Andy Zhang - From early Figma to design engineer at Windsurf
Aug 15, 2025•50 min•Ep. 120
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Episode description
This week's episode is with Andy Zhang who was the lead design engineer at Windsurf. So we're going to shine a light on all of the ways you can make an impact as a design engineer including:
- Owning more of the frontend polish
- Thinking through design patterns and packaging features
- Bridging the gap between technical features and intuitive UX
- Saying “no” to features to preserve the simplicity of the system
He also shares some great stories and advice including:
- What it was like working as an intern at Figma with <10 people
- How designers can start to get more comfortable with code
- How he taps into his experience as a PM at Uber while selecting the right design process
- a lot more
- Rasmus Andersson (https://x.com/rsms) - Designer/engineer at Figma, mentor to Andy
- Kevin Hou (https://x.com/kevinhou22?lang=en) - Lead product engineering at Windsurf, Andy’s basketball teammate who helped him get the job
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