All of our First designer articles

The Design Leadership Playbook: How to Hire, Onboard & Manage a High-Impact Design Org

From the high-level perspective of what makes for a great design leader, to the tactical suggestions around the slide that needs to be in your portfolio presentation, Twilio & Segment's Hareem Mannan shares useful advice for every stage of a designer's career.

The Ultimate Guide to the Founding Designer Role

We summarized the most tactical, honest pieces of advice from a group of design experts on what it really takes to be a startup's first design hire — from choosing the right startup to join to excelling in the role and growing your team.

Ready, Set, Hypergrowth: How Duo's Product Design Lead Primed Her Team for Momentum

Sally Carson joined Duo as its first product design leader, just as the security startup was ratcheting into hypergrowth. Carson shares her roadmap for scaling the product design function, from advocating for design in an engineering-centric org, to setting up her team for success during rapid growt

Read This Before Joining as Employee 1 to 20 at a Startup

Should I work for a startup? Before deciding, find out here the best employee tactics to survive in a starting business and thrive as an early employee.

What to Do When You’re the Only Designer They’ve Got

Betable's Chief Experience Officer Jeffrey Kalmikoff on how to make it if you're the first or only designer at a startup.

Spotify’s Design Lead on Why Side Projects Should Be Stupid

If you take what you're doing too seriously, you're likely to squeeze the life out of it. Here's a guide to letting your projects stay stupid and fun.

How Designers Can Earn a Seat at the Table

Phil King rose through the ranks to lead design at Flickr. His mission: To help more designers become leaders and advocate for their craft.