Designers: Be a translator.
Designers and engineers often seem to speak completely different languages. I live for those moments. I’ve spent time in both worlds, and I’ve learned that being the translator is an incredibly powerful role.
Please note: this is not yet another think-piece about whether designers should code. To quote the inimitable Laura Klein and Kate Rutter: “who says we don’t?”
A foot in both worlds
I started my career as a UNIX sysadmin in the early 2000s. I monitored IP addresses, managed printer queues, compiled custom kernels, and crawled around server rooms plugging things in.
Now I lead design teams.
It might sound like a weird jump, but these two worlds have more in common than you’d think. Both are about tackling complex problems — just from different angles.
When worlds collide (a real story)
A few years back, I was leading design for a B2B platform. We were working on a feature that would let users handle sensitive documents entirely online — something that traditionally required a lot of manual work and paper processing.
Our design team had spent weeks researching pain points and crafting what seemed like an elegant solution. The interface would let users manage their documents in a way that felt as natural as handling paper, but with all the advantages of digital.
But when we brought the designs to engineering, we hit a wall. There were complex regulatory requirements around document handling, security protocols that couldn’t be compromised, and thorny technical challenges around maintaining document integrity throughout the process.
This is where knowing both languages became crucial.
To the designers, I could explain the technical constraints through a user lens: “Remember how users told us trust is everything? Each of these technical requirements exists because it protects the user in some way. We need to make these safeguards visible and reassuring, not hidden and frustrating.”
To the engineers, I could frame the user needs in systems terms: “Think of this like a state machine, but one that humans need to understand. Each step needs to be clear and traceable, just like how we handle logging in our backend systems.”
The result? We developed a solution that respected both worlds:
- Users got a clear, step-by-step flow that felt natural and trustworthy.
- Engineers got a technically sound system with a solid audit trail.
And most importantly:
- Our company got a feature that helped users work better, and made the company revenue.
Why this matters
This translation work does more than just solve immediate problems. It helps everyone work together in unexpected ways:
- We catch potential issues early, before they become real problems.
- Teams trust each other more, because they understand each other better
- The team comes up with better solutions, faster, because we’re considering all angles from the start
AI in design and development
Designers, please don’t roll your eyes! Keep reading, here’s where we get to the good stuff.
While I’ve spent years helping designers and engineers understand each other, AI tools are starting to act as universal translators in their own right. This is a good thing.
Designers can now use AI to quickly generate code snippets from their designs, helping them understand technical implications earlier in the process. Engineers can use AI to explore design variations and understand UI patterns, making them more engaged in the design process.
These tools aren’t replacing the need for human translators. Instead, they’re making our role more important. While AI can help with the mechanics of translation, it takes human judgment to:
- Choose the right moments to use these tools
- Evaluate and validate the output
- Maintain the human element in our products
When a designer uses AI to generate code, they still need someone who understands both worlds to help them distinguish between a technically correct solution and the right solution for their specific context. When engineers use AI to explore design patterns, they need guidance on which patterns align with the product’s design principles and user needs.
The real opportunity lies in using AI to enhance communication between designers and engineers, not replace it. It’s another tool in our translation toolkit, one that helps both sides explore and understand each other’s worlds more quickly.
The path forward
For technical people thinking about moving into design: your background isn’t baggage. It’s a superpower.
For designers wanting to work better with engineering: learning the basics of how your product is built will make you better at your job. You don’t need to become a programmer, but understanding their world matters.
The future of product development isn’t about picking sides between design and engineering. It’s about bringing these worlds together to build better products. Being fluent in both languages is the key to making that happen.
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I’ve spent 20+ years moving from UNIX administration to design leadership. These days, I lead design and research at Homebase, where we’re making work easier for hourly teams. Drop me a note if you’d like to chat about bridging the tech-design divide!
