Lead Design Engineer (UX/UI) & CPACC certified
Designing experiences that leave no one behind
Hey there, I'm Joakim Sommar 👋
A designer by nature, with a system thinker’s eye for what scales. As a Lead Design Engineer, I bridge design and engineering – with a strong focus on accessibility (CPACC) and an AI-first mindset.
400+
Websites launched, since 2018
4.9/5
Rated by developers (for file structure & handoff quality)
0
Critical accessibility blockers post-launch
I believe that great design starts long before the first pixel is pushed.
Most of the time it's about understanding the context, users, and the business – and exploring problems, not immediately jumping to solutions.
This is especially critical now, where AI tools can make it easy to skip essential research.
Skipping research works sometimes, but can easily build up both technical and design debt fast. Depending on the project of course.
Ever wonder what a Design Engineer is?
What is a Design Engineer?
A Design Engineer sits at the intersection of design and frontend engineering. They don't just create designs and hand them off – they understand and are able to build them too. Think of it as the role that closes the gap between how something looks in Figma and how it actually ends up in the product.
Is a Design Engineer a designer or an engineer?
A designer with an engineer's understanding of how things are built. The base is design – visual craft, user experience (UX), accessibility – but extended into code, systems, and technical thinking. It's not half and half. It's a designer that codes.
How is it different from a UX/UI Designer?
A UX/UI Designer typically hands off to developers. A Design Engineer bridges that gap by also being able to build. This means fewer misunderstandings in implementation, higher quality in the final product, and a much tighter loop between design intent and technical reality.
How is it different from a Frontend Developer?
A Frontend Developer is primarily concerned with building what's specced out. A Design Engineer is equally concerned with why it looks and works the way it does — bringing visual craft, user empathy, and system thinking into the code itself.
How do I know if I need a Design Engineer?
You might already know this role under a different name — UX engineer, UI engineer, design technologist, design systems architect, or simply a UX/UI designer with frontend skills. As Paraform puts it: "they essentially bridge the gap between design and engineering to create products that meet technical constraints and user needs." If that's the gap you're trying to close, you're looking for a Design Engineer.
How do Design Engineers work with developers?
As a translator and collaborator, not a gatekeeper. Understanding how developers think — in components, logic, constraints — means handoffs are cleaner, conversations are faster, and the final implementation is closer to the design intent. The goal is shared ownership of quality, not a relay race.
