Growth Design Podcast

Navigating Design: Career Strategies, Side Quests and Finding Your Lane | Ryan Scott | Drop 03 Ep 3

Apr 9, 2025
Ryan Scott, a designer and educator with experience at DoorDash and Airbnb, shares valuable insights on thriving in today's design landscape. He emphasizes the need for designers to adopt both tactical and strategic skills, highlighting the importance of thinking like product leaders. Ryan suggests diversifying skills and embracing freelancing for growth. He also discusses the challenges of articulating design's ROI in business terms and introduces specialized courses to empower designers. Tune in for practical advice on building a resilient and fulfilling career trajectory!
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Strategic Skills Trump Tactical

  • Designers often overemphasize tactical skills and neglect strategic skills that broaden influence.
  • Strategic skills like business, product management, and marketing unlock greater career flexibility and impact.
ANECDOTE

Ryan's Hybrid Design-Business Career

  • Ryan combined design with business skills across companies like DoorDash, Airbnb, and Salesforce.
  • His hybrid approach led to roles in product leadership and entrepreneurship.
ADVICE

Diversify Skills for Career Resilience

  • Diversify your skills beyond design tools to avoid being vulnerable in changing markets.
  • Develop adjacent skills like coding, AI, or business acumen to increase career resilience.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app