Build a Throwaway Prototype First: How I Use Vibe Coding to Avoid Tech Debt

Source: Dev.to

TL;DR

Diving into Lovable without a plan turned my first build into an unusable mess.
The fix: build throw‑away prototypes first.

I now spend a few hours creating high‑level versions to explore layouts, flows, and components before starting production. When I’m ready to build for real, I use Lovable’s chat to summarize what I learned, then refine that into a foundation prompt with ChatGPT. The result is a cleaner starting point and fewer side effects.

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My Role as a Technical Product Manager

My job was to be an orchestrator:

• Designers – define user flows.
• Developers – identify table structures that won’t corner us later.
• QA – decide whether something is a feature or a bug.
• Customer Success – provide the artifacts needed for a release.
• Stakeholders – deliver roadmap updates.

The work is rewarding, but it sometimes lacks the joy of taking something from start to finish and checking it off the to‑do list.

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First Attempt with Lovable.dev

I jumped in head‑first, like a kid in a candy store:

• Built fast, had fun, but produced unstable code.
• Constantly switched approaches, causing unintended side effects.
• Changing something on one page broke another page.

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The Pre‑Build Stage: Throw‑Away Prototypes

“If you go into the pre‑build stage with the understanding that you will throw things out, you can get the most value out of this step.”

What to Identify

1. High‑level flows you want to build.
2. Patterns you want to follow.
3. Opportunities to reuse functionality across the software.
4. Page layout decisions.
5. Potential scaling issues.

The power of vibe coding is that you can iterate and test concepts rapidly, then build cleanly on a stable foundation when you’re ready.

Multiple Throw‑Away Projects

• Don’t feel bad about saying, “I want to explore concept X on its own.”
• The goal is iteration, not perfection.
• A short exercise of a day or two at most (often just a few hours) is enough.

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My Revised Process

1. Create a few pre‑build throw‑away projects after the first unwieldy attempt.
2. Hard‑code data; make buttons automatically advance to the next step.
3. Use these prototypes to surface insights about the user experience.

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Case Study: AssMan.ai

Goal

Make it immediately clear that the product is related to the Football Manager game series (origins of the name can be found [here]).
Also, make the call‑to‑action (CTA) obvious so users know what to do without thinking.

Prototype Development

• Spent days tinkering in the pre‑build stage (instead of the usual handful of hours).
• The early “smoke‑and‑mirror” prototype can be seen [here].

When you run the flow on the live site today, you’ll notice many of the same core components:

1. Upload section → transitions to a spinner page while analysis runs.
2. Analysis page → displays feedback and provides an interactive chatbot at the bottom.

The final design was heavily influenced by these pre‑build prototypes.

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Final Flow (Desktop)

Header

• Logo: a traditional soccer scarf with the product name.
• Soccer ball icon for instant visual cue.
• Beta tag for transparency and user leniency.

Subtitle

“Interactive Feedback” – instantly shows the tool’s value (see my article on product validation for AssMan.ai).

Main Box (Three Core Elements)

1. Pulsing green button – clear, identifiable CTA.
2. Example tactic image – shows users exactly what screenshot to capture.
3. Screenshot instructions – reduces friction for users unfamiliar with the process.

• The UI adapts to the user’s operating system, defaulting to the appropriate screenshot method.
• Primary CTA: “Upload Tactic Screenshot” (core flow).
• Secondary CTA: “Paste from Clipboard” (for clipboard‑only captures).

All information is visible without scrolling, which was crucial for the mobile‑optimized version.

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Mobile Adaptation

Key Differences

• The change lets mobile users take a photo instantly or choose an existing image from their library.
• I debated moving upload/save functions to different locations based on device, but decided the split made sense because the player base is heavily PC‑oriented, so most users won’t have tactic photos on their phones.

Layout

• All essential information remains above the fold (no scrolling needed).

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Generating Tactic Feedback

The feedback component was built outside of Lovable using ChatGPT Playground, a tool that lets you test prompts and responses.

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Takeaways

• Plan before you build: use throw‑away prototypes to explore ideas.
• Iterate quickly: vibe‑code concepts, then solidify a stable foundation.
• Separate device experiences when user behavior differs dramatically (desktop vs. mobile).
• Transparency (beta tags, clear CTAs) builds user goodwill.

By embracing a short, purposeful pre‑build phase, I turned a chaotic first attempt into a clean, user‑focused product.

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Reflections on Prototyping with AI

I compared different AI models and settings exactly as they would behave via the API. Using the tool, I iterated until I found an output that would populate the frontend. You can see an example of the latest version here.

When it was time to start the real production product, I asked Lovable’s chat feature for an overview of where we stood on each prototype, entered that data into ChatGPT, and iterated until I found a prompt that would help lay a stable foundation.

What I Achieved

• General layout defined: pages, functionality, common components, and core flow.
• The prototype gave me a blueprint—no more guessing.
• I now knew what to scope, what to skip, and how to structure the product.

Recommended Approach

Build a throwaway prototype first.
Spend a few hours exploring how you really want the product to work so you don’t spend days or weeks correcting an assumption. Limit iterations to hours, and stretch only to multiple days when necessary.

Outlook

The barrier to building keeps getting lower. What took a lot of effort three months ago is easier now, and that gap will keep shrinking.