Moving from Execution to Strategy as a Designer
Summary
Designers often find themselves under pressure to create beautiful outputs rather than impact and outcomes. In this talk, Catt Small, Director of Product Design at All Turtles, will share techniques she applied in moving herself from execution to a more strategic role over 12 years of in-house work at companies spanning various industries. You'll learn to become a more strategic thinker and show the value of design at every part of the product development process. Before you know it, you'll be your PM's best work friend! Stick around to join the conversation and ask Catt your questions during our post-session Q+A, moderated by Christian Crumlish.
Key Insights
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Designers are often involved too late in decision-making, mainly focusing on aesthetics rather than strategy.
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Early design involvement can prevent costly product missteps, as illustrated by the SoundCloud subscription example.
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Understanding the goals of product managers, data analysts, and other stakeholders helps designers align their work to business needs.
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Proactively inserting design perspectives and asking strategic questions builds trust and positions designers as valuable partners.
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Visualizing complex backend systems and data models helps engineers and product teams make better decisions impacting UX.
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Effective facilitation and workshops can align teams around strategy, speeding up decision-making and reducing ambiguity.
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Creating and constantly referencing vision decks supports long-term strategic alignment across teams.
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Leaders must adjust incentive structures to reward strategic design contributions, not just aesthetics.
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System thinkers and designers comfortable with ambiguity tend to gain strategic influence faster.
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Balancing strategic work and detailed execution requires clear communication of capacity and setting expectations, especially for solo designers.
Notable Quotes
"Too many companies wait until they think they know the solution to a problem and then they engage design as if design's only job is to make something look pretty."
"Design ends up getting pulled in super late, and you get put in the uncomfortable position of pushing back and potentially slowing down a release."
"You want to make sure that you are working on the right products or projects by having a design-led strategy."
"I honestly have gotten the most value out of just spending one-to-ones with folks and asking what matters to you and what we should achieve as a team."
"Showing up and inserting yourself, delightfully weaseling your way into spaces where design can add value, is a powerful tactic."
"The more you can help product managers reduce risk, the more they will look at you as their best friend."
"A couple of sketches I made in 15 minutes helped engineers decide on a data model that positively impacted the user experience."
"Vision decks should be something that can be referenced time and time again, not just a binder on a shelf."
"If there aren't leaders pushing strategic design, much of the effort from individual contributors risks being ignored."
"Designers who say they are system thinkers tend to build confidence and comfort with ambiguity faster than others."
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