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Apr 25, 2025 44 min

Growth

from Designer & Designer Hosted by Brian Fling, Joe Alterio

Mentioned Medium’s Snowflake Growth Tool (original GitHub repo) Stanford Product Design Rubric (Stanford Design Program) I, X and T shaped Designers Book: Radical Candor by Kim Scott Book: The Visual MBA (or Creative MBA — verify the exact title) Short Story: The Swimmer by John Cheever Newsletter: Good Work by Joe Alterio – goodwork.is Topics Discussed Growth ladders: how to define and measure designer growth Craft vs. Influence vs. Ownership vs. Communication vs. Engagement Developing fair, non-linear growth frameworks (including a Medium-inspired "Snowflake Tool") Challenges of upper-level design leadership (craft ≠ promotion criteria) Managing biases and subjectivity in design career advancement Importance of presence and communication (even on Slack!) Transitioning from craft-focused design to diplomacy, storytelling, and team leadership Reflection on the potential "end of an era" for traditional product design careers Life reflections: parenting, aging, mortality, and evolving beyond professional identity 🎬 Sneak peek: Next season’s theme — Top 10 Design Films exploration! Pull Quotes "At the upper levels, it's not about pixels anymore — it's about affecting change within other human beings." — Joe "Presence matters. Even in Slack. It’s visibility, engagement, and political capital." — Brian "We’ve reached the end of something... but the beginning of something else." — Brian "Growth isn’t just learning new tools — it’s learning how to move people and systems." — Joe 📣 Shout-outs To everyone who has listened across these 50 episodes — thank you for helping us grow. To our future selves: onward to new creative adventures (and maybe even bagel making). Connect with Joe & Brian Website: designer.fm Email: [email protected] Please like, subscribe, and give us any feedback! Outro music: Bridge to Hawaii by Tacocat Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at [email protected]

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What this episode covers

In this special 50th episode, Brian and Joe reflect on growth — personal, professional, and creative. They discuss how designers evolve, the complexities of growth ladders, leadership authenticity, the fading era of traditional product design, and what might come next.

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This episode is 44 minutes long.

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This episode was published on April 25, 2025.

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