The Path to Senior Product Designer: An Actionable Growth Plan for a UX Design Career

by Artiom Dashinsky

Master the 12 skills by which top companies evaluate UX designers
Knowing every Figma trick doesn’t get you promoted. Learn 12 skills that do, like presenting, mentoring, giving feedback, and improving processes.

An industry-backed approach to growth
Based on how more than 50 companies evaluate designers and employees, including Etsy, Medium, Dropbox, Square, Figma, Zendesk, Intercom, and Coursera.

This book will help you:
- Set career goals within six design career paths
- Learn which skills top companies require designers to have at each level
- Build an actionable growth plan to reach your next level
- Improve 12 crucial design skills with actionable frameworks
- Put the above into practice at work to get promoted faster

Get answers to these questions:
- What career options do I have as a designer?
- What career path is right for me?
- What are the steps to reach my career goal?
- How do companies evaluate designers?
- What are my skill levels?
- What competencies should I be working on?
- How do I get a promotion?
- How do I practically improve my skills like mentoring, giving feedback, presenting design, and improving processes, etc?

What’s inside
- More than 60 concrete action items on growing your career
- Six templates and canvases for career planning
- Printable PDF canvas for your growth plan
- 14 recommendations for additional resources

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Technology, Leadership

287 pages, Paperback

Published August 22, 2023

About the author

Artiom Dashinsky is a product designer and entrepreneur based in Tel Aviv and Berlin. During his career, Artiom led the design of multiple products at startups, co-founded a tech startup, and managed an agency.

For the last few years, Artiom has been working on his own digital, physical, and content products. His products are used by tens of thousands of professionals working at companies like Google, Airbnb, Netflix, and Boeing. Products he built or designed are featured in Wired, TechCrunch, Forbes, Quartz and more.

Reviews

[Zozo Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the book, I ordered a copy for each of my team members. It offers immediately applicable techniques that our designers can use for growth. Highly recommend for both designers growing in their career or managers who want to help their team grow ❤️

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book and it made me realize that I don't wanna be a product designer anymore

[Júlia Barreto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro sensacional. Traz de forma muito didática e clara ações e comportamentos para evoluir na carreira. É um livro pra se revisitar várias vezes. adorei.

[Rico Beran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book, insightful but take with grain of salt if you’re working in a startup as the environment is a huge factor. 3 stars because although is informative and offers guidance, the pace at which the market is moving for PDs mean that it might get outdated quickly and it reads like a bunch of medium articles printed out.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

pragmatic details to climb up in the UX career ladder. It sheds lights on how to communicate upward and downward, diverse career directions, set up the competency matrix and many many more.

[Simplypheyie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learnt a lot, and there is so much value to hold on to. I have been able to devise new ways to grow as a designer. It's an amazing book.

[Lior Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read The Path to Senior Product Designer by Artiom Dashinsky, and it was one of those books that didn’t necessarily surprise me but helped reinforce and clarify my own career path.

As a product designer, I have always known that I want to grow as an individual contributor rather than transition into management. I love staying hands-on, diving deeper into design challenges, and taking on more responsibility without shifting my focus to managing people. This book validated that path as not just an option but a legitimate and valuable way to grow. That reassurance alone made it worth reading.

Beyond that, the biggest insight I gained was how companies evaluate designers at different levels. I thought I had a decent understanding of what is expected as you move up, but this book gave me a clearer picture of what hiring managers and HR teams actually look for. It is not just about craft and execution. It is also about how you communicate, collaborate, and drive impact. Seeing these expectations spelled out helped me better assess where I stand and what I need to work on next.

The book also provides practical steps to progress, from identifying the right growth path to actionable ways to improve specific competencies. While I found some sections a bit repetitive, I can definitely see myself returning to it as a reference.

If you are a designer thinking about your next career step, whether that is reaching senior level or growing beyond it, I would recommend giving this book a read.

[Apichaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

An article like `How to enter UX` is now everywhere on the internet, but what if you want to become more?

This book shows us clear components we should have to become a good senior, like `Communication` and `Stakeholder management` which I'm so thankful I found it. The author provides good frameworks to work on. I recommend `The Path to Senior Product Designer` to UX/UI or Product designers who want to level up, this book is like having a senior mentor by your side.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been working for companies where design marurity is fairly low and leadership does not have experience on how to lead designers. Therefore I struggled setting clearer path for my further career development, and this book helped me a lot. It has lot of practical advice that both designers and their managers could use. Highly recommend!

[Fred Voigtländer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book as there is so much valuable information and insights to grow as a product designer. Artiom has a precise way of breaking down the essentials that are needed to progress, but also finding opportunities to proactively contribute to a company's success as a designer. Definetely worth a read for every designer!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a beta-reader of this book.
I feel like the author took all my thoughts and experiences and organized them in a way that makes me understand why I've been struggling in my career. I feel seen and heard.

[Elma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book has a lot of practical advice and perspectives I wish I had known in the beginning of my UX career. The books has helped me to plan my career better, map the skills I need to develope and see that things I have struggled with have also been common to others.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt very grateful to know this book within the journey to build my career. It almost answers all of my questions in mind about the position. Thank you Artiom

[ying · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical advice that you would want from a designer mentor. Offers actionable growth plan.

[Lindsey Norberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled with note-taking because the book organizes experience by context rather than discipline level.

[Rayhan Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely brilliant. I genuinely want to read it again. The depth of information, the facts and the techniques are incredibly valuable. Especially the final thoughts. That part felt deeply personal, like you were speaking directly to me.

I truly appreciate the work you put into this book. It was engaging from start to finish and I’d love to read more of your work in the future. Thank you for writing such an impactful book.