The most crucial mistake in the collaboration between designers and engineers happens when we conflate this division of tools with a need for a strong division of labor. Treating design and engineering as two completely separate processes leads to an isolated waterfall workflow where designers first get to dream up ideas in static tools, and engineers then implement the desired features when they are ready for development. The design handover, this supposedly magic moment where design has finished and engin
The Gulf Between Design and Engineering beats one of my favorite drums: the broken design/developer workflow. There are some great nuggets in here, including some principles for better workflows:
- Flatten your waterfalls
- Make code the design product
- Operate like an open source project
- Increase visibility through automation
- Plan like a farmer
