Staff design is a combination of team leadership and in-the-pixels design work, all without managing direct reports. This handbook will guide you to success--whether you're already navigating a staff design role, or you're deciding if you should embark on the journey. You'll learn to build influence with soft power, improve your communication, and impact strategy at scale.
Who Should Read This Book
This book was written for UX practitioners who are considering the staff design role, including:
- Senior designers who want to get promoted to the staff level by identifying and filling their competency gap.
- UX practitioners who want to learn about the role before choosing between hands-on and management paths.
It's also incredibly helpful for staff designers in need of new tactics to shift from reactive to proactive, build influence, and become the leader they want to be.
Takeaways
- Learn what the difference is between a staff designer and a senior designer.
- Compare the duties of a staff designer in a small, medium, and large company settings.
- Make time for visioning and planning projects while you set healthy boundaries.
- Create and drive a product vision.
- Know how to build influence without authority.
- Scale your impact and prove your value as a staff designer.
About the Author :
Catt Small is a Staff Product Designer who has done design work for companies of all sizes including Asana, Etsy, SoundCloud, and Nasdaq. She started coding around the age of 10 and designing at the age of 15. She graduated from SVA with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2011 and later received an MS in Integrated Digital Media from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in 2016.
An observer at heart, Catt focuses on ways to improve the lives of people through design. She is interested in ways to increase empathy through interactive media. Many of her personal projects center around the human experience and tackle issues related to interpersonal relationships, self-expression, gender, and race.
In addition to her product design work, Catt makes video games by herself and with friends. She is co-organizer of the Game Devs of Color Expo, an annual event that amplifies the creative power held by people of color in games. In her spare time, she writes about professional development and creates artwork of all kinds.
Catt's work has been covered by many publications including Net Magazine, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed, and Black Enterprise. She has spoken at schools and events across the world including Yale, Columbia University, AIGA Design Conference, Beyond Tellerrand in Germany, UX Week, Microsoft's Codess Seattle, Google's Women Techmakers NYC, and TEDxFoggyBottom. Her games have been in a variety of exhibitions at venues such as IndieCade and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. You can view her work at cattsmall.com.
Review :
"The perfect blueprint for making REAL impact as an independent contributor."
--Ridd, Co-founder of Inflight and Host of the Dive Club podcast
"An essential read for any designer looking to grow beyond the senior level with influence and impact."
--Femke van Schoonhoven, Design Manager, femke.design
"Catt's book nails the mindset shift every staff designer has to go through: navigating ambiguity, influencing the business, and scaling your impact. An essential read for every designer serious about leveling up."
--Senongo Akpem, VP of Design at NavaPBC
"Staring into the senior void? Catt's book is like a friendly coach, giving you cross-company insights and frameworks to drive your UX career forward."
--Cheryl Platz, former Principal UX Designer at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation; author of Design Beyond Devices
"This book should be required reading for designers who start to wonder what's next. It takes the gnarliest challenges of climbing the individual contribution ladder and presents bite-sized, approachable frameworks and lessons anyone could implement the same day."
--Abby Covert, Chief Sensemaker at The Sensemakers Club
"Staff designers are more important than ever in today's environment. Catt's book will help you thrive as one."
--Jenny Wen, Design Lead at Anthropic
"A ridiculously practical guide to an often-undefined area of super senior leveling and success."
--Hang Xu, Design Recruiter and founder of Designer Friends
"In the fast-paced, chaotic world of startups, many designers grow in seniority out of necessity, rather than readiness. Catt's book offers actionable insights from a diverse range of experiences and voices, with thoughtful research that I found easy to learn from and apply in my own work, especially as I recently assumed the mantle of staff designer. I highly recommend this book to anyone on their journey to seniority, and beyond."
--Asia Hoe, Staff Product Designer and Public Speaker
