How Ricky Zhang Is Pioneering the Hybrid Role of Design Engineering

Beautiful products that actually work well—not too much to ask is it? You’d think so, but tech companies have struggled for years to nail this seemingly simple concept. On the one hand, it is a sleek product that attracts customers with its appearance. Users love its stunning design, but after a few days, complaints about crashes and sluggish performance flood in. Meanwhile, across town, an engineering marvel of an app works flawlessly, but its clunky interface confounds users.

It’s a tale as old as Silicon Valley, and one Ricky Zhang hopes to rewrite.

Bridging the Gap Between Form and Function

A pioneer User Experience (UX) design engineer at Mintlify, a San Francisco-based company that uses AI to help developers create and maintain documentation, Zhang is part of a new wave of professionals who are tired of the old “designers vs. engineers” rivalry. Instead, Zhang demonstrates what happens when you blend both skills into one role: the design engineer. It’s like being fluent in two languages, and he’s teaching the industry a valuable lesson in breaking down barriers.

“My pursuit of a career blending design and engineering was inspired by a fascination with creating seamless user experiences through both visual aesthetics and technical implementation,” Zhang explains. This commitment was strengthened while he worked at Mosaic, a 3D printing startup, where he “faced the challenge of designing a User Interface (UI) that could scale across various Internet of Things (IoT) devices with different screen sizes and pixel densities for multiple 3D printer models. This experience opened my eyes to the immense value of understanding both design principles and technical constraints.”

This decision shaped Zhang’s professional journey, leading him to roles where he was able to bridge the gap between design and development, ultimately creating more cohesive and user-centric products.

How Design Engineering is Transforming Product Development

In traditional setups, designers create mockups that engineers might later deem unfeasible. Or it could be that engineers build robust systems that designers then struggle to make user-friendly. As a design engineer, Zhang can spot these issues early and address them in real-time thanks to his unique perspective of both sides of the process.

That became clear in Zhang’s past roles. By merging design thinking with engineering prowess, Zhang has streamlined processes that once involved multiple handoffs and many potential opportunities for miscommunication. A great example is his design system.

Zhang explains that in this initiative, he took on the role of both designer and developer, leveraging his hybrid skillset to create a user-friendly, comprehensive design system. By creating reusable components and establishing clear guidelines, he significantly reduced design inconsistencies and development time across projects. “This system has had a substantial impact on workflow efficiency, enabling teams to create more cohesive and polished products in less time,” he adds.

Zhang takes pride in how fast it’s become to prototype, test, and refine new features. He explained that the design system has been instrumental as a learning tool for new team members, allowing them to quickly understand and adopt the company’s design principles and coding standards. The positive feedback and high adoption rate within the team have been particularly rewarding for Zhang, validating the effectiveness of the hybrid design-engineering approach he championed.

The Rising Demand for Hybrid Skill Sets in the Tech Sector

As more and more companies begin to recognize the advantages of hiring professionals with Zhang’s skill set, demand for their services grows. Experts predict this shift is not just a passing trend but a response to the complex challenges of modern product development.

“Design is becoming increasingly technical and requires a deeper understanding of technical concepts and tools,” writes Maria R, Software Engineer at Meta, on LinkedIn. “On the other hand, designers are shifting away from creative work [and] increasingly engaging in roles traditionally performed by business analysts and product managers. This transition likely stems from the expanding scope of design responsibilities, which have evolved beyond mere aesthetics to encompass a thorough understanding of customer needs, business imperatives, and market trends.”

This perspective is gaining traction in the industry. According to a recent Deloitte survey, over 80% of tech companies are now actively seeking professionals with cross-disciplinary skills. Educational institutions are also taking note, with several top universities introducing programs that combine these disciplines.

Zhang sees this as just the beginning. As Artificial Intelligence and machine learning become more integrated into product development, Zhang believes the need for professionals who can bridge the gap between human-centered design and complex technical systems will only grow. He’s primed to be among the very best.

Zhang aims to become a product owner and experience-oriented team lead, leveraging his unique perspective that spas both product design and engineering to create user-centric products. He also seeks to empower others in the field by fostering collaboration between designers and engineers.