Gaurang Alat

How to break into Growth Design

Thumbtack

Victoria's Secret

Sr. Growth Designer at Rakuten Rewards (ex Thumbtack)

Understand the basics of Growth Design and how it differs from traditional Product Design

Growth vs. Product Design

Learn the skill set required to excel as a designer in the Growth domain

Essential Growth Skills for Designers

Tips on landing your first role in the Growth Design space

How to Get Hired as a Growth Product Designer

UPDATEFebruary is no longer available. March is open for enrollment. Why Take This TrainingAs product leaders advance in their careers, three critical challenges emerge: Challenge 1: Measuring and communicating design success beyond design thinking and aesthetics.Challenge 2: Getting stakeholder buy-in for strategic decisions that impact business growth.Challenge 3: Balancing user needs with business objectives while considering broader systemic impacts. This course empowers technologists to become strategic leaders who can:⚡️ Connect design decisions directly to business outcomes and growth metrics⚡️ Build influence with stakeholders through data-driven design processes⚡️ Lead responsible growth initiatives that consider users, business, and ecosystem impact⚡️ Measure and demonstrate the ROI of design work in their portfolio Transform from a user-centered designer into a strategic design leader who can drive product led growth, influence decisions, align teams, and create measurable business impact while maintaining conscious design practices. Why Learn With SeraAs a Principal Product Designer turned Founder, Sera has led successful products from zero-to-one startups to public companies across Webflow, BetterUp, Hired, Zendesk, and Y Combinator. Her unique approach to growth design has driven remarkable results, including a 200% increase in acquisition. She has given talks and workshops at Uber, Ikea, Design X, the University of Hawaii, the University of Waterloo, and more. As an advisor and investor, Sera brings a decade of hands-on experience leveraging design for conscious business growth —a perspective she's distilled into actionable frameworks through workshops and talks that have helped thousands of designers step into strategic leadership roles. She has spent 1 year condensing everything she's learned about growth into this 2 week training. Her frameworks from this course have been adopted by teams at Instacart, Ikea, Turo, Zendesk, Walmart, and more. Continue LearningGraduates will receive a private invite to a growth design slack channel with peers who are navigating similar challenges.Participants will have ongoing access to course materials, frameworks, and templates (this includes updates). Training your team? Email for bulk pricing and private training: hi@the-craft.io.

Bridge the Gap Between Design Impact and Business Growth 📈

Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

Course syllabus

Thursday & Friday 

Learn at the pace that feels right for you! Every week, you'll have access to recorded modules focused on various topics to help you go deeper on the content we cover live.

Self Paced Courses

Go through practical case studies and brain storm solutions to get a hang of the techniques you learn.

Case Studies

Course schedule

Mid-Level Designerswho want to become more strategic with their work going beyond end-users.

Senior &amp; Staff Designerswho want to lead, participate in business strategy discussions, and facilitate product led growth outcomes.

Design Teamswho want to align their processes with growth principles and/or create a growth team (e.g. acquisition, retention, etc.)

UX Researchers who want to expand their impact by combining user insights with growth metrics.

Technologistslooking to leverage design and integrate growth thinking into your product development process.

Early Stage Founderswho want to create a design driven company with product led growth.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Master the principles of sustainable growth through AARRR and the growth loop. Transform your approach to product building and measure impact; measure acquisition, activation, retention, monetization, and more.

A Strategic Framework for Growth Design at Every Level of Product Building 

Learn to leverage data effectively in your design process, speak the language of business stakeholders, and make decisions that drive measurable outcomes using quantitative and qualitative data that speaks for itself.

Holistic Data-Driven Design Leadership Skills 

Gain concrete techniques for building influence, documentation practices, presenting design work to business leaders, and getting buy-in for strategic initiatives. Turn stakeholder relationships from challenging to collaborative.

Practical Tools for Stakeholder Management & Executive Buy-in

Learn from successful growth initiatives at companies like Webflow. Go beyond theory with hands-on application of growth frameworks. Work alongside a team of designers, receive targeted feedback on your project, and leave each session with actionable strategies you can implement.

