6 Things UX Engineers Can Do that (Most) Regular Engineers Can't

UX engineer is an emerging hybrid role in the world of tech. Half-developer and half-designer, UX engineers blend the technical skills with a deep understanding of user-focused design.

You might wonder, why hire a jack-of-all trades when you can simply hire a UX designer and an engineer? Surely a dedicated specialist would be a stronger option than someone who splits their time between two radically different fields?

While full-time UX designers or engineers excel within their respective domains, UX engineers offer solutions and insights that neither traditional engineers nor designers can foresee on their own.

Here are six things that UX engineers can do that are beyond the abilities of most traditional developers.

1. Easily Communicate with Designers.

It goes without saying that designers and engineers speak different languages. Designers focus on aesthetics, user flow, and interaction, while developers concentrate on functionality, scalability, and performance. And yet, the success of any digital product requires excellent communication between these two groups.

Given their dual specialities, UX engineers can fluently speak both languages, enabling them to translate design objectives into technical requirements (and vice versa). They can explain why certain animations or interactions are key to the user experience in terms that developers can appreciate and plan for, and also offer alternatives to the design team if a design feature poses significant technical challenges.

2. Spot Potential Engineering Pitfalls Early in the Design Process.

UX engineers play a critical role in the early design phases of any product. In addition to working with the design team on user journey maps, wireframes, and prototypes, their most valuable contribution is helping to identify and avoid potential technical challenges before they become a headache for the dev team.

For instance, they might recommend adjustments to designs that rely on full-width, high-resolution images or complex animations, which can slow down page loading and degrade performance on older devices. They can also preempt issues with designs that may not translate well across different platforms (most often desktop to mobile). This early intervention streamlines the development process, ensuring the overall user experience is both user-friendly and technically sound.

3. Anticipate Edge and Corner Cases

UX engineers understand that everyone uses apps and websites differently. They recognize the need to shape their design strategies to be adaptable, making sure it’s flexible enough to meet a wide variety of user needs.

What if the user navigates the app in a non-traditional way? What if they only want to use one specific feature of the app? What if a user accesses the application in a low-bandwidth environment? What if the user has a visual impairment or uses some form of assistive technology?

By anticipating varied use cases from a technical standpoint, UX engineers ensure the app remains accessible and engaging, regardless of the user’s specific needs or how they use the product.

4. Code for Accessibility

UX engineers are well-versed in the principles of accessible design, such as ensuring sufficient color contrast, providing alternative text for images, and using semantic HTML to enhance the navigability of content. They understand the importance of designing with keyboard navigation in mind, recognizing that not all users can interact with a touchscreen or a mouse.

Beyond the technical skills, UX engineers approach accessibility with a mindset that views it as a fundamental aspect of the design, not an afterthought. They advocate for accessibility from the outset of a project, ensuring that considerations for diverse user needs are integrated into the design and development process.

This proactive approach helps prevent the need for costly retrofits and reworks, creating a smoother path to compliance with accessibility standards and regulations.

5. Write Easy-to-Read, Effective Documentation

Writing clear documentation is an artform. While some developers have a knack for it, the truth is, most developers can’t write to save their life. And even those who are skilled at writing often struggle to take a step back and see their work from the perspective of someone encountering it for the first time. This gap in communication skills and perspective can lead to difficult to understand documentation, and a company can lose valuable time trying to understand their own code and the reasons behind their own past decisions.

UX engineers understand the importance of empathy in design, which extends to how they approach documentation. They excel at putting themselves in the shoes of the reader, whether it’s a new developer on the team, a potential contributor from the wider community, or even themselves in the future. This helps them create easy-to-read and effective documentation that lays a crucial foundation for ongoing development and maintenance.

6. Explain Technical concepts to Non-Technical Stakeholders

UX engineers are experts in demystifying technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders like managers and CEOs. Their ability to translate complex jargon into clear, business-oriented language makes them invaluable in discussions where technical and business worlds intersect. This skill is particularly important when conveying the significance of specific technical decisions and their impact on user experience, project timelines, and ultimately, the bottom line.

Moreover, UX engineers use their empathy skills to anticipate the concerns and questions non-technical stakeholders might have. They prepare explanations that connect technical choices to business outcomes, such as improved user retention, increased engagement, or reduced development time in the future. By framing technical decisions in terms of business value, UX engineers help stakeholders understand the rationale behind certain approaches, fostering a sense of trust and alignment across different parts of the organization.