Dive Club 🤿 Dan Winer - How to become more strategic and advance your career
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Aug 22, 2025 Dan Winer, Director of Product Design at KIT and Maven instructor, empowers designers to elevate their careers. He shares strategies for effective storytelling and aligning design with business goals. Dan discusses eight key skills he evaluates when hiring, the growing importance of design systems, and harsh truths about portfolios. He also offers insights on using data to showcase the impact of design work and emphasizes the value of collaboration with stakeholders. This is a must-listen for designers aiming to transition from pixel pushers to strategic thinkers!
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Pass The Six-Second Visual Test
- Make your portfolio match the visual quality of companies you want to join by redesigning outdated screens.
- Visual design fundamentals (spacing, hierarchy, typography, color) are a fast gatekeeper for interviews.
Use A Short Project Loom
- Record a short Loom of a project you're proud of and prep to discuss it in an interview.
- Use the presentation to show end-to-end process, interactions, and contributions to a design system.
Propose A Paid Trial Week
- Ask to work with the team for a paid trial week and treat it like real work to show communication and problem-solving.
- Deliver a prototype, ask clarifying questions in Slack, and demonstrate async collaboration.