Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
What's Next for ICs: Exploring Staff and Principal Designer Roles
Summary
In this panel, we will hear from Staff and Principal Designers who've managed to stay on the IC track while growing their careers. We'll get into some of the day-to-day nitty-gritty of what it means to be a Staff Designer or Principal Designer, and how to make this role a reality within your organization.
Key Insights
-
•
IC design leadership paths are less formalized and often self-defined compared to management tracks.
-
•
Senior designers act as subject matter experts focusing on one area, while staff designers navigate ambiguity and influence cross-functional teams.
-
•
Principal designers take on broader business impact and strategic initiatives aligned with company goals.
-
•
Growth at senior IC levels requires balancing continued craft excellence with strategic leadership and influence.
-
•
Building influence is key and involves strong communication, relationship-building, and aligning design goals with business and user needs.
-
•
Advocating for new IC leadership roles involves collective action, clear problem statements, competitive research, and trial experiments.
-
•
Company size and maturity heavily impact role definitions and expectations between senior, staff, lead, principal, and management roles.
-
•
Effective staff/principal designers spend time shaping roadmaps, driving vision, and ensuring cross-functional buy-in beyond hands-on design.
-
•
Maintaining and evolving design skills (e.g., mastering Figma auto layout) is important even at senior IC levels to remain effective.
-
•
Creating evergreen documents and storytelling frameworks enables asynchronous influence that extends beyond in-person meetings.
Notable Quotes
"I kind of think of it one as like fields of influence — staff influences the team or pillar, principal influences organization-wide."
"If you’re sitting there thinking I need to build out this project and nobody else is saying the same thing, it means you have to do it, period."
"Levels can mean really different things at different companies, so ask a lot of questions about expectations for each level."
"Building influence has been such a challenging part of growing in my own career. It takes a lot of communication and understanding others’ goals."
"Propose new IC roles like a design problem: identify the need, gather research, and try it as an experiment with retrospectives."
"You don’t have to become a manager or director to advance; becoming a principal IC role is equally influential."
"Staff and principal designers need to balance zooming in on execution and zooming out to define strategic vision and minimize risk."
"Keeping your craft sharp, learning new tools like auto layout in Figma, and challenging yourself help maintain relevance."
"Creating evergreen documents enables asynchronous influence — it’s not about being in the room all the time, it’s about having your voice heard."
"The difference between director and principal often lies in whether you’re inspired more by leading people or focused on outputs and craft."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Tech workers in the UK are five times more depressed than the UK average, with stress killing creativity."
Dr. Karl JeffriesThe Science of Creativity for DesignOps
January 8, 2024
"Creating internal champions in client organizations helps improve adoption and reduces churn."
Amy MarquezINVEST: Discussion
June 15, 2018
"Visualizing data in a way executives can interpret is key to shifting from I think to I know."
Steve Portigal Chris Chapo Kelly Goto Christian RohrerDiscussion
May 13, 2015
"How do you organize a design team to work within a changing environment without freaking everybody out."
Alicia MootyDesign Staffing Models
September 30, 2021
"Research in science fiction helps make research real and creative all the time."
Ana Maria Montero Barrantes Aditi Dhar Michelle Kaplan Nate Osborne Matt LaurenceThe Authentic UX Talent Show
January 8, 2024
"If your users are happy, that anecdotal feedback often carries more weight early than quantitative metrics."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"I didn’t want to be part of that as a founder, hacking attention just to fulfill engagement metrics."
Sofia QuinteroThe Product Philosophy Behind EnjoyHQ
March 10, 2021
"You are not the first person to try something like this, and they’re typically not looking forward to the next transformation."
Laura KleinUnique challenges of innovation in enterprises
April 23, 2020
"Embedded squads build domain expertise but risk losing knowledge if someone leaves, while centralized teams help reduce duplicated effort."
Andrew MichaelBuilding a Product Insights Team
March 10, 2022
