I’ve spent a lot of time “vibe coding”—you know, just jumping into the code and hoping for the best. Usually, I end up with an app that works but looks, well, a bit like poo. Honestly, it’s frustrating to build something powerful that nobody wants to use because it looks messy.
I just figured out a shortcut using Gemini 3.0 Pro that fixes this. Instead of treating the UI as an afterthought, we’re going to design the “vibe” first. This way, you don’t waste days on APIs and authentication before you even know what the app should look like.
In this guide, I’ll show you my 4-step system to turn a basic idea into a professional-looking interface.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Generate Your Product Roadmap
Most people start building features immediately. I’ve made this mistake twice, so be careful! If you don’t define your features first, your design won’t have a purpose.
First, you need a basic React app. Open your terminal and run: npx create-react-app@latest my-design-project
Once that’s ready, head over to Gemini. Your first goal is to create a Product Requirements Document (PRD).
- Tell Gemini your app concept.
- Ask it to generate an executive summary and a core feature list.
Step 2: Extract Your Core Features
The PRD has a lot of “fluff” like validation plans that we don’t need for design. We want to strip that away.
- Copy the features from Step 1.
- Paste them into a new prompt asking for “User Stories” and “UX Considerations.”
- Include details like: “How should the screen look if there is an error?”
I found this part really helpful because it forces you to think about the “Zero State”—what the app looks like when a user first opens it and there’s no data yet.
Note: Context is everything. If the AI doesn’t know how a user uses the feature, it can’t design a good button for it!
Step 3: Create a Beginner Guide to Design Systems
Now for the fun part: the aesthetics. You don’t need to be a designer to have a “design system.” You just need inspiration.
I personally love the look of the Claude AI interface. I went to a site called Mobbin, grabbed some screenshots of Claude, and fed them to Gemini.
- Ask Gemini to build a style guide based on your inspiration.
- Request specific colors (like “Clay Red” or “Ink Black”), typography, and button styles.
- Ensure it outputs a “token-based” system. This makes it super easy to plug into your code later.
Step 4: Build the Screens (The “Meat”)
Now we combine everything. We have the features, the user stories, and the style guide.
I use an IDE (like Cursor or VS Code) with Gemini 3.0 Pro to actually write the code. Here is how you do it:
- Use Tailwind CSS for styling. It’s the fastest way to get things looking “pro.”
- Ask Gemini to simulate the experience. I usually tell it to “Simulate an iPhone device” so I can see the mobile view in my browser.
- Go feature by feature. Don’t dump the whole app at once! Gemini works best when you focus on one screen at a time.
Warning: Don’t try to build the actual “logic” (like saving to a database) yet. Focus 100% on the visual simulation first. You can add the “guts” of the app later.
What Usually Goes Wrong?
I’ve coached a lot of people through this, and these are the two biggest speed bumps:
- The “Wall of Text” Prompt: If you give Gemini too much info at once, it gets confused and gives you generic designs. Stay focused on one feature.
- Forgetting “States”: If you don’t ask for a “loading state” or an “empty state,” your app will feel broken when things aren’t instant.
Summary
Building a beautiful UI isn’t about being an artist; it’s about having a system. By using Gemini 3.0 Pro to think through your PRD, style guide, and screen states before you code, you’ll save weeks of frustration.
Have you tried “vibe coding” before, or do you prefer planning it out? Let me know in the comments if this 4-step system works for your next project!
FAQs
Do I need to be a designer to use this system?
Not at all! That is the best part. I’m a coder, not an artist. By using the “inspiration” method (Step 3), you are letting Gemini act as your creative director. As long as you can find an app you think looks cool, Gemini can help you translate that “vibe” into technical design tokens.
Why should I use Gemini 3.0 Pro instead of just writing the CSS myself?
Honestly, writing custom CSS from scratch is a time-sink. Gemini 3.0 Pro is excellent at understanding spatial relationships—it knows where a button “should” go to feel natural. When you combine it with Tailwind CSS, it generates clean, utility-first code that is much easier to tweak than a messy stylesheet.
What if I want to change the design later?
Because we used a token-based design system, it’s a breeze. You just tell Gemini, “Hey, update our ‘Primary Brand Color’ from Clay Red to Forest Green across the whole system,” and it can rewrite the styles in seconds.
Does this process work for mobile apps or just web apps?
Both! In the tutorial, I mention telling Gemini to “Simulate an iPhone device.” This forces the AI to think about “mobile-first” constraints, like thumb-reachability and smaller screen real estate. You can apply the same logic to desktop dashboard designs too.
How do I fix UI designs in React that look “broken” when Gemini generates them?
If the layout looks weird, it’s usually because of a missing Tailwind configuration or a container that isn’t sized correctly. Note: Always check that you have Tailwind CSS properly installed in your React project. If the styles aren’t showing up, 90% of the time it’s because the tailwind.config.js file isn’t pointing to your source folders.