you are right. The goal of the research phase of the ux design process is to understand the users' goals, needs, values, knowledge and mental models. The design phase is aimed at identifying solutions that are able to satisfy those goals and needs (better than the competitors) and, at the same time, the goals of the stakeholders.

The "Product-Minded Software Engineer" is someone who has the opportunity to be informed by the analysis of the user research data, and offers his or her technical support to translate ideas and design in a working product or service.