For a long time, product design has been about creating a representation of the thing.
We research. We explore. We make flows, wireframes and polished screens. We prototype interactions, document decisions and eventually hand everything over to someone else to turn it into something real.
That process made sense when building was expensive and changing things was slow.
But that world is changing.
The distance between an idea and a working product is becoming smaller every day. The tools are better, technology is more accessible, and AI has dramatically changed what a single person can explore, create and build.
That changes what it means to be a designer.
I believe designers should get closer to the product again. Not just deciding how something should look or behave, but understanding how it works. Exploring ideas in code. Working with real data. Feeling the constraints of the browser. Making decisions in the actual environment where people will use them.
Because there is a limit to what you can learn from a static design.
An interaction can look perfect in Figma and feel completely wrong when you use it. A flow can make sense on a canvas and fall apart with real content. A component can seem flexible until it becomes part of a larger system.
You only discover those things by making them real.
That doesn't mean design disappears. It means design goes further.
It means moving freely between thinking and making. Between interface and implementation. Between product design and engineering. Using whatever tool gets an idea closer to reality, instead of stopping where the traditional role of a designer ends.
Sometimes that means sketching. Sometimes prototyping. Sometimes writing code. Increasingly, it means working with AI to move between all of those things faster.
The output isn't the design. The output is the product.
And the usual way isn't always the best way.
Stay odd.