The Solo Designer Survival Kit

You’re the only designer in the room.

No design lead.
No established process.
No one to sanity-check your decisions.

Yet you’re expected to:

• Define UX strategy
• Deliver polished UI
• Justify every design choice
• Align PMs, engineers, and stakeholders
• And somehow not burn out

If you’ve ever thought “Am I even doing this right?”, you’re not alone.

I’ve been there. And this kit exists because of that reality.

This is not another inspirational design PDF.

This is a survival kit for real-world solo designers and tiny teams navigating messy products, unclear roadmaps, and high expectations.

The Solo Designer Survival Kit gives you structure, clarity, and confidence, so you can stop second-guessing yourself and start owning your design process.

What this kit helps you do (the real outcomes)

By using this kit, you’ll be able to:

✔ Stop feeling overwhelmed by scattered tasks and unclear priorities
✔ Communicate your design decisions with confidence (even when challenged)
✔ Create a repeatable workflow that works without a design team
✔ Advocate for design without sounding defensive or unsure
✔ Work smarter, protect your energy, and avoid burnout

This is about control, clarity, and impact, not perfection.

What’s inside the Solo Designer Survival Kit

🧠 Workflow & Structure

• Plug-and-play templates to organize your design work, projects, and decisions
• A clear structure that removes decision fatigue and helps you focus on what matters

📘 Solo Designer Playbook

• A practical, strategy-driven guide for managing projects as a solo designer
• How to handle vague briefs, shifting priorities, and unrealistic expectations
• How to confidently explain why your designs make sense

🗣 Design Advocacy & Influence

• Resources to help you push back respectfully
• Tools to align stakeholders without friction
• Frameworks to make your work visible and valued

⚡ Bonus Resources

• Productivity templates to help you manage time and energy
• Career growth tools for solo designers thinking long-term
• Inspiration and prompts for clarity when you feel stuck

Who this kit is for

✔ Solo UI/UX or Product Designers
✔ Designers working in small or early-stage teams
✔ Designers without a design lead or mature design process
✔ Designers who want practical guidance, not theory

Who this is NOT for

❌ Designers in large teams with established design systems
❌ Designers looking for purely academic or theoretical content
❌ People who want “pretty slides” with no real-world application

Why I created this

I started my design career as a solo designer, figuring things out in real time, often without support. Over the years, I’ve led design teams, mentored designers globally, and worked across multiple industries.

This kit is everything I wish I had earlier, condensed, practical, and grounded in real experience.

It’s already been downloaded by 120+ solo designers and small teams, and version 2.0 is coming soon.

⚠️ Important: Version 2.0 is coming in February 2026

The next version will be updated based on:

• Current solo designer realities
• Feedback from real users
• New workflows and challenges in today’s product landscape

Early users get first access and directly influence what goes into version 2.0.

Pricing (Pay What You Want)

💡 You can enter $0 in the “Name a fair price” field to get instant access.
If this kit helps you, consider supporting the work so I can continue improving it for designers like you.

No pressure. No guilt. Just value.

👉 Click “I WANT THIS” to get started

If you’re tired of guessing, overworking, and feeling alone in your role, this kit was made for you.

Download it. Use it. Shape what comes next.

Created with love by Cindy Shontan
Product Designer • Mentor • Design Advocate

For more practical insights, follow my weekly posts on LinkedIn.