Collaboration between design and development is crucial to creating systems that effectively meet users' needs. It requires mutual effort from both teams to create successful products. These are some of my reflections having been a solo designer in an engineering heavy team:

Continuous discussions between designer and developer on feature outcomes
As a designer developer team, it is crucial to discuss the questions about a system's users, not just the technical feasibility of the feature. By using the desired outcome as a compass to guide the discussion, design and engineering can engage in more open and creative exploration of possible solutions, rather than simply seeking to implement designs accurately.

Starting with a simple design system setup
Design infrastructure does not have to be complex; it can start with a basic design system. An uncomplicated design system can still be effective and provide context and support for UX design.

Doing design QA with live links
Set up a internal system for parallel design QA of the feature as we implement is more effective than using stating images in Github towards the end of the process. This approach allows for testing the feature in its entirety rather than just focusing on visual design inconsistencies, which can lead to more informed and effective adjustments to the proposed UX changes.

Building effective collaboration through small and low-risk tasks
Collaboration on small, low-risk, easy tasks provides the team with an opportunity to build a rapport. This has helped me in building trust and confidence in their abilities to work together on multiple occasions.

Conduct interviews with other team members
Involving engineering in user interview sessions has served as a means to build common understanding as well as bring a different perspective on the collected data. By including engineers in user interviews helped in bringing multiple lenses into a conversation and surface valuable insights.