# Designers should not be reduced to planning software ## Story option Designers should not be reduced to planning software. The best designers shape what they create directly. They see, touch, adjust, test, and refine against the real thing. Software pushed that work into files and handoffs because the product was too hard to touch. Mode changes that. Design Engineers can work in the actual product, with real code, real components, and engineering review still in the loop. ## Notes - Preserves Alex's current correction: the story is about designers shaping software itself, not only functional product editing. - Keeps the enemy on handoff culture, translation loss, static representation, and files/proxies replacing the product. - Do not frame engineers as the villain; use the launch spine to keep engineering review in the loop.