The Staff Designer

by Catt Small, Brian Lovin (Foreword)

Staff design is a combination of team leadership and in-the-pixels design work, all without managing direct reports. This handbook will guide you to success—whether you’re already navigating a staff design role, or you’re deciding if you should embark on the journey. You’ll learn to build influence with soft power, improve your communication, and impact strategy at scale.






Who Should Read This Book




This book was written for UX practitioners who are considering the staff design role,



Senior designers who want to get promoted to the staff level by identifying and filling their competency gap.
UX practitioners who want to learn about the role before choosing between hands-on and management paths. 


It’s also incredibly helpful for staff designers in need of new tactics to shift from reactive to proactive, build influence, and become the leader they want to be.






Takeaways

Learn what the difference is between a staff designer and a senior designer.
Compare the duties of a staff designer in a small, medium, and large company settings.
Make time for visioning and planning projects while you set healthy boundaries.
Create and drive a product vision.
Know how to build influence without authority. 
Scale your impact and prove your value as a staff designer.

Genres: Design

248 pages, Paperback

Published December 9, 2025

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough, concise, and practical. Small paints a clear picture for a role in which expectations are "unclear to everyone, including companies who hired them." Thank you, Catt Small, for putting this stake in the ground so that we can all have productive conversations and make informed decisions as we navigate the staff designer role.