design-engineering
Help users understand and build design engineering capabilities. Use when someone is creating a design engineering function, hiring design engineers, or bridging the gap between design and engineering teams.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/refoundai/lenny-skills --skill design-engineering- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads design-engineering automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Design Engineering
Help the user understand design engineering using frameworks from 2 product leaders who have built design engineering functions at companies like Snap, Captions, and Vercel.
How to Help
When the user asks for help with design engineering:
- Define the role - Clarify what design engineering means in their context (prototyping, production code, or both)
- Identify the need - Determine if the gap is between design and engineering handoffs, prototype fidelity, or shipping speed
- Assess feasibility - Help them evaluate whether to hire specialists or develop existing team members
- Design the function - Guide them on where design engineering should sit organizationally
Core Principles
Merge UX design and engineering
Gaurav Misra: "A big part of what I did there was create this function called design engineering." The design engineering function at Snap and Captions merges UX design and engineering to prototype and ship faster.
Combine design sensibility with shipping ability
Guillermo Rauch: "A lot of the people that we were noticing were being very successful at Vercel were people that had both the design and engineering skills." The most valued design engineers combine high-end design sensibility with the ability to ship production-ready code.
Questions to Help Users
- "What's the current handoff friction between design and engineering?"
- "Do you need prototypes for validation or production-ready code?"
- "Where would design engineering sit in your org - design, engineering, or product?"
- "Do you have existing team members who could grow into this role?"
- "What tools and frameworks would design engineers use?"
Common Mistakes to Flag
- Unclear scope - Not defining whether design engineers prototype or ship production code
- Wrong org placement - Isolating design engineers from both design and engineering teams
- Hiring for unicorns - Looking for people who are world-class at both rather than strong at the intersection
- Ignoring AI tools - Missing how AI-assisted development is making this role more accessible
Deep Dive
For all 2 insights from 2 guests, see references/guest-insights.md
Related Skills
- Technical Roadmaps
- Managing Tech Debt
- Platform & Infrastructure
- Engineering Culture
FAQ
What does the design-engineering skill do?
Help users understand and build design engineering capabilities. Use when someone is creating a design engineering function, hiring design engineers, or bridging the gap between design and engineering teams.
How do I install design-engineering?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/refoundai/lenny-skills --skill design-engineering in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/design-engineering/ (personal) or .claude/skills/design-engineering/ (project).
Which AI agents can use design-engineering?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is design-engineering safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains design-engineering?
It is published by refoundai in refoundai/lenny-skills. It has 1,675 recorded installs.
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