The craft matters more than the output — a counterpoint to vibe coding¶
Insight: The value of design engineering is in the craft itself, not the end product — the prefers-reduced-motion query, the elegant custom property, the encapsulated deletable component, the anticlimactic go-live that proves thorough preparation. Vibe coding misses this point entirely. "No prompt or koolaid-infused-workflow will bring that joy."
Detail: Mudford (co-creator of Utopia, design engineer at Motorway) frames the AI debate not as fear but "pity and disappointment." He compares vibe-coded output to e-biking a parkrun: you'll finish first but won't feel the satisfaction of earned achievement. The implicit argument is that design engineering's value proposition is the quality of thought embedded in decisions (server-side vs. client-side testing, accessibility, extensible systems) that AI doesn't value or understand. This represents one end of the design engineering spectrum — valuing deep craft over speed — contrasting with Chris Nager's "I let go of my code purist mindset, and vibed" approach.
Sources
- Trys Mudford — "The joy is in the craft" (2025-05-09)