Alyssa Carlson

I've spent the majority of my career as the only designer on an isolated team—or the only designer at the entire company. This experience has been invaluable, allowing me to take ownership of countless projects and rapidly gain expertise in various aspects of design. But there’s a flip side. Without a team, there’s no clear career path, no organic mentorship, no healthy peer competition… It’s easy to feel like you’re in a bubble, unsure of how you stack up against the wider design world or what you need to improve to reach the next level. To be honest, I’ve felt lost at times. Recently, my manager gifted me a book that has been a game-changer: The Path to Senior Product Designer by Artiom Dashinsky. If you’ve ever felt lost in your career, want to advance, or simply feel like you’re not doing enough, I can’t recommend this book enough. It provides clear guidance on how the industry grades and evaluates designers at all levels, with practical exercises to help you map out your journey to the next stage. Read it, follow the exercises, and you’ll know where you stand and where you need to go.

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Design without reason is like building without a foundation. In my latest newsletter explain what design rationale is.

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👀 Designers: Is your portfolio missing this crucial element? New in my "Nessa's Knowledge Bombs" series: "Show Your Design Process in Your Case Studies." As a hiring manager, I can't stress enough: don't just show the final product. Reveal your journey! Read more: https://lnkd.in/eQu4vrTd #DesignPortfolio #UXDesign #CareerTips

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Some really good nuggets in here about how designers can differentiate themselves in this new AI-flavored world. I really love this part and intend on making it the mantra for my team going forward. This is pure gold here, friends: ".... be strategic in your design thinking, more purposeful in your design decisions, and assertive in imprinting your perspective onto the work you produce." https://trends.uxdesign.cc

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Isn't it strange how the types of process materials in portfolios is different than how real work is done in UX? I talk about what materials we commonly see in portfolios that are never used in real work, then I talk about some that we really do use. https://lnkd.in/g45JT7Qk

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So late to the post, but ICYMI, we launched some stuff at #Config2024 last week. We've been cooking up a lot on our pillar — going from building Figma's second product (FigJam), to dreaming up its third, Figma Slides. Here's what we announced: Figma Slides: I'm especially proud of the designers on the team: Keeyen Y. Khalil Cader Jakub S Ryan Reid Natasha T. Kylie To. For always asking "what if?" even though slides are a file format as old as time, for dreaming up new ways to interact with AI, for sweating the details on a tool that balances the needs of designers and everyone else alike. Try it out → https://lnkd.in/e_R6Pi_v FigJam Pages: We brought a fan fave Figma feature to FigJam! Big ups to rocky chen ✌️for striving pixel-perfection on this one → figjam.new

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What makes a story or presentation great? Earlier this year, I sat down with the Stripe design team to share my advice on creating effective presentations and telling engaging stories. Here’s what I shared with the team: 👇 Creating engaging presentations involves two steps: 1️⃣ Building structure 2️⃣ Adding detail -- Step 1️⃣: Building structure -- 🤨 → Start with why–Understand why your presentation exists. What are you trying to achieve? Are you explaining, motivating, or convincing? Who is your audience? ✍️ → Write it out—Writing a script helps you quickly outline possible structures and keeps the focus on the content that best meets your presentation’s purpose. 🎨 → Draw it out—If writing isn’t working, try drawing! Think about key visuals or concepts you want to convey. Sketch those out in logical order. 🔬 → Avoid jumping into detail—Add detail only when your structure can support it. Otherwise, you'll get bogged down in unnecessary content—a common issue for new designers. 📐 → Use a blueprint—If you’re struggling, use familiar story structures like Rags to Riches, Hero’s Journey, or Elevator Pitch. ⚔️ → Define your timelines and tensions—Across any good story are clear timelines and tensions. Ask yourself “what are the key events or moments of tension in my story?” Build off those. -- 2️⃣ Adding detail -- 🖱️ → Keep it simple—Simplicity helps your audience understand your message. And that's the ultimate goal. 🎯 → One thing at a time—Avoid overloading slides with information. Present concepts, images, and data points one at a time to help your audience absorb the material. 🤔 → Fidelity dictates feedback—Use a level of fidelity that reflects the feedback you want. Higher fidelity tends to prompt detailed feedback, while lower fidelity focuses on overall structure and flow. 🧑‍🔬 → Ditch the jargon—Avoid using technical jargon and acronyms without explanation. It can confuse your audience and distract from your message. Meet them at their level of understanding. 🛠️ → Make it real—Use real-world examples to help your audience visualize the context of your presentation. On the other hand, using 'lorem ipsum' in your designs can make it challenging for your audience to provide useful feedback and critique. That's it! I hope these tips help you create and present your work with greater confidence. If you'd like to see the full presentation or share your tips, let me know in the comments below! 👇 #storytelling #design

