Sparkle life, sparkle strife
Oh hey internet! I’m still alive, I’ve just been busy. I’m going to attempt to write here more often so that people know what the heck I’m up to. Apparently people kinda care about the stuff I do and get mad when I don’t mention that things are happening. As a kid, I was told that bragging was bad. Now people seem to want me to brag. Go figure.
I’ve had a couple of speaking appearances and am doing some outreach to women in tech and underpriveleged students in who are interested in making games. I’ve spoken at the NYC Games Forum, CUNY Games Fest, and ConveyUX. I’ll be speaking on behalf of Code Liberation at IndieCade East this Saturday as well. You can see many of my presentations on SlideShare (yay, open source all the things).
My job has been going pretty well. I’m in charge of designing a CMS, which is cool since I spend a lot of my internet life on those kinds of interfaces. The design process for our team is highly in flux at the moment, and I’m teaching the other UXers on my team how to code. Hopefully we will continue to move in a more Lean direction with slightly less documentation and more communication between teams. I really like pair designing and programming the most, but it seems like that kind of environment is very rare at the moment.
I’m somewhere between UX and game-making right now. I always have been. I’ve been watching videos about professional multi-career-type people recently; it seems like many people have more than one passion in life, which is logical. It’s unfortunate that people are often told they can only have one path in life, especially kids and teens. As a child, I always wondered why my mom didn’t continue playing the clarinet or being a journalist or a teacher or a paralegal. Now I understand that it’s possible to want to do many things, and that goal is achievable. The more you know.
Lots of other stuff is happening, too. I’ll go into it more later. Gotta play Dota.
Upcoming talks
-
Advancing Beyond Senior Roles: Navigating Non-Management Career Paths
This unique gathering is designed for professionals seeking pathways to growth that don't necessarily lead to traditional management roles. Led by Catt Small, this session invites attendees to share their experiences, challenges, and strategies in carving out impactful, non-managerial career trajectories. Engage in candid discussions about alternative leadership roles, lateral moves that enrich skills skill , and roles that expand influence without the traditional management responsibilities. This is a unique opportunity to connect with peers facing similar career crossroads, learn from the collective wisdom, and envision new trajectories for your career journey. Join us to redefine career success and discover new paths that align with your expertise and passions. Redefine career success with Catt and unlock new paths that resonate with your expertise and passions.
-
Moving from execution to strategy as a designer
Designers often find themselves under pressure to create beautiful outputs rather than impact and outcomes. In this talk, Catt Small will share techniques to move herself from execution to a more strategic role over 14 years of in-house work at companies spanning various industries. You’ll learn to add perspective to subjects including product strategy, growth, and monetization — showing the value of design at every part of the product development process. Before you know it, you’ll be your PM’s best work friend!
Want to talk?
Got feedback, looking to suggest a future writing topic, or want to invite me to speak at your organization? Send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!