Software Development Methodologies in the Vibe-Coding Era
Four permutations charted against the same customer-expectation curve — waterfall, agile, and two variants of a two-track model where vibe-coding runs as an ephemeral feedback loop alongside production. Supporting evidence for “Vibe-coded prototypes need a deliberate human-centric path to graduate into something the team owns.”
Single Long Build
One uninterrupted arc from start to ship. Customer alignment (dashed) drifts away the entire time because nothing gets checked until the end — the gap is only visible at delivery.
Tight Iterations
Delivery starts diverged from customer expectation like any new effort would — then converges quickly, and only once it’s caught up does the cycle of small corrections begin.
Merge & Retire
Vibe-coding runs as a super-tight, ephemeral feedback loop directly against customer expectation — short spikes, constant micro-correction, nothing kept. Production starts further off but, fed by that loop continuously, converges until it’s nearly indistinguishable from expectation by the time vibe-coding retires.
Permanent Discovery Arm
Vibe-coding runs indefinitely as a standing, ephemeral feedback loop directly against customer expectation — never retiring. Production releases in steps, getting tighter each time, never quite catching up but always closing in.