The Gulf Between Design and Engineering / Design Systems International
A new set of principles for better workflows when making digital products
“Ready for dev”
It’s safe to say that there is a natural tension between the fields of design and engineering. Traditionally, the role of design is to question, create meaning, and to argue for solutions that make for a better user experience. The role of engineering is to systematize, solve technical problems, and to argue for solutions that make for a simple, scalable, and future-proof implementation. The design process begins before we know what we want, and engineering usually happens when there is a clear notion of what is being built.
"Unfortunately, these projects often do more harm than good if the organization uses the design system as yet another initiative to centralize the decision-making process..."
- Flatten your waterfalls
- Make code the design product
- Operate like an open source project
- Increase visibility through automation
- Plan like a farmer