4 Workshops on Real World Scenarios to Exercise Growth Thinking 

Understand the limits to growth, how to growth sustainably, and how to think about systemic change through lenses that go beyond end-users and business goals. Use Sera's Sustainable Futures Prism and the Triple Piko from indigenous Hawaiians to apply systems thinking.

2 Frameworks that go Beyond End-Users and Business Goals

Learn from industry leading growth experts on how teams operate, core principles, and a behind the scenes look at projects and measurable outcomes. 3 recorded talks and 1 live session.

4 Guest Speakers From Top Companies on How to Apply Growth (Netflix, Miro, Webflow, Growthmates) 

The playbook includes guides to sustainable growth, metrics, case studies, and more. It's your cheat sheet to get more done in less time.

[BONUS $120 value] Growth Playbook, 1 Year Membership to Conscious Technology, & Private Slack Access

<ul><li>Complete beginners</li><li>Designers experienced with growth hacking</li><li>Technologists comfortable with using metrics and tracking success</li><li>People looking for a quick fix</li><li>Technologists looking to achieve goals at the expense of people &amp; climate</li></ul>

Who is this course NOT for? 

Elevate your design leadership: connect creativity to business growth, measure your impact, and transform stakeholder relationships. 📈⭐️🌎

Sera Tajima

Cohort 3

Cohort 4

Product, UX &amp; Content Design folks seeking to grow and enhance their leadership practice, welcome home! This course, community and live coaching sessions are your guide to stepping into the Leader you aspire to be. Leading teams is a "what got you here" (craft, leading the work) "won't get you there" (leading through others, business results, visionary leadership) moment for many – especially as you scale. It's my mission to demystify what is needed to be seen as a business leader and be known for excellence in craft AND in leadership. From imposter syndrome → confidenceFrom overwhelmed → organized focusFrom tactical work → strategic influenceFrom feeling stuck → career plan Shift from feeling isolated and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and centered in this supportive environment led by sought after coach Alison Gretz. The course lasts 8 weeks, with one self-paced module and a live cohort call weekly. We'll will dig into the 4 common sticking points that hold Design Leaders back as they step up to management and then evolve to Director+. It's by building key muscles and overcoming these sticking points, while also grounding in your own authentic leadership style that will further you as a leader.

Unblock your Growth in Design Leadership

Brief rapid assessment of where you are now and where you want to go through live coaching and a personal workbook.

Discovery & Goals

Alison will demystify the top things that hold UX Managers back, or from reaching their full potential.

Key Unknown Essentials

You'll create your plan for becoming the leader you want, with stakeholder influence, team cohesion and advocacy.

Your Leadership Excellence

We'll have live group coaching sessions to dig in on REAL topics and transform as a group.

Coaching & Support

You can go at your own pace and jump into topics that are most relevant to your growth ahead of the cohort.

Self-paced videos & workbook

Each week, Alison will host a live cohort coaching call where we'll dig into REAL WORLD scenarios and transformation.

Weekly Group Coaching

Alison will host an intimate community where we can tackle more Q&amp;A, weekly AMA topics, and peer mentorship.

Community Q&A

Flexible Course schedule

I'm ready to scale up to Director, but I'm feeling stuck and blocked from receiving the opportunities to promote up. How do I grow?

I'm a Director of Content Design, but I'm feeling out of my depth and need to up-level my soft skills expertise.

I want to lead in Design with authenticity and impact – is this possible while still being a respected boss?

I'm struggling with imposter syndrome, and my tough stakeholder relationships are causing burnout.

Does this sound familiar?

Walk away with the soft skills needed to grow in Design Leadership

Direct and frequent access to accredited coach + executive Design Leader Alison Gretz alongside a supportive peer group.

Coaching and advice on your leadership journey

Learn about common pitfalls to avoid, in a space where you can ask questions and identify key blockers or bumps that are in your way.

Ability to overcome the top 4 pitfalls of design leadership

Define and explore how you will show up as a human-centered leader.

Leading in alignment to your values

Each week, Alison will share a value-packed workbook and video/audio recording. Since you get life-time access, many students utilize our frameworks for months and years!

Expand your Toolkit with Workbooks, Frameworks & Tools

You'll leave the course with a clear path forward, broken down into actionable steps.

