We're drowning in products nobody wants, built by people who never asked if they should.

Every day, thousands of new apps, websites, and digital products launch. Most will be forgotten within six months—not because they don't work, but because nobody needed them in the first place.

Products People Actually Want book cover

Products People
Actually Want

A practical guide to building better products.

This book covers everything from user research and stakeholder communication to design systems and team leadership.

Learn how to focus on what users actually need, communicate design decisions effectively, and build products people genuinely want to use.

This isn't another book about making things pretty.

It's about understanding humans well enough to build products people actually want.

You'll learn

  • Why "everyone is a designer" and how to leverage diverse perspectives in your team
  • The complete product design process that works in the real world, not just in case studies
  • How to communicate design decisions and influence stakeholders who "prefer the other option because it looks more modern"
  • Practical frameworks for user research that reveal what people actually need (not what they say they want)
  • How to design for anyone without falling into the "design for everyone" trap

Everything in the book

Part 1: Understanding product design

1. What product design actually means
2. Why everyone makes design decisions
3. Product design as a problem solver
4. Beyond the screen

Part 2: Building your practice

5. The reality of product design work
6. Being the only designer
7. Leading without losing your craft
8. User research and stakeholder interviews
9. Creating a UX strategy

Part 3: The craft

10. The product design process
11. Design principles
12. Creating meaningful design systems

Part 4: Communication & influence

13. Why designers need to write
14. Using writing to think through problems
15. How to sell design
16. Why designers need to speak business

Part 5: Designing for humans

17. Building emotional relationships with users
18. Designing for anyone
19. Going beyond good enough

This book captures what most product design resources miss: the human relationships that make or break building great products.

Anton's practical approach to everything from user research to internal communication reads like advice from a trusted mentor. I wish I'd had this book earlier in my career.

Kevin Twohy

Kevin Twohy

Principal Designer, Twohy Design Works

If you're tired of design books that talk in circles, this one actually addresses the work as it is.

The rare design book that cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of what matters: designing for real people. Anton is direct about the realities of product design—the messy trade-offs, the pressure to ship, the challenge of balancing business goals with actual user needs. If you're tired of design books that talk in circles, this one addresses the work as it is.

Fedor Shkliarau

Fedor Shkliarau

Author of Product Design Portfolio Final Final

Anton's nailed it — this is the guide every Product Designer wishes they had.

Anton's nailed it — this is the guide every Product Designer wishes they had. It's practical, super relevant for 2025 and honestly the stuff UX schools should have been teaching us all along!

Buzz Usborne

Buzz Usborne

Principal Designer & Coach

A design mentor in book-form

What I like about this book is that it's an easy read that talks about design in a holistic way.

It's a book I wish I read at the beginning of my career, because it really shows the many facets that make up design and underlines it with personal stories, concrete examples and practical tips.

Now reading this book further into my career it still is insightful - but also just very relatable and reassuring. Truly a design mentor in book-form.

Maureen Herben

Maureen Herben

Senior designer, Typeform

Sharp, grounded, and unflinching. A reminder that success isn't about features, it's about outcomes that matter.

Most design books are written from the sidelines. This one is written from the arena. Anton's Products People Actually Want doesn't dress design up in theory—it lays bare the real, messy work of building products people care about.

Sharif Matar

Sharif Matar

Design Leader

The structure is simple and guides you through a designer's maturing process in a way that just clicks.

The structure is simple and guides you through a designer's maturing process in a way that just clicks. If I had to pick one highlight, it's the one-hand test—worth the read for that alone.

Easy to read, informative, and entertaining. Good UX.

David Reina

David Reina

Strategy Director

Ready to build products people actually want?

I'm not here to oversell you or make you second-guess with a dozen different options and add-ons.

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About me

I've spent the past 25+ years designing and consulting for companies like IKEA, Herman Miller, Loom, Google, and Spotify. Right now, I'm Head of Design at Summer Health.

Along the way, my writing has found its way into the design community, and I've had the chance to speak at conferences and design schools around the world.

I'm based in Sweden, where I split my time between building products that matter, writing about design, and taking long walks with my wife and our dog, Taylor.