Skills Matrix — Design Career Framework

Assessment scale

Developing

Building foundational understanding. Needs guidance and support to apply this skill.

Practicing

Applies independently in familiar contexts. Occasionally needs input on complex situations.

Leading

Consistently strong. Applies in novel and complex contexts. Elevates others in this area.

Shaping

Defines how the team or org approaches this skill. Sets standards. Recognized internally and externally.

Nine skill categories

1. Systems thinkingWorking within and defining broader systems

Level	Description
Developing	Works within established components and patterns without breaking them. Understands how their work connects to adjacent teams.
Practicing	Contributes back to systems. Anticipates how decisions affect others. Identifies inconsistencies and flags them.
Leading	Owns systems decisions for a product area. Mentors others in usage. Maps systemic dependencies and implications. Sets quality standards.
Shaping	Architects systems strategy. Defines governance and evolution roadmap. Establishes org-wide principles that guide systemic decision-making.

2. Project managementPlanning, estimating, and delivering work reliably

Level	Description
Developing	Accurately estimates and delivers individual tasks with support. Understands priority set by others.
Practicing	Manages own delivery across a full lifecycle. Makes tradeoff calls on own work. Escalates when uncertain.
Leading	Breaks ambiguous initiatives into deliverables. Tracks team-level progress. Prioritizes across multiple concurrent workstreams.
Shaping	Defines delivery models for the org. Optimizes process at scale. Shapes portfolio-level investment decisions.

3. Business acumenConnecting design decisions to business context and outcomes

Level	Description
Developing	Understands the product's basic business model and customer base. Understands the difference between output and outcome.
Practicing	Connects design decisions to business goals. Understands KPIs for their area. Tracks how decisions affect measurable outcomes.
Leading	Uses business context to frame design strategy. Influences prioritization with data. Defines success metrics for initiatives.
Shaping	Sets design strategy in alignment with company business goals. Advises CPO and CEO. Builds organizational practice of outcome-driven design.

4. Strategic thinkingConnecting user needs, business goals, and technology

Level	Description
Developing	Understands problems as defined. Asks clarifying questions. Understands the product vision and how their work connects.
Practicing	Reframes briefs when user need differs from stated request. Contributes to vision artifacts. Flags misalignments.
Leading	Drives problem definition before solutions. Aligns stakeholders on problem space. Co-creates product vision. Produces design principles that guide roadmap.
Shaping	Sets strategic agenda. Identifies white space opportunities across the portfolio. Defines long-range experience vision.

5. Technical literacyWorking effectively with engineering and understanding platform constraints

Level	Description
Developing	Knows enough to ask the right questions. Avoids obviously infeasible solutions. Delivers clean, annotated specs.
Practicing	Designs with platform constraints in mind. Reduces engineering surprises. Participates actively in QA.
Leading	Challenges technical compromises with alternatives. Owns implementation quality end-to-end. Defines handoff standards for the team.
Shaping	Identifies emerging technical capabilities and develops design implications ahead of roadmap. Builds cross-discipline process that closes design-to-build gaps at org scale.

6. Testing and researchSeeking and integrating evidence to improve design decisions

Level	Description
Developing	Participates in user testing. Observes and takes notes effectively. References user feedback when making choices.
Practicing	Plans and runs moderated usability tests independently. Synthesizes findings into actionable implications.
Leading	Designs mixed-method research programs. Triangulates findings across methods. Uses evidence to influence product direction.
Shaping	Defines research strategy at the portfolio level. Builds organizational research capability. Defines standards for rigor.

7. Interaction designDesigning clear, effective, and accessible user interactions

Level	Description
Developing	Finds and applies successful design patterns. Follows established conventions. Applies basic accessibility principles.
Practicing	Applies patterns with judgment. Knows when to deviate and why. Designs with WCAG AA as a default. Maps edge cases independently.
Leading	Deep command of pattern rationale. Champions accessibility as a quality dimension. Identifies systemic edge case patterns.
Shaping	Advances pattern thinking for the org. Identifies emerging interaction paradigms. Defines accessibility strategy and governance.

8. Aesthetic languageVisual and tonal quality of design output

Level	Description
Developing	Delivers work without serious errors. Follows the design language and brand guidelines consistently.
Practicing	Produces visually consistent, polished work independently. Makes brand-appropriate decisions in ambiguous situations.
Leading	Raises the quality bar in their area. Helps others improve craft. Extends brand thoughtfully into new contexts.
Shaping	Defines visual standards and design language for the product or org. Co-owns brand and experience language with marketing and leadership.

9. AI fluencyJudgment and skill in using AI to augment design work

Level	Description
Developing	Uses AI tools for execution tasks. Applies design judgment to evaluate output. Understands that AI produces plausible output that requires human verification.
Practicing	Integrates AI across the workflow. Builds personal prompt libraries and repeatable workflows. Distinguishes acceleration from dependency.
Leading	Builds AI-augmented workflows for the team. Experiments with emerging tools. Surfaces ethical implications in designed products.
Shaping	Shapes org AI strategy for design. Contributes to external conversation on responsible AI. Defines org-wide standards for AI tool use and AI-native product design.

Role-level expectations

Minimum expected skill levels by role. D = Developing, P = Practicing, L = Leading, S = Shaping. Exceeding expectations is encouraged. Being below is a development opportunity, not a performance failure.

Product design IC

Skill	L I	L II	L III	L IV	L V	L VI
Systems thinking	D	P	L	L	L	S
Project management	D	P	P	L	L	S
Business acumen	D	P	L	L	S	S
Strategic thinking	D	P	L	L	S	S
Technical literacy	D	P	P	L	L	S
Testing and research	D	P	L	L	S	S
Interaction design	D	P	L	L	S	S
Aesthetic language	D	P	L	L	S	S
AI fluency	D	P	L	L	S	S

User research IC

Skill	L I	L II	L III	L IV	L V	L VI
Systems thinking	D	P	L	L	L	S
Project management	D	P	P	L	L	S
Business acumen	D	P	L	L	S	S
Strategic thinking	D	P	L	L	S	S
Technical literacy	D	P	P	P	L	L
Testing and research	D	P	L	S	S	S
Interaction design	D	P	P	L	L	S
Aesthetic language	D	P	P	P	L	L
AI fluency	D	P	L	L	S	S

Design ops / program management IC

Skill	L I	L II	L III	L IV	L V	L VI
Systems thinking	D	P	L	L	S	S
Project management	D	P	L	L	S	S
Business acumen	D	P	P	L	L	S
Strategic thinking	D	P	P	L	L	S
Technical literacy	D	P	P	L	L	L
Testing and research	D	P	P	P	L	L
Interaction design	D	D	P	P	P	L
Aesthetic language	D	D	P	P	P	L
AI fluency	D	P	L	L	S	S