Design Your Next roadmapping and goals

Rise in your Design Career: Build your confidence & skills, then create your path from craft leader to business leader.

Cohort 7

Alison Gretz

Cohort 6

Cohort 8

An advanced-level course for senior and rising design leaders ready to address the most common challenges Design Leaders face. Learn how to build your durable design operating system to withstand scale, restructuring, evolution, and growth. Establish mechanisms and high-leverage activities that maintain quality and effectiveness for your teams and for the business. Course Topics + Content Build and activate high-impact teamsApply effective organizational design, strategic planning, and performance measurement Define and optimize your operating systemEstablish rhythms and rituals, shape a positive design culture, streamline processes and workflows, and build a robust reporting and communication strategy Identify the most effective design team structuresLearn how to choose the right team structures for your organization Activate your team’s strengths through organizational designAnticipate common challenges within and across teams and learn strategies for effectively addressing them Create your organization’s ideal design teamTogether, we’ll design and build your design team and organization 7 Live, Interactive Sessions, with timezone-friendly options for most APAC/EMEA/AMER locales - One Welcome Kickoff Session- Three Live, Interactive Learning Sessions including Q&amp;A sessions with guest experts- Two Office Hours / Q+A sessions with Kristin for personalized guidance- One Reflection/Wrap-up Session

Design Your Organization's Operating System 

If your events are recurring and at the same time, it might be easiest to use a single line item to communicate your course schedule to students

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Feel free to type out dates as your title as a way to communicate information about specific live sessions or other events.

May 7, 2022

Schedule items can also be used to convey commitments outside of specific time slots (like weekly projects or daily office hours).

Weekly projects

Directors+ of Design and Operations leading teams across a portfolio of products and services.

Senior Leaders and Practitioners who are establishing, evolving, and leading a Design Organization or Operations practice.

Operations leaders who want to sharpen skills, learn new approaches and methods, and accelerate their organizations.

You'll learn how to establish mechanisms, routines, and high-leverage activities that maintain and enhance culture, quality, and community as you grow.

Best practices to build infrastructure that scales

<ul><li>Design and structure a high-performing design organization.</li><li>Effectively prioritize and plan work to maximize impact.</li><li>Utilize visual staffing tools to manage resources efficiently.</li><li>Implement accountability measures to maintain high-quality standards.</li></ul>

Build and activate high-impact teams

<ul><li>Establish effective rhythms and rituals that enhance team productivity and alignment.</li><li>Shape a positive design culture that fosters innovation and collaboration.</li><li>Optimize processes and workflows for greater efficiency.</li><li>Develop and implement robust reporting and communications</li></ul>

Define and optimize your operating system

<ul><li>Learn approaches and tactics that address common organizational and team challenges</li><li>Mitigate these challenges via a fixed vs. flexible framework</li><li>Gain new strategies to keep your team focused and thriving</li></ul>

Identify and anticipate the most common team and organizational challenges 

Guest Experience: Experienced leaders will join to share their stories and give examples of how they navigated similar challenges Instructor Experience: You'll learn directly from Kristin's first-hand experience establishing and leading multiple large-scale global design orgs

Access to first-hand experience and guidance customized to your unique situation

Included are multiple, moderated Q&amp;A sessions with Kristin and other industry leaders so that you can get expert advice on your unique challenges and aspirations.

Q&A Sessions with industry experts

Learn best practices to build a durable design organization operating system.

