Navigating the new design environment with Catt Small, Rachel Hsiung, and Jibran Kutik (Fundraiser)
4/7: User Research platform Hubble has been kind enough to support our after-party with free food and drinks!
Important: Please check your email to RSVP for the after-party.
Genuine conversations and connections for experienced designers
A fundraiser night hosted by the 'Designer Friends' community to create deep conversations, raise money for non-profits, and learn from staff designers + director about the rapidly changing design environment and staff leveling.
We believe the best part of our events is the opportunity to form meaningful connections, and set aside ample time to do just that in Etsy’s gorgeous space and at cocktail bar 'Nobody Told Me' afterwards.
Note: Because our event content is intended to level up senior designers, participants must be in a senior design or design-adjacent role, OR have a minimum of 5 yrs of experience in the UX or Product design field.
Schedule
6:00 - 6:30PM Doors open, refreshments served including beer along with light bites (vegetarian and vegan options) courtesy of Etsy
6:30 - 7:15PM 45-min panel discussion on changing industry trends, craft & taste vs strategy & research
7:15 - 7:45PM Break + mingling time
7:45 - 8:30PM Panel discussion on career growth, staff leveling + audience Q&A
8:45 - 10:00PM After-hour drinks at cocktail bar 'Nobody Told Me'
(Guests are responsible for drinks & food purchases outside of Etsy)
This is the unfiltered conversation about design we desperately need right now.
The design industry has shifted drastically in the past few years. Job seekers have noticed a hard pivot from design research and strategy toward taste, craft, and growth; “Lead” and “Staff” titles are favored over “Junior” and “Manager” levels.
To dig into these topics from diverse leadership viewpoints, we’ve curated a panel of staff and director level designers who are thoughtful, authentic, and unafraid to speak frankly on the current landscape:
Catt Small (she/her)
Staff Designer (LinkedIn)
Catt is a Staff Product Designer, game maker, and developer. She has worked with companies of all sizes including Asana, Etsy, and SoundCloud. She started programming interactive games around the age of 10 and has been going ever since. In her spare time, Catt makes awkward video games, writes, and draws artwork of all kinds. You can view her work at cattsmall.com.
Rachel Hsiung (she/her)
Senior Staff Designer at Etsy (LinkedIn)
Rachel is a Sr. Staff Product Designer at Etsy, where she's been for nearly 9 years. Her passions (read: obsessions and neuroses) include information architecture, product strategy, structured data, and human-ML alignment. Prior to Etsy, she hopped around at a few startups and design agencies. Outside of work, she tries to spend as much time as she can being upside down.
Jibran Kutik (they/them)
Design leadership, ex: Twitter, Netflix, Toast, Root Insurance (LinkedIn)
Jibran has led design at a wide array of companies across many different verticals and customer segments. Jibran leans into leadership through an empathetic lens, with a focus on understanding each designer’s aspirations and helping to align their work to achieve their goals.
Donation goals
As part of our yearly goal of donating $10,000 to causes we care about, ticket proceeds will go directly toward:
60% Donated to Game Devs of Color Expo, The Trevor Project, Inneract Project
20% Speaker travel stipend
10% Speakers' honorarium
10% Stripe & Luma transaction fees
Note: Etsy & Designer Friends are not taking any proceeds from this event. Event is solely hosted by 'Designer Friends'. Event space and catering kindly provided as a courtesy by the Etsy design team.