“Design is often the bottleneck”

Friday, June 27, 2025

“Design is often the bottleneck”

Friday, June 27, 2025

“Design is often the bottleneck”

Friday, June 27, 2025

“Design is often the bottleneck”

“Design is often the bottleneck”

“Design is often the bottleneck”

Friday, June 27, 2025

That’s what a Lead Engineer told me — and I took that personally. I’ve worked with all kinds of engineers: frontend, backend, full-stack, iOS, Android, all in the same team. And I’ve always made sure no one on my team is stuck waiting on design.

That’s what a Lead Engineer told me — and I took that personally. I’ve worked with all kinds of engineers: frontend, backend, full-stack, iOS, Android, all in the same team. And I’ve always made sure no one on my team is stuck waiting on design.

So when I heard this, I had to ask: why?

Turns out, the designer was buried in meetings, research, interview, legal calls, alignment sessions, more meetings… everything except actual design.

I’ve always made it a habit to stay ahead of dev — but for that project, I committed to being at least one quarter ahead.

So when I heard this, I had to ask: why?

Turns out, the designer was buried in meetings, research, interview, legal calls, alignment sessions, more meetings… everything except actual design.

I’ve always made it a habit to stay ahead of dev — but for that project, I committed to being at least one quarter ahead.

And yes — it took effort. But with a solid design system, flexible local components, and focus, it was totally doable.

I still did discovery, stakeholder work, peer reviews, and even the occasional side quest — but only after the team had clear, actionable designs to build from.

Design shouldn’t slow teams down.

It should set the pace.

And yes — it took effort. But with a solid design system, flexible local components, and focus, it was totally doable.

I still did discovery, stakeholder work, peer reviews, and even the occasional side quest — but only after the team had clear, actionable designs to build from.

Design shouldn’t slow teams down.

It should set the pace.