You’re a good designer. So why has your career stalled?

• Doing great work that nobody seems to notice?
• Stuck at the same level while others around you keep climbing?
• Losing arguments about decisions you should be shaping?
• Wishing you had a mentor to show you what comes next?

It’s not just you.

You’re talented, experienced and capable, but starting to feel that your career, which used to progress easily, is now treading water. Maybe you’re hitting resistance from stakeholders, getting caught in unproductive debates or feeling like your voice isn’t heard.

Maybe you’re sensing that being good at design isn’t enough to move forward any more.

You’re right. Most designers hit this ceiling sooner or later. Craft got you hired, and bootcamps teach it well. What moves you up from here is everything above it.

Meet the Hierarchy of Design Skills

UX Skills You Don’t Learn in Bootcamp is built around a simple model. Craft sits at the base. Above it are the three levels that decide how far you go:

• Process. See the bigger picture of how your organisation works, find the brief behind the brief and show the value of design in terms the business cares about.
• People. Win buy-in, handle pushback without making enemies and build influence over the decisions that matter.
• Hustle. Work out what’s next for you, from climbing the career ladder to running your own design business, and make your next move on purpose.

Who it’s for

Product designers, service designers and UX designers: anyone working where users, technology and business meet who has started asking ‘What’s next?’

Written by someone who’s been there

Martin Sandström has nearly 20 years of experience in agencies, startups and large in-house teams. This book turns what he’s learnt into practical, evidence-backed advice you can use on Monday morning. Think of it as the mentor you’ve been wishing for.

Let’s get you unstuck.

Out on Kindle and in paperback on 19 January 2027.

Want to read it first? Get a free advance copy below before 6 December.

Get free, early access to the book.

Why did I write a book on UX career advice?

September 2023. Together with my dad, I’ve travelled to Guernsey, a small island in the English Channel. After a day of back-to-back exploring, I crash into my hotel bed and I’m soon fast asleep. The next morning, I’m woken before my alarm by an idea screaming for my attention: I’m going to write a book that summarises what I’ve learnt so far in my career.

New ideas are born out of combining existing, previously non-related things in novel ways. Apparently, mixing a father-son trip, a Channel island and a good night’s sleep was the recipe for this idea.

I don’t think we talk enough about the importance of soft skills in the design community. There’s s a strong focus on craft. I don’t mean to downplay craft: it is the foundation of any great designer. But soft skills combined with systems thinking can elevate our status in the workplace from design-doers to business strategists. And this can be done without sacrificing your passion for craft or customer-centric outcomes.

Love, always.
— Martin