A Bronx born & bred creative leader ✨

I grew up on the internet and began to code websites and games at the young age of 10. My design career unofficially began when I was 15, and I've been going ever since.

View my résumé (PDF)

My path is long and storied.

  • 2000

    Learned to code

    A Japanese dress-up doll program called KiSS became my first foray into programming. I spent hours drawing in MSPaint and coding in a scripting language called FKiSS. I then coded a website using DreamWeaver to host my finished projects.

  • 2005

    First design job

    I got a part-time job at an all-girl marketing firm called 3iYing. During my yearlong term, I wrote BusinessWeek articles; helped to redesign ad campaigns; and designed stickers, graphics, prints, & more. We worked with companies such as Burton, L.E.I., Playtex, Trojan, and Axe.

  • 2008–2009

    Design internships

    While earning my BFA in Graphic Design degree at the School of Visual Arts, I interned at several organizations. At the NYC HRA, I designed and programmed an internal training website. At D’art Inc., I audited code for errors and designed websites for international companies. At Alexander Interactive, I did design research and cropped photos for the agency’s e-commerce clients.

  • 2010

    Junior Web Design

    In my Junior and senior years of college, I worked for Nasdaq. During my yearlong term, I designed and coded a website for their flagship event space, NASDAQ Marketsite. I also edited images for the company’s main website.

  • 2011

    Interface Design

    After graduating on the Dean’s List in 2011, I immediately found work at ParksbyNature Network, LLC, where I worked for about one year. I designed interfaces for tour guide apps that reached national and state park visitors across the country.

  • 2012

    Product Design at Nasdaq

    I later transitioned back to Nasdaq. This time, I focused on product design. Post-it notes and sketchbooks became my best friends. I worked on products used by a large number of people in the worlds of public relations and law.

  • 2012

    Tech Under Thirty

    I began to organize monthly events for newbies in design & technology-related fields. The group grew to over 600 people, and some events garnered as many as 50 attendees. The meetup continued to run until mid-2015.

  • 2013

    Design at Bedrocket

    I moved on from Nasdaq to become a UX Designer & Developer at Bedrocket Media Ventures, a small video production company. I focused on designing the user experience of their content management system and directly contributed to front-end production code.

  • 2013

    Code Liberation

    Phoenix Perry tapped me and 3 other awesome people to helped create and run the non-profit organization, which teaches people to program video games. I aided the production of various classes, workshops, and events until my in November of 2016.

  • 2013

    Brooklyn Gamery

    After winning runner-up prize at a hackathon, two friends and I decided to incorporate and start a game development studio. Our first game, Prism Shell, became available for several mobile and computer operating systems in 2015. We have since pivoted to organizing events including the Game Devs of Color Expo.

  • 2014

    Design at SoundCloud

    In 2014, I joined SoundCloud as a Product Designer. I focused on monetization, helping SoundCloud to become a more sustainable company. By 2016, I was promoted to Senior Product Designer. In this role, I led larger-scale projects including the payments experience for SoundCloud Go, managed several interns, and helped grow the NYC design team from one to four people.

  • 2016

    Good for PoC

    After a conversation about the lack of inclusive workplaces, Amélie Lamont, Jacky Alciné, and I created an initiative to help people of color in tech locate companies that put a focus on helping marginalized employees feel supported. After running for two years, Good for PoC closed and gave its remaining funds to people of color who needed sponsorship to attend events and educational opportunities in tech.

  • 2016

    Design at Etsy

    I left SoundCloud to join the Brooklyn-based marketplace known as Etsy. I was hired to work with the Payments and Checkout team to launch Etsy Payments, a new experience for paying and being paid as a seller on their platform. In 2017, I moved to the Seller Ads and Insights team, where I led the design of tools that gave sellers insights about their shops and helped them reach new buyers. Finally, I helped the Trust & Safety team release a customer service performance dashboard to help 2 million Etsy sellers monitor the quality of the experiences they provide to buyers.

  • 2020

    Design at Asana

    After over 3 years and many lessons learned at Etsy, I started a new journey at Asana. During my first six months, I led the ideation, design, and launch of Goals, a new major product area. The Asana Goals team continued to increase value for customers through iteration according to our product vision, even after my departure in early 2022.

  • 2022

    Director of Product Design

    I left Asana to lead the 5-person Product Design team at All Turtles, a globally distributed venture studio. During my tenure, I facilitated the creation of vision, culture, and rituals for the team and documented workflows that helped designers efficiently do their best work. I also helped a designer turn her career around and get a promotion.

  • 2023

    Design at Dropbox

    I shifted back to a Staff IC role at Dropbox. As part of a cross-functional horizontal team, I work to make the experience of using Dropbox products seamless.

Biography

Shortest

Longest

  • 23 words

    Catt is a product design leader, game maker, and developer who enjoys creating interactive experiences and helping people to become their best selves.

  • 35 words

    Catt is a product design leader who has worked with companies of all sizes including Dropbox, Asana, Etsy, and SoundCloud. She also makes video games and draws art. You can view her work at cattsmall.com.

  • 64 words

    Catt is a Staff Product Designer at Dropbox, game maker, and developer. She has worked with companies of all sizes including Asana, Etsy, and SoundCloud. She started programming interactive games around the age of 10 and has been going ever since. In her spare time, Catt makes awkward video games, writes, and draws artwork of all kinds. You can view her work at cattsmall.com.

  • 89 words

    Catt is a Staff Product Designer at Dropbox, game maker, and developer. She has worked with companies of all sizes including Asana, Etsy, SoundCloud, and Nasdaq. She started coding around the age of 10 and designing at the age of 15. She graduated from SVA with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2011 and later received an MS in Integrated Digital Media from NYU in 2016. Catt also makes awkward video games, writes about professional development, and draws artwork of all kinds. You can view her work at cattsmall.com.

  • 322 words

    Catt is a Staff Product Designer at Dropbox, game maker, and developer. With a design career spanning over twelve years, Catt has done design work for companies of all sizes including Asana, Etsy, SoundCloud, and Nasdaq. She started coding around the age of 10 and designing at the age of 15. She graduated from SVA with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2011 and later received an MS in Integrated Digital Media from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in 2016. She was a member of Rosenfeld Media’s editorial board from 2018–2019.

    An observer at heart, Catt focuses on ways to improve the lives of people through design. She is interested in ways to increase empathy through interactive media. Many of her personal projects center around the human experience and tackle issues related to interpersonal relationships, self-expression, gender, and race.

    In addition to her product design work, Catt makes video games by herself and with friends. She is co-organizer of the Game Devs of Color Expo, an annual event that amplifies the creative power held by people of color in games. She previously co-founded Brooklyn Gamery, a Brooklyn-based game development studio that also organized diversity-focused game jams and events, and Code Liberation, a non-profit organization that teaches marginalized genderfolk to program video games. Since then, she has continued to reach marginalized communities in tech through a variety of speaking engagements. In her spare time, she writes about professional development and draws artwork of all kinds.

    Catt’s work has been covered by many publications including Net Magazine, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed, and Black Enterprise. She has spoken at schools and events across the world including guest lecturing at Yale, Columbia University, AIGA Design Conference, Beyond Tellerrand in Germany, UX Week, Microsoft’s Codess Seattle, Google’s WomenTechmakers NYC, and TEDxFoggyBottom. Her games have been in a variety of exhibitions at venues such as Babycastles, IndieCade, and the Victoria and Albert museum in London. You can view her work at cattsmall.com.

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Press coverage

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