Interrogating Design Homogenization in Web Vibe Coding

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Shin, Donghoon, Gao, Alice, Pang, Rock Yuren, Lee, Jaewook, Reinecke, Katharina, Tseng, Emily
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Shin, Donghoon
Gao, Alice
Pang, Rock Yuren
Lee, Jaewook
Reinecke, Katharina
Tseng, Emily
author_facet Shin, Donghoon
Gao, Alice
Pang, Rock Yuren
Lee, Jaewook
Reinecke, Katharina
Tseng, Emily
contents Generative AI is known for its tendency to homogenize, often reproducing dominant style conventions found in training data. However, it remains unclear how these homogenizing effects extend to complex structural tasks like web design. As lay creators increasingly turn to LLMs to 'vibe-code' websites -- prompting for aesthetic and functional goals rather than writing code -- they may inadvertently narrow the diversity of their designs, and limit creative expression throughout the internet. In this paper, we interrogate the possibility of design homogenization in web vibe coding. We first characterize the vibe coding lifecycle, pinpointing stages where homogenization risks may arise. We then conduct a sociotechnical risk analysis unpacking the potential harms of web vibe coding and their interaction with design homogenization. We identify that the push for frictionless generation can exacerbate homogenization and its harms. Finally, we propose a mitigation framework centered on the idea of productive friction. Through case studies at the micro, meso, and macro levels, we show how centering productive friction can empower creators to challenge default outputs and preserve diverse expression in AI-mediated web design.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13036
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Interrogating Design Homogenization in Web Vibe Coding
Shin, Donghoon
Gao, Alice
Pang, Rock Yuren
Lee, Jaewook
Reinecke, Katharina
Tseng, Emily
Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
H.5.2; I.2.7
Generative AI is known for its tendency to homogenize, often reproducing dominant style conventions found in training data. However, it remains unclear how these homogenizing effects extend to complex structural tasks like web design. As lay creators increasingly turn to LLMs to 'vibe-code' websites -- prompting for aesthetic and functional goals rather than writing code -- they may inadvertently narrow the diversity of their designs, and limit creative expression throughout the internet. In this paper, we interrogate the possibility of design homogenization in web vibe coding. We first characterize the vibe coding lifecycle, pinpointing stages where homogenization risks may arise. We then conduct a sociotechnical risk analysis unpacking the potential harms of web vibe coding and their interaction with design homogenization. We identify that the push for frictionless generation can exacerbate homogenization and its harms. Finally, we propose a mitigation framework centered on the idea of productive friction. Through case studies at the micro, meso, and macro levels, we show how centering productive friction can empower creators to challenge default outputs and preserve diverse expression in AI-mediated web design.
title Interrogating Design Homogenization in Web Vibe Coding
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
H.5.2; I.2.7
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13036