Somewhere Between Design and Dev: Life as a UX Engineer

I didn't know what a UX Engineer was when I became one.

What I did know was that I was spending a lot of time stuck in the middle of two teams who didn't seem to speak the same language. Designers handed off beautiful mockups with lovingly crafted animations and pixel-perfect layouts. Developers looked at those mockups and quietly panicked—performance deadlines, browser quirks, inconsistent specs, you name it.

At some point, I realized… huh, maybe this awkward in-between spot? Maybe this is the job.

Caught Between Two Worlds

Being a UX Engineer means you live in that weird space between "this looks great in Figma" and "this needs to work in production." It's not just about writing code, and it's not just about advocating for users. It's about making sure the experience that was designed actually becomes the experience that gets shipped.

It's part front-end dev, part design translator, part user advocate. And yes, occasionally part firefighter.

Sometimes that means helping a developer untangle a layout that looks simple on a spec sheet but turns into a nine-layer CSS nightmare when you actually build it. Sometimes it means gently explaining to a designer why their hover animation might tank performance on older devices. And sometimes, it means realizing neither side has asked the user how they feel about any of this—and being the one to bring that up.

On the Job: What It Actually Looks Like

I've spent a lot of time wrangling design systems—trying to keep component libraries from growing into unmaintainable spaghetti while also making sure nothing "feels off" across different products. When you're the one building and maintaining those shared components, you start to notice things like slightly different button padding haunting you across every page like some kind of UI ghost.

I've also been the one pushing for accessibility. Not because someone told me to, but because I've seen firsthand how much better interfaces get when they're built for everyone. Keyboard navigation, screen reader support, color contrast—it all matters. And it doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be intentional.

And look, I've failed plenty. I've launched features that felt great on desktop but were miserable on mobile. I've built things that looked exactly like the spec but totally missed the spirit of the design. I've watched users fumble through flows I was sure were "super intuitive." Spoiler: they weren't.

Testing, Tinkering, and Learning the Hard Way

One of the biggest lessons I've learned in this role? Don't wait until after you ship to find out you got it wrong.

That doesn't mean every idea needs a full usability study. Sometimes it's just watching someone try to use a prototype and seeing where they stumble. Sometimes it's showing a half-baked version to the team and asking, "Does this feel right?" And sometimes it's launching, realizing it's not quite working, and fixing it fast.

I've worked on projects where we coded a feature straight from a static comp, launched it, and only then realized nobody knew how to use it. Now? I try to build feedback into the process. Doesn't have to be formal. Just frequent.

The Stuff I Actually Use

If you care about tools, sure—I've used Figma, Sketch, InVision, React, Vue, Tailwind, PostCSS, Storybook, GitHub, you name it. But honestly, the most important tool? Curiosity. The willingness to ask, "Why does this feel clunky?" or "Is this actually helping anyone?" goes a lot further than knowing the hottest CSS trick of the week.

So… How Is This Different From a Front-End Dev?

Here's the short version: a front-end dev makes the thing. A UX Engineer makes sure the thing makes sense.

A UX Engineer is thinking about how it looks, how it feels, how it behaves across devices, and how it aligns with what the user actually needs—not just what's in the spec. They're the glue between design intent and engineering reality. And if you've ever watched a product get released and thought, "Why didn't they just…?"—well, that's the kind of thing a UX Engineer is trying to catch before it happens.

Why It Matters (At Least to Me)

I'm not here to argue that every team needs a UX Engineer. But I will say this: when you have someone in the room who cares about design, usability, accessibility, performance, and implementation equally, things tend to go smoother.

Designers feel heard. Developers feel supported. And users? They get something that doesn't just look good or work well—it does both.

At the end of the day, that's the job. Not being the expert in everything, but being the person who sees the whole picture and helps it all fit together.