The trashy, vibe-coded design of my app is unanimously preferred over the carefully crafted one I designed in Figma
I've created a mobile app to train for memory competitions. Competitors use it to memorize long sequences of words, numbers, names, and then reproduce them accurately. Users like it so far, but the design feels 100% AI-generated (because it is), and I personally hate it. It’s the first image in this post.
So I patiently collected inspirations from Twitter and other platforms, thought deeply about the feeling I wanted users to experience: sleekness, performance, a more competitive and serious atmosphere overall. I studied the fundamentals of design, what makes a good interface, the common pitfalls to avoid, and eventually created a new home screen design in Figma. Naturally, I’m proud of it. It’s the second image in this post.
I showed both versions to my friends, expecting them to overwhelmingly prefer the second design, which is to me clearly more polished, intentional, and refined.
Instead, they unanimously preferred the vibe-coded one, full of terrible emojis and purple gradients screaming “LLM-generated.”
Could someone explain what I’m missing here? What exactly is failing in the design I made myself?
EDIT : thanks everyone for trashing my Figma design with valid points (terrible hierarchy, barely legible illustrations, lack of contrast and no color, no understanding of what to do), I'll just get back to work!