Real-World Vibe Prototyping at Google Maps

For many designers, “vibe coding“ sits in an uncomfortable gap. We see the hype, but the reality often feels like a parlour trick: great for messy experimentation, but unreliable for professional work. It challenges everything we’ve learned about pixel perfection, forcing us into a new, non-deterministic medium where we must “guide“ rather than “draw.“

At Google Maps, we have moved past this disillusionment by treating AI prototyping not as a magic wand, but as a rigorous design discipline. By reviving foundational patterns from computer science and creative coding—such as state machines, parametric design, and recursion—we are moving from generating raw code to intentionally designing behaviour.

This session takes you inside the Google Maps UX pipeline to show how we integrate vibe prototyping into workflows that serve billions. We will explore how we use scrappy, AI-driven prototypes to validate the “feel“ of dynamic interfaces and complex user flows long before engineering handover. You will leave with a practical framework for professionalizing your own AI prototypes, turning the unpredictable messiness of LLMs into scalable, human-centered experiences.