How our product designer uses AI to move at engineering speed

Merge employs a unique design and engineering process that eliminates traditional phases like prototyping by leveraging AI tools such as Claude Code to swiftly transition from concept to production code. This approach enables rapid product development by allowing engineers to build backends and use AI to create initial front-end drafts, which designers then refine for user-friendliness. This integrated workflow facilitates faster iteration and avoids the typical bottlenecks associated with handoffs between design and engineering teams. The process encourages designers to work directly in the code environment, enhancing both the design quality and engineering velocity by eliminating the gap between design concepts and the final shipped product. This method, which empowers designers with commit access and bypasses traditional review gates like Figma, relies on trust in the designer's judgment and can significantly improve the overall efficiency and quality of product development.