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Freelancing is 100% option, but it isn’t for everyone. Not only does it mean designers need to be able to do the design work on their own, it also requires a lot of effort in personal marketing and skills in stakeholder and business partner relationship management. It is a very different beast than working most 9-to-5 design jobs. The fact of the matter is that the design job market is VERY over saturated. It feels like there was a bubble that blew up between 2018 and 2022. It inflated salaries and also pushed a LOT of people into design camps with the promise of great remote jobs with high pay. Designers could rapidly drive up their salary by job hopping every 1-2 years into jobs at the same level or a step up. That bubble is popping and design teams are no longer growing. The highest paid designers are at higher risk of layoff, and companies are using return-to-office mandates to cut back teams. Companies are also taking advantage of the large pool of less experienced designers to replace the more senior ones getting laid off. I don’t have numbers, but I predict salary growth of design professionals is also stagnating. A smart move for currently employed designers right now is to focus on skill building - not only in design processes and strategy, but also in adjacent roles like product and project management, content writing, accessibility and possibly even coding. If you are able, build relationships and your value in your current role and wait. (This post was NOT written using AI. All thoughts - and possible errors - are my own.)

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Product leaders, when you’ve got a strong UX partner in place, you’re able to focus on the things your business needs most from you. — Hi, I’m Erin. Follow me for user experience tips and insights from my 20 years as a UX designer and reach out to me if you have questions about how Slide UX can help you with your project. 🤓👋

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Feeling like an imposter in the design world? You are not alone. As a perfectionist, I struggle with imposter syndrome throughout my career. This great article by WillowTree goes deep with imposter syndrome in design. It covers a range of imposter syndrome types and gives some real-world strategies to beat it. While I believe that a certain level of imposter syndrome can drive development, it's important to find a healthy balance. https://lnkd.in/ddAN-qWY #design #impostersyndrome #overcomingchallenges #careergrowth #designcommunity #perfectionism #mentalhealth #selfdoubt #creativedevelopment #designerlife #designtips #successmindset #productdesign

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🤝Designing Together: The Power of Trust in Cross-Functional Teams Let’s talk about something often overlooked in the hustle of deadlines, roadmaps, and launches: the human connections that hold our squads together. As product designers, we live at the intersection of user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. In this space, our product managers and engineers aren’t just “other functions.” They are our partners—the people we rely on to bring ideas to life. Yet, the real challenge is less about tools, processes, or even skillsets, and more about building relationships rooted in honesty, transparency, and trust. Here’s the truth: without these values, even the most brilliant designs can falter. Why? Because product development isn’t a solo act. It’s a collaborative symphony, where alignment, constructive friction, and mutual respect drive success. Honesty: The Foundation Honesty starts with dropping the ego. Be real about what you know, what you don’t, and where you need help. For example, if a design direction feels risky, say so. Likewise, invite your PM and engineers to challenge your assumptions. The best ideas emerge when all perspectives are heard, not when we hold back to avoid discomfort. Transparency: The Glue Transparency isn’t just about sharing updates—it’s about inviting others into the process. Share your messy explorations, involve engineers in user research, and talk openly about constraints. A transparent team is a team that avoids surprises. And when everyone understands the “why” behind decisions, alignment comes naturally. Trust: The Multiplier Trust doesn’t happen overnight—it’s earned through actions. It’s being consistent in your delivery, showing empathy when conflicts arise, and treating criticism as an opportunity rather than an attack. When trust is solid, something powerful happens: debates shift from “proving a point” to “solving a problem.” The Role of Feedback Feedback is where these values are put to the test. Constructive criticism isn’t just about improving a design—it’s about building a better partnership. When a PM critiques your work, they’re helping align it with the strategy. When an engineer pushes back on feasibility, they’re ensuring it’s buildable. Embrace these moments. They’re not threats; they’re gifts. The Big Picture In a squad, the lines between roles blur. Success isn’t about who “owns” the best idea—it’s about delivering the best solution together. When honesty, transparency, and trust become your defaults, your team stops being just a collection of functions. You become a unit, operating with shared purpose and collective accountability. So, product designers: How are you fostering these values in your squads? What’s one thing you’ll do differently this week to strengthen your partnerships? Let’s commit to designing not just great products, but great relationships. That’s where the real magic happens. #Collaboration #ProductDesign #TrustMatters #Teamwork #productdesign