Kristin Skinner


Cohort 03

Cohort 04

Growth leaders and teams are expected to bring impactful results at high speed. However, in that high-paced environment, it's easy to get into a trap of constant local optimization. 👉 What is good for USER is good for BUSINESS. The biggest changes that drove product Growth for companies like Miro, Notion, Figma didn't happen due to local changes. These products combined both components: high-quality user experience and ethical PLG strategies. 📌 Growth teams face many challenges like: — Getting caught in a trap of local optimization and constant A/B testing with no impact?— How do we uncover new growth opportunities to impact Activation, Habit-forming, and Upgrades?— What behavioral principles can help create the most user-friendly and ethical solutions?— Finally, how do we receive a buy-in to implement meaningful product changes and drive Product-led Growth? I've been facing these challenges myself and collecting knowledge for years to address them. 📌 What prepared me to share this knowledge with you: 1.&nbsp;For 6+ years at Miro, I covered all parts of the Growth funnel holistically&nbsp;(Activation, Engagement, Monetisation, Community-led Growth).2. As a part of Growth Leadership at Miro, scaled from 1 Growth team (5 people) to a stream of 15 teams (170+ people).3. As a founder of Growthmates, collected knowledge directly from 20+ leaders from Notion, Canva, Dropbox, and4. As a Growth advisor, helped 10+ B2B and B2C companies in SaaS, Collaboration, Education, AI, and other sectors. 📌 What to expect on this course: ✦ Take an end-to-end look at 3 key Growth flows: Activation, Habit-forming, Upgrades ✦ Apply Behavioural science methods and uncover new opportunities through a user-centric approach ✦ Turn your ideas into roadmap by applying 5-step Growth Flow review and prioritisation framework 🎯 As a result — you will create a diverse roadmap that will translate your ideas into Quick Wins, Meaningful shifts, and Big bets that you can present and get a buy-in. 📕 Resources that you'll get as a part of the course:— 30+ product flows for Onboarding, Adoption, and Upgrade experience from Notion, Canva, Dropbox, and more— User Research Pack for Growth initiatives (Survey templates, Interview guides, and more)— Live time with Kate Syuma on sessions to receive feedback ——— ❗️ This course is NOT about abstract growth strategies. It's about real product examples, behavioral science knowledge, and PRACTICE that you can combine with your real work project. — Products that use only Sales-led model (course is about Product-led Growth)&nbsp;— Too early-stage products in the development phase (course is about your flows to analyse and improve).&nbsp;&nbsp;— If you want t learn deep Data analytics&nbsp;(course is more about Qualitative user-centric approach)

Create your Product-led growth roadmap — from Quick wins to Big bets.

📅 Join on Tuesdays for Live sessions

Bring your real growth challenge with Activation, Habit-forming, or Upgrades, and work on it by applying the frameworks shared in the course.

✏️ Work on your work-related projects during the week

Get feedback directly from me on Q&amp;A parts of live sessions, as well as from a small group of peers who are solving similar challenges — let's learn from each other!

🙌  Get feedback on your work

PMs and Product Designers working on Growth — apply frameworks and feedback to produce a roadmap to immediately take into work

"Growth team of one" — Founders and Product Leaders who drive several parts of growth simultaneously (Activation, Habit-forming, Upgrades)

Growth Marketers, User Researchers, and other Product members who want to deepen their knowledge of PLG practices and Behavioural psychology

You will create a draft of the roadmap and will apply the "3 types of initiatives" framework to articulate the value of Product-led Growth and get stakeholders' buy-in.

Create a diverse growth roadmap to get buy-in

You will get feedback from me directly and like-minded peers on the growth flow you're working on.

Get direct feedback on Growth flows improvements

User-centricity requires understanding how people behave and make decisions. You'll get access to 30 main behavioral principles; we'll practice 3 Behavioral methods — all of which are complemented with real SaaS examples.

Practice key Behavioral psychology principles

You'll practice using my 5-step Growth Framework to take a helicopter view of one of the flows you'd like to excel in —activation, Habit-forming, or paths to Upgrade. After the course, you'll learn how to incorporate this approach into your work.

Take an end-to-end look at 3 key Growth flows: Activation, Habit forming, Upgrade

For your Project work, you will apply this knowledge on 3-5 critical steps of the flows by combining Growth frameworks and Behavioural science.

Uncover new changes to impact Activation, Habit-forming, Upgrades

To inform your roadmap, you'll get 30+ flows of Onboarding, Habit forming, and Upgrade examples from the best B2B and B2C SaaS, learning how they address Activation, Habit-forming, and Upgrade experience.

🎁 Access to 30+ Growth flows visual base with best practices

Combine behavioral science and proven growth strategies to create a diverse roadmap, get buy-in, and drive impact with high quality.

Lightning Lessons

How to break into Growth Design