tl;dr: In a time where anyone can build anything, design can become your biggest edge. Here's how I moved beyond AI generated slop and how you can too, without the hassle.

Read time: 4 minutes

Make design a top priority

The very first application I built was fully custom. No component library, no design system, not even a site layout template. Just "vibes". And well, decide for yourself but clearly this was not the right path 😄

The next application I built was quite different as I went on the other extreme of the spectrum: all in on letting the AI take care of most of the design decisions. It got more traction because it was standardized and felt more familiar to users but at the same time, you will also agree that it looks very much like any other AI generated site.

And my latest site that is about to launch soon is somewhere in between, though slightly leaning towards customization as I wanted to build something that is (in my opinion) enjoyable to explore and use.

Clearly this is a journey. For me. For you. For anyone out there building products. Will you nail your very first product design? Probably not. But that’s okay. What’s important is to listen to your user’s feedback. Be critical with yourself and try to grow over time; avoid making the same mistakes twice. And what I find super useful too: simply explore many of the vibe coded applications that you can easily find via the oh so annoying “how I built a $10k MRR app in 10 days” threads on Reddit.

In a world where anyone can build anything, design is a crucial differentiator. If you put effort into it, users will notice and reward you with higher engagement and retention. If design is just an afterthought of yours, users will notice the obvious AI slop in the form of standards like Roboto font, blue purple color gradients, and shadcn icons. So don’t make the mistake to build your product and let AI do the design, or worrying about it after the product is basically done.

Standing out is easier than you think

You don't need to be a designer to build something beautiful. But you do need a system. Here is what works for me:

Define your very design system: font, colors, spacing, etc. (Read all the details in this article).
Use non standard libraries instead of default shadcn components (Read more in this article)
Use outstanding individual design components that you can find via sites like 21st.dev
Set up a process that enforces your own design rules on every new component (I’ll share a step-by-step guide soon that you can copy for your own system.)

Happy and beautiful building everyone!

Why I Stopped Outsourcing Design to AI (And You Should Too)