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Desirée García
Principal product designer, Medium
she/her
15-MINUTE TALK
Player-coaching: Not a thing, but here to stay
Maybe at some point you were told that player-coach leadership was the best of both worlds: craft expertise and people management. That it would create the optimal design leader—and lead to the most satisfaction for the person, their team, and their organization.
Yet, while there are more player-coach roles than ever, more design leaders are burning out, more ICs are reluctant to step into management, and the path to the design leadership roles of years ago is murkier than it’s ever been.
The myth of “staying close to the craft,” the convenience of staff reductions, and the expectation that anyone can master management in a quarter sustains the narrative that player-coaching is acceptable, even necessary, without regard to emotional labor, unclear boundaries, or career consequences. It’s a reality few organizations design intentionally, but their impact is clear.
What would it mean to take advantage of this moment in design upheaval to shape how this role manifests? By naming the problem, we might find agency in also naming the conditions we need to make this role sustainable, rewarding, and attractive for people to step into.
MORE About thIS speaker
Desirée García is a design leader who drives business outcomes and ships products that users love.
She’s intentionally sought broad experiences across diverse companies and mission-driven organizations, and has developed a unique ability to stay close to the craft and navigate the new demands on modern design leadership.
She’s passionate about building design organizations from the ground up, enabling great work on distributed teams, and using design to make digital life more humane. Desirée loves connecting with fellow designers and is always up for a good conversation about what it's like to break into design, the wide variety of design organizational makeups, and the future of the field.
When she’s not designing, you’ll find her in the garden, on the yoga mat, or enjoying the quirks of the city of Austin.