tools i use as a design engineer in 2026

My guilty pleasure is to read - or watch - about people's setups, both digital and physical. I feel like I've gone full circle being very quick to try and adopt new software (hello shiny new toy!) and gradually getting tired of it (goodbye...). After more than six years of design and development work, a few select have made their way into my solid rotation.

Heavy rotation crew

The first mention will always go to my journal. I own a leather cover traveler's notebook in which I can slide a few different inserts, namely a weekly planner and a blank page notebook in which I can brain dump, brainstorm and brain think. I'm a 90s kid and you will tear the analog out of my cold dead hands before I replace list making with a software. I have this Shortcut set in place called start dev which opens Zen browser + VS Code + iTerm. My work takes place first and foremost in the internet browser. As I love Arc, but didn't love the CPU usage on my machine, I quickly discovered Zen and adopted it (open source baby!). VS code and iTerm are simply the veterans of this lineup, they never disappoint and are catered to my workflows and needs. Of course I change my theming regularly (look if a girl can't change the theme of her software then what's the point, really?).

Where design happens

These days, I design by building. I hear the research and design crowd gathering around my house as I type this but it's simply the reality of design work. It is so gratifying and motivating to be able to build, at record speed if I'm honest, real products right into the browser (and polish my full stack skills while I'm at it). Claude Code has a dedicated tab on iTerm, I'm a fan of the stripped-down terminal look of it, and have been really enjoying delegating work while I focus on crafting memorable user experience. My stack of choice is Vue, Tailwind and shadcn-vue. The combination make building stuff really fun and effortless for someone who is used to working in small teams, or solo.

The one left behind

Let's address the elephant in the room; Figma. I have a love-hate relationship with this one. It's obviously the best interface design and design system management tool I have ever tried but the subscription based pricing model has always been the thing that keeps me at arm's length. In my personal case, as someone who's expected to craft interfaces and build them, Figma, as good as it is, has been a bit of a time waster sometimes.

Music

I recently replaced my music streaming platform with Qobuz. As well as supporting a fellow French company, they have a higher rate of streaming dividends for artists. To be honest there's a learning curve to changing a software that I'd been using for maybe a good six years, especially when it comes to music. Switching platform made me rethink and reconnect with the music I like and I've just been really aware and enjoying building new habits when it pertains to music listening.

Shiny new toys

Obviously I love software, I love diving into a new tool and discovering if it's for me. Linear has been a new contender for project management, its focus on development has really been another facet of this build-heavy focus I seem to be having recently. I'm interested in using Cursor. I think my stance right now is that I am very happy with iTerm + VS Code combo and that my technical skills bridge what Cursor could bring me but I love being woo'd by a shiny new software so time will tell. I'm also getting curious about agentic workflows.

What didn't stick

Obsidian, Notion, anything too loose in format — these are the real time wasters for me. I get seduced by the possibilities, spend an afternoon setting up the perfect system, and produce nothing of actual value. If a tool makes me think about the tool more than the work, it's out. I do use Obsidian for roleplaying table-top management and writing, but it's not part of the dev crew.