Aziz

Freelance Design Engineer

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

@emilkowalski I’m interested in the thinking process and how you execute your work from idea to final outcome and when do you know when an outcome is perfect.

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

@theo I think this is a macos bug or something, it happened to me on helium browser but when i change the app it works fine

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

my rule for ai-generated ui code: i read every line before it ships.

not because it's bad. because i'm the one who has to explain it in review.

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

hot take: ai can write the component. it won't tell you the spacing is off by 4px.

taste is still the bottleneck, and it's the part worth getting good at.

what's the last thing you caught that the ai missed?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

z-index: 9999 is a cry for help.

keep a small scale (dropdown, sticky header, modal, toast) and stick to it. most layering bugs just disappear.

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

be honest: do you design dark mode first or light mode first?

and do you actually check both before shipping?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

design engineer tip: build the empty state, the loading state and the error state before the happy path.

the happy path is the demo. the other three are the product.

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

a css gradient is a few color stops. a webgl gradient is a shader: every pixel works out its own color, so you can blend in noise and it never looks flat.

mine's here: https://t.co/4GN09Nh7fj

if you've written shaders: what tripped you up first?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

what's on my portfolio: a webgl gradient generator and a case study you can click through.

open to full-time design engineer roles: https://t.co/VsPFvg6cOk

what's the one thing you look for first in a design engineer's portfolio?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

Hey @CharlesPattson , love what you're building 🙌

Small bug I noticed with https://t.co/7Mflg7Q8Ry :
Switching tabs fast shows the previous feed for ~2s before the right one loads. Probably a stale request overwriting the new one.

Happy to help if useful!

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

small ui experiments teach you more than big projects. one afternoon, one question, no roadmap.

the best ones start with "would this even work?"

what's the last tiny ui thing you built just to see if it would work?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

my webgl gradient generator has zero ai prompts. you just drag sliders.

try it here: https://t.co/4GN09Nh7fj

make one and tell me: what color did you start with?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

the code for a ui interaction takes an evening. getting the motion to feel right takes longer. it always does.

easing, duration, what happens when you interrupt it halfway.

what's the motion detail that took you way longer than the code?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

hot take: the ai coding tool matters less than the scope you give it.

"build this button with these props" beats "build me a dashboard" every time.

what's the one ai tool you open first when you start a new component?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

stop centering everything.

left-aligned text is easier to read past two lines. center is for short headlines and buttons, not paragraphs.

where do you still center text and think it's fine?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

sunday reset: close every tab, clear the desktop, write down the 3 things that matter this week.

what's the first thing on your list?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

saturday, coffee, and a side project that was supposed to take "one afternoon."

it was not one afternoon.

what's the side project you keep telling yourself is almost done?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

quick one: i'm open to full-time design engineer / software engineer roles.

the gradient tool and the clickable case study are the kind of work i want to do every day. https://t.co/VsPFvg6cOk

if your team hires design engineers, what does your interview actually look like?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

the arc situation is a good reminder: use tools you love, but keep your workflow portable.

export your stuff, know your shortcuts, don't let one app own your habits.

which app would hurt most if it shut down tomorrow?

[Aziz @SaadanaAziz]

design engineers: what's the one css property you think is underrated?

mine's clamp(). curious what yours is.