Why I’m hiring a design engineer instead of a UX designer in 2026

I wouldn't say a UX designer is in demand right now.

I think it shifted a bit to product design first, and then it’s shifting to design engineering. So the expectations from designers are actually rising.

I’m currently, for example, hiring someone who must have expertise in artificial intelligence and also in front-end development. That’s why I’m looking for a design engineer, because this guy can actually build something.

But I also need someone who is good at research and good at the basics of user experience. Someone who knows heuristic evaluations, usability, and how to run usability testing.

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My designers: we went from three to actually one, including me. So we only have one design engineer, who covers the UX part, the user research part, the development part, and also the UI part.