It is odd. It all stems from this idea that engineers make ugly products but that's just not true. I do think some engineers are more well versed in design than others though. I will say the ones I've met who are well versed in design are prone to doing odd things when comes to stuff like storing data. Like they won't know that area well and will introduce slowness or delay which also kills the product experience. I think like anything to be successful you need a high functioning team w/ various specialties, oddly enough I'm not convinced you actually need a dedicated "product" person.