Introduction: Finding Clarity, Building Structure from Team Needs
As we navigated the path of leading the design team, we reached a point where it became clear that we needed a shared direction and a common language. The lack of clarity around roles and values had started to cause confusion and a noticeable decline in the quality of our work. To address this, we decided to create both a career ladder and a team philosophy simultaneously. This approach allowed structure and culture to evolve hand in hand, supporting each other as the team grew.
Why We Decided to Build a Career Ladder
Clarity, Growth, Fairness:
Before we introduced the career ladder, the team faced challenges such as unclear roles and expectations, a lack of defined growth paths, and subjective evaluations. These issues often led to confusion and a sense of unfairness. Our goal was to create a framework that would allow team members to assess themselves and track their progress independently of personal judgments. We wanted everyone to have a shared understanding of what growth looked like and what was expected at each stage.
Fairness in Compensation:
Another critical reason for building the ladder was to bring transparency and fairness to how we structure compensation. With a clearly defined framework, we could evaluate each person’s skills based on consistent criteria aligned with the ladder levels. This made it easier to ensure that compensation reflected actual capabilities, not just titles or tenure.
How the Career Ladder Was Designed
From Observable Behaviors to Real Feedback
We built the ladder based on observable behaviors rather than job titles or years of experience. Our goal was to define clear expectations through both hard and soft skills — things that could be seen and evaluated in daily work. At each Individual Contributor (IC) level, we described concrete behaviors that reflect growth in areas such as craft, collaboration, ownership, communication, and leadership.
Embedding Company Values
A career ladder shouldn’t just reflect technical growth — it should mirror the culture we want to grow as a team. That’s why we wove our core organizational values — ownership, continuous learning, teamwork, and transparency — into every level. By doing this, we ensured that professional development would also mean cultural alignment. Team members aren’t just evaluated on output, but also on how they work and contribute to the collective mindset.
Why We Avoided Labels Like Junior/Senior
Instead of traditional tags like “Junior” or “Senior,” we chose to use the IC framework. Those conventional titles often reflect tenure or general perception, but they don’t always represent actual skills, behaviors, or impact. The IC model gave us more flexibility and accuracy to define meaningful growth paths based on contribution, not just experience.
Collaborative and Feedback-Driven Process
One of the key strengths of this ladder is that it wasn’t designed in isolation. From the beginning, we actively gathered feedback from the design team, CPO, and HR to ensure it reflected real needs and diverse perspectives. Our CPO emphasized the importance of clearly outlining hard skills, especially for stakeholders outside the design team who need to quickly grasp a designer’s capabilities. HR encouraged us to make the language more descriptive and empathetic, using relatable examples that help individuals better understand and reflect on their growth. By involving team members and leaders in reviewing drafts and shaping the content, the ladder evolved into more than just a document — it became a shared framework rooted in the team’s day-to-day challenges and aspirations.
Crafting a Career Ladder: Key Skills
Before diving into the details of the career ladder structure, it’s important to mention that in designing this ladder, our team concluded that to create an effective and structured career path, we should focus on different skill groups and core professional concepts. These groupings helped us define specific competencies and responsibilities for each level, ultimately leading to individual and team growth and development.
The career ladder, as a result, is based on the following skills:
Core Competencies and Skills
Execution Expertise:
- Visual Art (Visual)
- User Guidance (Interaction)
Achievement:
- Professional Maturity and Mastery of Complexity
- Problem Solving
- Data-Driven Decision Making
Responsibility:
- Ownership
- Accountability
Leadership:
- Citizenship
- Leadership
- Conflict Resolution
In this ladder, each product design level is carefully described to clearly outline the growth path and the role of each individual at different levels. These descriptions help clarify expectations and standards for each level. Below are a few examples from the ladder to illustrate the concept more clearly.
IC4 — User Guidance (Interaction)
At this level, the designer is responsible for crafting user-centric designs that provide clear guidance and intuitive interactions. They focus on understanding user needs and ensuring the design delivers a seamless experience. This role involves close collaboration with other team members to ensure the designs are accessible and easy to navigate. The designer guides users through their journey within the product, ensuring usability is at the forefront of every interaction.
IC2 — Problem Solving
Designers at this level are expected to apply critical thinking to solve design challenges efficiently. They take ownership of identifying pain points and developing creative solutions. Their role involves analyzing the problem, researching, and iterating on design concepts to find the most effective way to meet user and business goals. They work closely with stakeholders to ensure their solutions align with broader objectives while remaining user-friendly.
IC3 — Accountability
Designers at this level are responsible for their design solutions and their impact. They ensure their work meets both the brief and user needs while adhering to deadlines. They track the success of their designs through feedback and data, taking responsibility for any adjustments needed. This role requires a high level of ownership, with the designer proactively addressing challenges that arise during the design process and ensuring quality at every stage.
IC6 — Citizenship
At this level, designers go beyond their immediate team and contribute to the broader design community and company culture. They engage in activities that promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing, helping foster an environment of growth and innovation. Designers at this level demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility for the collective success of the organization, taking on mentoring roles and participating in cross-departmental initiatives to ensure a unified approach to design within the company.
These terms emphasize the specific areas of growth and contribution expected at each level, from user interaction to team culture. Let me know if you’d like to make any further changes!
Team Philosophy
Why Did We Create a Team Philosophy?
While the ladder helped define the professional growth path for team members, we needed a shared philosophy to maintain team quality and behavioral alignment. Our team philosophy is grounded in the principle that “no one should wait to become a senior or lead to demonstrate professional and high-quality behavior.”
Regardless of level, being part of the team means respecting the team philosophy. I don’t believe in creating a hierarchy around the philosophy; everyone should approach it equally.
Our Team Philosophy:
- Documentation
- Deadline Management
- Output Quality
- Transparency and Open Communication
- Consistency in Quality
- Accountability in Research
Challenges and Learnings
Designing this structure was a time-consuming process, and one of the main challenges we faced was striking the right balance between accuracy and simplicity. It was important to ensure the ladder was detailed enough to provide clear guidance, yet simple enough to be easily understood and applicable.
Another significant challenge was ensuring the structure aligned with both the team’s evolving needs and the company’s goals. Feedback from team members, managers, HR, and the CPO played a crucial role in refining the ladder, making the final version more mature, comprehensive, and practical.
Ultimately, this process taught us the importance of collaboration and iterative refinement in creating a tool that would genuinely benefit both individual growth and team alignment.
What Happened in the End?
The initial impact of the ladder and the team philosophy was noticeable from the start. We received positive feedback from the team, as the ladder provided much-needed clarity regarding expectations and growth trajectories. It helped make performance reviews and growth conversations more transparent and focused. Team members reported feeling more confident in understanding their roles, the steps required to progress, and how they could align their individual development with the team’s overall goals.
Continuous Improvement and Updates
As with any system, it is important to recognize that the ladder is not static. It evolves to remain relevant to the team’s changing needs. This ladder will be updated regularly to reflect new insights, changes in the team’s structure, and shifting organizational priorities. A living and adaptable ladder ensures that it can continue to support both the team’s growth and the individual members’ development in an ever-changing work environment.
Design Career Ladder: Growth Through Clarity was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.