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The Path to Staff Product Designer: How to Progress to the Next IC Level Beyond Senior (Staff/Lead/Principal) in UX Design
Advance your UX career to Staff, Lead, or Principal
Progress to the next IC level after senior—whether it’s called Staff, Lead, or Principal at your organization. Learn from the designers who’ve done it themselves.
An industry-backed approach to growth
Based on how more than 50 companies evaluate employees and interviews with 19 designers on their progression at companies like Figma, Instacart, Dropbox, Etsy, and smaller companies.
- Understand the staff role with real-world project examples
- Learn which staff skills companies require
- Build an actionable growth plan
- Build influence and strategic thinking with actionable frameworks
- Understand how promotions work to get promoted faster
22 highly actionable chapters:
Understanding the role
○ Titles, leveling, and career tracks
○ Management vs. IC tracks
○ Staff designer competencies
○ Staff projects examples
Planning the promotion
○ Steps to getting promoted
○ Asking for promotion
○ Evaluating your gaps
○ Building a growth plan
What to work on
○ Creating a Growth Flywheel
○ Increasing visibility
○ Spotting project opportunities
○ Choosing the right projects
Seeing the big picture
○ Understanding business
○ Selling ideas
○ Applying leverage
○ New responsibilities of Staff
○ Balancing quality and speed
○ Complexity and delegation
○ Working with people
Stakeholder management
○ Building consensus
○ Mentoring and getting help
○ Hiring
Communicating achievements
○ Performance reviews
○ Documenting achievements
Progress to the next IC level after senior—whether it’s called Staff, Lead, or Principal at your organization. Learn from the designers who’ve done it themselves.
An industry-backed approach to growth
Based on how more than 50 companies evaluate employees and interviews with 19 designers on their progression at companies like Figma, Instacart, Dropbox, Etsy, and smaller companies.
- Understand the staff role with real-world project examples
- Learn which staff skills companies require
- Build an actionable growth plan
- Build influence and strategic thinking with actionable frameworks
- Understand how promotions work to get promoted faster
22 highly actionable chapters:
Understanding the role
○ Titles, leveling, and career tracks
○ Management vs. IC tracks
○ Staff designer competencies
○ Staff projects examples
Planning the promotion
○ Steps to getting promoted
○ Asking for promotion
○ Evaluating your gaps
○ Building a growth plan
What to work on
○ Creating a Growth Flywheel
○ Increasing visibility
○ Spotting project opportunities
○ Choosing the right projects
Seeing the big picture
○ Understanding business
○ Selling ideas
○ Applying leverage
○ New responsibilities of Staff
○ Balancing quality and speed
○ Complexity and delegation
○ Working with people
Stakeholder management
○ Building consensus
○ Mentoring and getting help
○ Hiring
Communicating achievements
○ Performance reviews
○ Documenting achievements
- GenresDesign
249 pages, Paperback
Published March 21, 2025
9 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Artiom Dashinsky
6 books74 followersArtiom 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 23, 2025
The book is packed with actionable techniques that have helped designers break through the senior ceiling — from understanding the business and identifying high-impact project opportunities, to setting quality standards, mentoring others, increasing visibility, and selling ideas with confidence.
From the very first chapters, this book brought the raw and real — unfolding as a practical guide to growing your design career. It wasn’t just about reading; it was about reflecting, resonating, and relating big time.
The best part? I saw my own challenges mirrored in the pages — that let me think “How do I grow from here?”, “Am I leading or just executing?”
It was like career therapy, but with graphs and frameworks.
What makes it even more powerful is the depth of research Artiom has put in. He connected with designers and employees from 50+ companies, including Figma, Etsy, Dropbox, Square, Medium, Zendesk, and more. On top of that, he interviewed 19 product designers across various orgs — from Instacart and Twitter to smaller startups — to uncover real, practical insights on their career progression.
From the very first chapters, this book brought the raw and real — unfolding as a practical guide to growing your design career. It wasn’t just about reading; it was about reflecting, resonating, and relating big time.
The best part? I saw my own challenges mirrored in the pages — that let me think “How do I grow from here?”, “Am I leading or just executing?”
It was like career therapy, but with graphs and frameworks.
What makes it even more powerful is the depth of research Artiom has put in. He connected with designers and employees from 50+ companies, including Figma, Etsy, Dropbox, Square, Medium, Zendesk, and more. On top of that, he interviewed 19 product designers across various orgs — from Instacart and Twitter to smaller startups — to uncover real, practical insights on their career progression.
Displaying 1 of 1 review