Nobody told me this when I graduated, so I'll tell you now:
Design skills get you hired. Business skills get you promoted.
And in 2026, business skills might be what keeps you employed.
I spent 20 years at Apple, EA, USAA, Nestlé. The designers who thrived—promoted, protected during layoffs, invited into strategic conversations—weren't always the best craftspeople. They were the ones who understood how the business worked.
The Five Skills
1. Speaking in outcomes, not outputs
Wrong: "We redesigned the checkout flow with improved visual hierarchy."
Right: "We reduced cart abandonment by 23%, which adds roughly $2.3M annually."
Same work. Different language. One gets questioned. One gets funded.
2. Understanding the business model
Before you design anything: How does your company make money? What metrics determine success? Where is it trying to grow?
3. Reading the room
Who actually makes decisions? Not officially—actually. At Apple, the person with the title wasn't always the person with the power. Figure out who matters.
4. Building a business case
Every significant design change needs one. What problem are we solving? Why does it matter now? What should we do? Three questions. Answer them clearly.
5. Tracking and communicating impact
The designers who advance can say, six months later, "Remember that checkout redesign? Here's what happened to the numbers."
Why This Matters More Now
Layoffs have hit design teams hard. AI is changing the craft. The designers who survive aren't necessarily the most talented—they're the ones leadership sees as essential to business outcomes.
When executives decide who stays and who goes, they ask: "Who moves numbers we care about?"
If you can't answer that about yourself, you're at risk.
The Good News
Business skills are learnable. You don't need an MBA. You need to translate. Design creates value. Business skills help you explain that value in language decision-makers understand.
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