add animations, 3D effects, sounds, dark mode, multilanguage, …”
Right: First make it work. Then make it pretty. Race cars don’t start with alloy wheels.
Wrong: Copy 500 lines of code without reading
Right: Read, understand at least the general flow, then copy. You don’t need to understand every comma, but at least “here’s the button, here’s the function that activates it”.
The AI can’t read your mind. After the first response, you need to guide it like a navigator recalculating the route.
“Now add a button to delete tasks”
“The ‘delete’ button should:
“Perfect! But when I delete the last task, the list shows ‘undefined’. How do I fix this?”
“No, that’s not right, do it again” ↓ The AI doesn’t know WHAT isn’t right
“I don’t like it, make it prettier” ↓ Prettier how? The colors? The layout? The fonts?
“Something’s missing” ↓ Like what? A button? A function? A dancing unicorn?
This is THE TRICK. Keep it in mind.
You: "Let's start. Create just the basic HTML structure with a title"
AI: [15 lines of HTML]
You: "Perfect! Now add just an input to enter text"
AI: [10 more lines]
You: "Ok! Now just the save button"
AI: [5 more lines]
Working step by step you’ll gain more awareness of what you’re creating and also have better control of the result.
🚫 WRONG
"make an app to keep track of things"
"it doesn't work"
"add elements to make it attractive"
"make it like instagram"
"why doesn't the app work???"
✅ RIGHT
"Hi! I'm a beginner. I want to create an app to track
glasses of water drunk per day that:
- Shows a current counter (e.g.: 3/8 glasses)
- Has a '+' button to add a glass
- Shows a visual progress bar
- Resets automatically every day
For now let's start with just basic HTML and JavaScript.
Can you start with the HTML structure?"
"Great! The structure is there. Now let's add just
the JavaScript for the + button. When I click it should:
- Increase the counter by 1
- Update the text (e.g.: from 3/8 to 4/8)
- For now let's ignore the progress bar"
Before pressing enter, check:
To start:
For debugging:
To improve:
A conversation with AI isn’t a monologue. It’s a dialogue.
You: “Let’s make a simple kitchen timer” AI: [Basic timer code]
You: “It works! Now when it reaches 0 let’s add a sound” AI: [Adds audio]
You: “The sound is there but it’s too loud. And how can I choose the minutes?” AI: [Adds volume control and minutes input]
You: “Perfect! One last thing: save the last measured time”
See? Each response builds on the previous one. You don’t start from scratch every time.
Sometimes the AI gets lost:
Sometimes the AI can get stressed like a student during an exam. After too many questions, it starts to:
💡 Pro Tip: When the project grows, open a new chat for each new feature. It’s like changing rooms to avoid confusion.
→ We’ll dive deeper into this topic in Module 11, when we talk about AI alarm bells and how to handle them, you’ll discover other useful tricks for managing AI context
Let’s build a “Mood Tracker” together!
Hi! I want to create a minimalist mood tracker that:
- Shows 5 emojis (😢 😟 😐 🙂 😄)
- When I click an emoji, saves it with date and time
- Shows the last selected mood
- Just HTML and JavaScript in a single file
- No database for now
Let's start with just the HTML: 5 buttons with emojis.
Then we'll add functions one at a time.
Comment the main components for educational purposes.
Remember: if communication doesn’t work, it’s not your fault. It’s just a matter of finding the right words. Think of AI as:
The secret: The AI is very good but can’t read your mind. The more details you give it, the better it helps you.
Before moving to Module 3, make sure you:
If you’ve checked everything → Fantastic! You’re ready to learn the “basic building blocks” of code
If something isn’t clear → That’s part of the process, things become clear little by little with experience.
In Module 3 we’ll take an important conceptual step: before starting to create, you’ll discover where AI “lives” when you use it. Cloud or local? Privacy or power? Costs or control? You’ll understand the differences between using ChatGPT online or running a model on your computer. It’s a choice that will influence your entire vibe coding journey, better to make it consciously!
Remember: “Make me an app” is like entering a restaurant and ordering “Food”.