> But we as engineers try to do both. We're already in the code, we have the CSS and components, so we start designing and engineering at the same time. When I hear about a feature request, my brain starts churning: can I build this? How does it align with the code I already have? I start estimating the work, and like any engineer, I begin to think about how I can do the work faster by cutting scope.

> This isn't how designers work.

It sort of is! The designer at a product organization has to keep in mind the same set of constraints: how would this work, how does it align with the rest of the product, how long is it going to take, and what is the tradeoff between essential functionality, and nice-to-haves? When working on blue-sky designs, some of that doesn't apply, but I don't believe most of his engineering considerations apply in that case either.

In general—speaking as someone who did both for a long time—I consider engineering a kind of design, just as UX and Product and so on are kinds of design. Design is just intentionally solving a problem while adhering to a set of parameters which includes goals, requirements, and constraints. That's engineering, that's UX, that's graphic design to a large extent, that's certainly product design. It's a lot of things, when you think about it. Mostly the tool sets and culture vary, but the central activity is equivalent. That's why I don't think turning off your engineering brain and turning on your design brain makes a lot of sense.