Phase 5: Building & Coding With AI (No-Code Friendly) · 30 min · ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI coding assistant

Describing What You Want Built

The AI can build anything. The question is whether you described it clearly enough that it builds the right thing.

Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you can describe what you want built in plain English — specific enough that the AI doesn't have to guess, which means fewer broken first attempts.

What you will learn

Describe what you want built in plain English with enough specificity that the AI doesn't guess
Include user stories, features, and constraints in build descriptions
Avoid the vagueness that leads to wrong builds
Iterate on build descriptions when the first attempt is wrong

The Problem

"Vibe coding" — building things with AI by describing them in plain English — is one of the most exciting developments in AI. You don't need to know how to code. You just need to describe what you want.

But here's the catch: most people describe what they want the same way they write bad prompts — vaguely. "Build me a landing page" produces a generic landing page that's not what you wanted. The AI didn't fail. You didn't describe it clearly enough.

This lesson is about applying the prompting skills you already have to the specific task of describing what you want built.

The Build Description Framework

When you describe what you want built, include:

What it is — "A landing page for a freelance photography business"
Who it's for — "Potential clients who are couples planning their wedding"
What it should do — "Show a portfolio gallery, let visitors book a consultation, and display pricing packages"
What sections/pages — "Hero section with a call-to-action, portfolio gallery (grid layout), about section, pricing table, contact form, footer with social links"
Style/brand — "Clean, minimal, elegant. Black and white with one accent color (soft gold). Serif headings, sans-serif body text."
Constraints — "Mobile-responsive. No animations that slow down loading. The booking form should connect to my Calendly."
What you don't want — "No stock photos — I'll add my own. No blog section. No testimonials section."

Bad:

Build me a website for my photography business

Good:

Build a single-page landing page for my wedding photography business. Target audience: engaged couples planning their wedding.
Sections (in order):
Hero — full-width image background, headline "Wedding Photography That Feels Like You," subheadline, and a "Book a Free Consultation" button
Portfolio — grid of 6 image placeholders (I'll replace with my photos), 3 columns on desktop, 1 on mobile
About — short bio section with a photo placeholder, 2-3 paragraphs
Pricing — 3 packages in a table: Essential ($1,500), Signature ($3,000), Premium ($5,000). Each with a list of what's included.
Contact — simple form (name, email, wedding date, message) + a Calendly embed placeholder
Footer — social links (Instagram, Pinterest), copyright
Style: clean, minimal, elegant. Black and white with soft gold (#D4AF37) as the accent color. Serif headings (Playfair Display), sans-serif body (Inter). Mobile-responsive. No heavy animations.

The first prompt gives the AI total creative freedom — which means you get whatever it thinks a photography website should look like. The second gives the AI a blueprint — which means you get something close to what you actually want.

Building is just prompting with higher stakes
Everything you learned in Phases 0-1 applies here. Specificity, context, format, constraints — they're all the same techniques. The difference is that when you're building something, the cost of a vague prompt is higher: you get a broken or wrong build instead of a mediocre paragraph. The stakes make specificity more important, not less.

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers Iterating on Builds, Your Practice Rep — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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