Rosenfeld Review Podcast The Staff Designer with Catt Small
9 snips
Sep 29, 2025 Catt Small, a product and design leader with a rich background at Etsy, Asana, and Dropbox, joins to explore the emerging role of the staff designer. This conversation dives into how staff designers navigate complexity and influence without traditional management roles. Catt highlights the strategic breadth of staff designers, their importance in today's flattened organizations, and how they mentor others while guiding quality. She also emphasizes the need for a leadership mindset shift in design, recommending insightful reads to foster curiosity and collaboration.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Book Born From Personal Career Gap
- Catt Small decided to write The Staff Designer from her own lived experience after struggling to grow beyond senior.
- She taught a class and interviewed many practitioners before turning the idea into a book.
From Senior To Strategic Contributor
- A staff designer expands senior-level responsibilities into multi-team strategy and long-range thinking.
- The role emphasizes unstucking teams, influencing outcomes, and working 12+ months ahead.
Diplomat Between Teams And Outcomes
- The staff designer often acts as a diplomat who maps stakeholders' needs and negotiates scope.
- Influence and illustrating outcomes are central to guiding product decisions without owning final scope.
