June 4, 2025

4 ways to build better engineering partnerships

Designers that ship intentional and meaningful product experiences don’t just hand off work to engineers, they embed the team in the design process, and themselves in the implementation process and what comes after. Small changes in communication, process, and collaboration can reduce roadblocks, build better partnerships, and create product experiences that really stick.

1. Gain some technical knowledge
This doesn’t mean you need to go out and get a degree in computer science, and while it’s a ‘hot take’ when talking about designers learning to code — it’s helpful to have some foundational knowledge. Understanding even a little bit of programming can help designers build stronger working relationships with engineers, support technical understanding of implementation, and increase design foundation knowledge. Beyond that, you’ll design with realistic constraints and limitations, be able to have informed conversations about trade-offs, and you’ll be able to spot some potential issues before they become roadblocks during implementation.

Programming basics can make your designs better

Interaction, animation, and timing in designs
Gain confidence in the end-to-end design process
Accessibility in design
Semantic structure of a page
Design variables and how they can increase efficiency for the team
Understanding responsive breakpoints and how designs adapt across devices
Performance impacts of design

As always, keep asking questions to devs about how something works, how it’s implemented, and don’t be afraid to ask for it in layman’s terms to break down jargon and complex concepts!

2. Design handoff is just the start
After designs are polished, prototypes completed, and design documentation created and delivered, the collaboration between design and engineering should be at its strongest. Handoff doesn’t mean designers are done and can move on with other work and wait for engineers to implement; it’s the time for close and open communication, collaboration, QA, and feedback during build. Engineers shouldn’t be left to figure things out, implement on their own, and not have any design input until it’s live and you realize something isn’t how you intended.

How to be a proactive design collaborator

Check in often and offer support or clarity on design decisions, interaction, and experience
Ask for and encourage sharing screenshots and deploy previews
QA the experience before it goes live and test on all platforms
Be available for quick design decisions when edge cases emerge during development
Celebrate wins together

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming developers will interpret your designs exactly as you envisioned without discussion or annotations
Treating developer feedback as pushback rather than valuable input
Making design changes mid-development without discussing timeline and scope impact

3. Get feedback at the right time
Developers have a keen eye for user experience and user interface problems beyond technical concerns. They can help you see potential problems that you missed, offer excellent critique of the design, identify edge cases, and brainstorm assumptions that can be tested in research.

How to include engineers early and often

Share research insights with developers
Proactively ask for feedback throughout the process
Have regular retros with engineers
Facilitate eng only design reviews to have them weigh in on multiple concepts

During early proof of concepts

Get input on tech feasibility of concepts and identify concerns before investing in a direction
Understand limitations or constraints

During prototyping

Test technical assumptions with working code
Refine animations and transitions based on performance realities
Identify gaps between prototype and production constraints

During design refinment & polish

Review interaction patterns and micro-animations for technical complexity
Walk through flow and identify sticky areas or edge cases
Discuss responsive behavior and breakpoint strategy
Align on accessibility implementation approach

4. Make time for retros
Innovative, interactive, and purposeful product experiences aren’t built in a silo. Take time to invest in the relationships with your peers to build good things that do good, together.

Questions to ask at the start of the project

Have you ever worked with a designer before?
What’s your collaboration/communication style?
How do you like to participate in the design process?
What info do you like to have during handoff?
How do you like to receive feedback during build?
How do you like to work in Figma?
Where do you feel most/least confident giving design feedback?

Questions to ask during the project

How will the work be phased?
What does implementation look like?
Is this design feasible within project constraints?
What trade-offs do we need to make?

Questions to ask after a project is wrapped

What was the good, bad, and unexpected?
How can collaboration be better next time?
What challenges can we predict better next time?