A self-paced guide
Design literacy
for Product Managers
You don't need to become a designer. But you do need to lead the design process, collaborate with designers without flinching, and form your own judgment about what's actually good. This guide gives you exactly that — no Figma proficiency required, just clear vocabulary and PM context.
Work in progress. Chapters 1–2 are written and live; the remaining six are still being drafted. Feedback on the published ones is welcome — there's a 👍/👎 widget at the end of each chapter and a tip jar if you want to nudge me to write faster.
Chapters
01
02
Why Design Literacy Matters for PMs
The case for caring about design even when a designer owns the pixels — and what design illiteracy costs you in week-to-week work.
The Vocabulary of Critique
Hierarchy, alignment, contrast, balance, density — the language designers use to talk about UI, with before/after pairs.
03
The Design Process, End to End
Discovery → research → wireframe → prototype → handoff → ship → measure. What each stage produces, and where PMs add the most value.
04
Working with Designers
What makes a brief good vs. bad, how to run a useful design review, when to push back vs. defer, and the PM mistakes designers complain about.
05
Reading a Design — What's Actually Good?
Evaluation rubrics and heuristics for articulating "this is off" without sounding precious — and "this is great" with reasons.
06
Common Design Pitfalls
Anti-patterns you can spot in your own product right now — modal abuse, navigation drift, dead-end empty states, and dark patterns.
07
Design Systems and Accessibility
What a design system is, when one exists in your org, and the WCAG basics that actually matter for shipping a real product.
08
PM-Led Design Decisions
When there's no designer (early-stage, side projects, no budget); when to bring one in; how far you can get with judgment + AI mocks.