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Tom's recent post really resonated with me, and I wanted to share my thoughts. 📣 In 2024, design shouldn't be a nice to have. Design is a crucial element in creating successful products and businesses. 📣 As a designer, my goal is simple: to add value. I focus on solving user problems while aligning with business objectives. It's about creating experiences that work for everyone - users and companies alike. 🔥 If you see design as a strategic asset, I'd love to connect. Let's explore how we can turn good design into great results. 🔥

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💡 Let’s Talk DesignOps! 🎨 DesignOps is one of the most exciting shifts in how design teams operate—it’s all about scaling creativity, optimizing workflows, and driving seamless collaboration across disciplines. It’s not just about processes; it’s about empowering designers to focus on what they do best: solving problems and delivering impactful user experiences. A huge shoutout to Dee (Denise) Sadler 🙌 for her incredible LinkedIn Learning course, DesignOps: Scaling Design Success. Your expertise helped me uncover some powerful ways DesignOps can transform teams: ✨ Build scalable frameworks that empower design teams to thrive. 🤝 Improve cross-functional collaboration between design, product, and engineering. 🎯 Enhance the use of design systems to maintain consistency and adaptability. What I love most about DesignOps is how it bridges creativity and operational efficiency, ensuring teams can scale without losing their spark. 💥 👉 Now, I’d love to hear from you! How has DesignOps impacted your team or workflow? Are there tools, strategies, or lessons you’ve found especially helpful? Let’s keep the conversation going about this powerful evolution in design management! 🚀 #DesignOps #ScalingSuccess #DesignLeadership #EfficiencyInDesign #ThankYouDeeSadler

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It's been a minute since I've been able to attend a Floxies Community event! 💜 Felt good to tune in to hear how Stephanie Walker uses User Diaries 📓 as a method to gather user feedback and drive thoughtful design decisions. Interesting and a powerful way to keep user needs front and center! 💡 #FloxiesCommunity #Floxies #UserExperience #UXDesign #UserResearch #UserDiaries #ProductDesign #DesignCommunity #TechCommunity

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2 years with Nectar! 🤘🔥 My favorite highlights: → Our team’s growth from 23 employees to 90 employees. Product alone grew from 6 of us to 21 strong now 🙌🏼, and we’re a sleek, efficient, resilient team under Brian Cressall and Nate Tingey. → Established Nectar’s Design System and built our component library, significantly improving speed, consistency, and quality of design and implementation. → Completed a massive UI design refresh for the existing product (bless the devs still building it 🫡 ). → Launched Nominations, the largest and most impactful new feature we’ve built at Nectar yet. → Completely scrapped a project, because it was the right thing to do. Grateful to work on a team that’s hyper-focused on our ultimate goals, and is sincerely willing to let sunk costs be irrelevant. → Ideated, designed, and launched our new product Internal Communications in 8 weeks with a small, mighty team 🤯 I’m still amazed we managed it. → $40M Series B funding in April 2024 with PeakSpan Capital. → Saw our efforts, motivation, and passion pay off when Nectar was recognized as the 2nd Fastest Growing Company in Utah County, 1st fastest growing software company in Utah, 8th fastest growing software company in the U.S., and 87th fastest growing company in the U.S. (across all industries). → 300% increase in revenue in Q3 2023 vs Q3 2024 (Q3 was also 50% above our revenue Q2 2024). → Saw every department at Nectar grow in excellence. I’m in awe of the caliber of Engineering, CS, Marketing, Sales, and what they accomplish. → Relished the challenge and variety of asks in the beginning as Nectar’s sole designer, including working on print design (looking at you, 28’ tradebooth) and animations for the first time. That animation announcing Nectar’s new logo a year ago? That was my first animation, and I’m still proud of myself for figuring it out enough to make that 😂. → Spent way too much on Holiday gas station runs (RIP old office). This is a long list, but for the record I cut it in half from what it was 😅. I’m grateful Nate reached out on LinkedIn right at the perfect time when I was looking to switch things up, and that we’ve made a great team ever since. Getting to work closely with our little product design team—Nate, Mason, Tyler, and Maya—and many, many others keeps me growing and keeps me motivated on the daily. Nectar’s mission and way of working resonated with me from the beginning. It’s rewarding to see our company continue to gain momentum and maturity, all while seeing how much room we still have to grow. Very, very grateful to be part of the journey. As we say, it’s still Day 1 at Nectar. 🚀

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Somtimes the content that can up your UX game comes from unlikly sources. This article puts into context some of the best places to start!

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