Design is the Moat

Over the last few days, I’ve been “vibe coding” some ideas. Building quick prototypes without overthinking. What surprised me wasn’t how fast I could move, but how easy it has become to build something that actually works. Thanks to AI, spinning up fully functional tools and products is no longer reserved for engineers with years of experience. It's now possible for someone like me, a designer with a decent grasp of CSS and layout to ship production-ready apps/tools.

This is a paradigm shift!

AI has democratized building. You no longer need to be a 10x developer to launch a 10x product. The gap between an idea and a working prototype has collapsed. The tools are powerful, accessible, and fast. So naturally, we’re entering a world where everyone will be able to build feature-rich products. Which means the bar is about to get much higher.

In this new world, code is not the moat. Design is.

If everyone can build features, what makes your product stand out isn’t how many buttons it has. It’s how it feels to use them. The clarity, the craftsmanship, the small moments of delight — all of that is design. And not just visual design, but the experience as a whole. From onboarding to micro-interactions to performance, design is what will separate products that get ignored from those that get loved.

Code is becoming a commodity. Taste is not.

That’s why design is the real moat. Not the kind you fake with a pretty landing page, but the kind that’s baked into the product from the first click to the last detail. Design-led products are not just easier to use. They’re harder to copy. Because fortunately or unfortunately, you can't fake taste.

This is where designers gain a massive advantage. Not only can they now build, they can build beautifully. With taste, empathy, and attention to the human side of software.

The future belongs to those who can ship, but more importantly, to those who can ship well-designed things. And in this new builder economy, design isn’t just a skill. It’s a moat.