Product Design Engineering
A Designer’s Guide to Building and Shipping Code with AI
Designers design and engineers code. Correct? No longer. In Product Design Engineering, David Eisner opens up the world of designers by teaching them how to work directly in code, expanding their roles and having more impact on their products. This shift in working is possible thanks to AI and modern tools. In addition to lots of explanatory copy and examples, Eisner provides a step-by-step path to shipping frontend work. The book begins with small updates and moves toward larger features, whether you are starting from scratch or ready to take on more advanced projects.
Who Should Read This Book
This book is written for people who want to take a more direct role in building and shipping the products they design by writing their own code. Specifically, it applies to product designers and design leaders, who want to have more control of their product by writing the code that was previously assigned to someone else. The book is also useful for product managers, engineers, researchers, and other collaborators who want to change the way they work on a team.
Takeaways
- Learn how working in code can expand your role as a designer and increase your impact on the product.
- See how AI and modern tools make this shift to doing your own code more accessible.
- Explore the tools, terms, and practices that help you understand a real codebase and turn your design into a working product.
- Carry your own work into the codebase, avoiding long waits and possible friction if someone else takes over the code.
- Learn how to run code locally; make updates to it; test, debug, and interpret code; and finally ship your code.
- Create an engineering workflow that is broken into smaller more manageable steps.
- Practice with hands-on exercises throughout the book that explain the process.
- Find a logical way to introduce this way of working into your company, learning how to build support, choose where to start, decide how much should (or should not) be in code, and keep research and craft at the center.
Designers design and engineers code. Correct? No longer. In Product Design Engineering, David Eisner opens up the world of designers by teaching them how to work directly in code, expanding their roles and having more impact on their products. This shift in working is possible thanks to AI and modern tools. In addition to lots of explanatory copy and examples, Eisner provides a step-by-step path to shipping frontend work. The book begins with small updates and moves toward larger features, whether you are starting from scratch or ready to take on more advanced projects.
Who Should Read This Book
This book is written for people who want to take a more direct role in building and shipping the products they design by writing their own code. Specifically, it applies to product designers and design leaders, who want to have more control of their product by writing the code that was previously assigned to someone else. The book is also useful for product managers, engineers, researchers, and other collaborators who want to change the way they work on a team.
Takeaways
- Learn how working in code can expand your role as a designer and increase your impact on the product.
- See how AI and modern tools make this shift to doing your own code more accessible.
- Explore the tools, terms, and practices that help you understand a real codebase and turn your design into a working product.
- Carry your own work into the codebase, avoiding long waits and possible friction if someone else takes over the code.
- Learn how to run code locally; make updates to it; test, debug, and interpret code; and finally ship your code.
- Create an engineering workflow that is broken into smaller more manageable steps.
- Practice with hands-on exercises throughout the book that explain the process.
- Find a logical way to introduce this way of working into your company, learning how to build support, choose where to start, decide how much should (or should not) be in code, and keep research and craft at the center.
Testimonials
Better products, delivered faster, by more efficient teams?! Sign me up! David Eisner’s Product Design Engineering for Designers makes it clear and simple how to get these benefits. A must-have resource.
—Jared Spool, Maker of Awesomeness, Center Centre
The clearest case I’ve seen for why AI-assisted coding isn’t a shortcut for designers—it’s how design finally owns its own output.
—Jesse Kulp, Human Interface Designer, Apple
The definitive guide for shipping design in code. Practical, fun, and relevant at every stage of design-to-code maturity. The book every design team needs to build skills, confidence and processes for shipping design in code—whatever your starting point is.
—Melanie Dreser, Senior Director Product Design, Celonis
Practical from page one. It doesn’t just argue designers should build but shows you how. It’s honest that every team’s answer differs, but it’s also unafraid of the harder question: what design becomes next.
—Vaishali Rajurkar, Lead Product Designer, Adidas
The clearest guide I’ve seen for designers ready to close the gap between what we design and what actually ships. Eisner makes a compelling case that AI hasn’t made design less important; it’s made design’s reach bigger than ever.
—Neha Pahwa, Senior Director, Design & Research, Thomson Reuters
Table of Contents
Part 1: Foundation
Chapter 1: Why Doesn’t This Match? (Designing By Proxy)
Chapter 2: How to Become a Product Design Engineer
Chapter 3: Exploring Modern Engineering Tools
Part 2: Working in Code
Chapter 4: Getting Ready to Code
Chapter 5: Running Code Locally
Chapter 6: Making Visual Updates
Chapter 7: Testing and Debugging
Chapter 8: Shipping Code
Chapter 9: Advancing to Functional Updates
Chapter 10: Building Features and Components
Part 3: Scaling Your Impact
Chapter 11: Getting Started with Product Design Engineering
Chapter 12: Working as a Product Design Engineer
Chapter 13: Leading an Organizational Shift
Chapter 14: The Future of Design is Building
