Claude Code Fundamentals › Module 2: The Planning Mindset
Core Concept
Module 2

The Planning Mindset

The skill that separates vibe-coding from real building

Duration ~40 minutes
Topics 4 Topics
Key Skill Think Before Build

📚 Where We Left Off

✅

Claude Code Installed

It's running on your Mac

✅

First Conversation

You understand the rhythm

✅

Something Built

You created a real HTML page

You've built something with Claude Code. It worked! Now you want to build more. The temptation is to just keep prompting—ask Claude to add features, fix bugs, make it better. This is what most people do. It's called "vibe-coding."

The vibe-coding trap:
"Add a button here. Now make it blue. Wait, it broke something. Fix that. Actually, can we undo the last three changes? I'm not sure what we did anymore."
Vibe-coding feels productive because things are happening. But you end up in loops—building, breaking, rebuilding. The alternative is the planning mindset: asking Claude to think before it builds.
Your ID superpower:
"As an instructional designer, you already know this. You don't build a course without learning objectives. You analyze before you design. The same discipline applies here—you're just applying it to code instead of curriculum."

⚡ The Core Insight

Vibe-Coding Prompts

  • "Add a login form"
  • "Make it look better"
  • "Fix the bug"
  • "Can you add dark mode?"

Planning Prompts

  • "What would we need for user authentication?"
  • "Research design options and recommend an approach"
  • "Analyze what's causing this and propose a fix"
  • "Plan how we'd add dark mode without breaking existing styles"
The difference:
"Building prompts tell Claude to do. Planning prompts ask Claude to think. Ten minutes of planning can save hours of debugging."

🛠️ What You'll Learn

🎯

Planning vs Building

Recognize the two types of prompts

🔍

Research First

Ask Claude to explore before implementing

📋

Review a Plan

Evaluate proposals without being technical

📈

Compound Advantage

Why this investment pays off

🎯 By the End of This Module

Distinguish
planning prompts from building prompts
Ask
Claude to research before implementing
Review
plans without being a technical expert
Know
when to plan vs when to just build

🧠 Ready to Think First?

This module is about changing your default approach. Let's learn the prompts that trigger planning mode.

Module 2 Progress: Introduction Complete • Next: Topic 2.1 – Planning vs Building Prompts

Start Module