The 7 stages of the design craft — and how to get to the next one
As you progress in your career as a designer, your focus changes.
The types of skills you focus on developing, the types of challenges you have to solve, and how you split your time throughout the day — all of that has to evolve, so you can focus on the right things that are expected from your level.
When mentoring other designers, I always like to frame a designer’s skillset in layers. It’s important to make sure designers develop layer after layer, in the right order. Exceptions may happen, obviously, but there’s a certain progression in how those skills are developed that aligns quite nicely with the seniority levels established by our industry (junior, mid-level, senior, etc.).
Stage 1:
Mastering the tools
What’s happening in this phase:
The designer is learning how to use the tools required to produce design artifacts (design tools, prototyping tools, collaboration tools). They are becoming proficient in a number of them, and defining what their toolset is going to look like for the years to come.
The KPI:
Efficiency. The faster, the better. It’s more about speed than it is about the quality of the design (you can’t really expect someone with zero experience to be able to produce amazing designs, although exceptions may happen).
What will make your manager happy:
You are able to flex across multiple tools, understand their pros and cons, know how to use them efficiently, and understand the right moment to use each one of them.
Stage 2:
Learning the good practices
What’s happening in this phase:
Now that the designer has mastered the tools, they are learning what good design is. They have become so familiar with design patterns and standards used by other products, that they know exactly which one to use in each situation. The designer is downloading apps and playing with websites all day, and their brain is being trained to instantly recognize what works and what doesn’t from a design and usability perspective.
The KPI:
Quality. At this point the designer should be able to make decisions regarding which UI elements to use and how to connect flows in the right way. The designer should be able to produce solid designs, that work.
What will make your manager happy:
You produce high-quality designs. Your manager has to spend less time looking at every single screen you produce. They trust your design decisions, and they will end up supporting you with things like selling your work and getting stakeholder buy-in.
Stage 3:
Forming a point of view
What’s happening in this phase:
The designer has seen so many permutations of design, and has worked on so many tactical solutions themselves, that they are now able to start forming their own opinion as a specialist. They understand so well all the elements at stake (the user needs, the business, and the technology), that they can now articulate a thorough point of view around a certain design challenge — and present that point of view to others.
The KPI:
Articulation. It’s about being able to articulate what the problem is, its requirements and implications, and to defend a certain solution, highlighting the pros and cons of the design solution presented.
What will make your manager happy:
You know how to have a great design discussion. You are able to get into a room with clients and stakeholders, and have a fruitful conversation about what you think the right solution is. You’re not combative; you’re smart and rational as you present your point of view to others.
Stage 4:
Telling a story through the design
What’s happening in this phase:
The designer now understands the importance of making cohesive design decisions. They are able to define a conceptual model for their product, tell a compelling story when presenting that concept to their peers, and sustain that concept idea through all stages of design — including detailed design, development, and launch.
The KPI:
Magic. This is the point of a designer’s career where they will create their most brilliant work: designs that can spark emotion, empathy, and delight, while still solving for real business needs.
What will make your manager happy:
You know how to present your work. You are able to apply a design concept to all levels of your design craft, and communicate that concept to others. You require close-to-zero oversight from a craft perspective, and your manager can start acting more as a coach/mentor than anything.
Stage 5:
Collaborating at multiple levels
What’s happening in this phase:
The designer has gotten so good at the craft, that they can now focus on the other side of design: the implications of the design at the organization level. They are able to lead more junior designers into creating great work, they are learning how to collaborate well with all departments, and they are also learning how to manage up their bosses and stakeholders. They become a reference in the organization when it comes to design thought leadership.
The KPI:
Collaboration. The designer becomes self-sufficient, and is able to adapt their collaboration style pretty seamlessly across different disciplines (horizontal), and across different levels (vertical).
What will make your manager happy:
You are independent. You are able to navigate the organization with very little guidance required. You never bring up a problem without bringing along three solutions.
Stage 6:
Building personal connections
What’s happening in this phase:
The designer is starting to understand the various political forces within their organization, and the right way to navigate them to get ideas executed. They understand the importance of trust in work relationships, and they are starting to form bonds with their team, their stakeholders/clients, and the community outside the organization.
The KPI:
Trust. The designer becomes a trustworthy figure inside and outside the company, and can quickly build credibility when placed in a different context (e.g. a new business meeting, a new department, a new project).
What will make your manager happy:
You are reliable, dependable, steady, and well-connected. You make your manager look good, and they can start using your smarts to help them with bigger challenges that go beyond design. You have become a design force, and people start to orbit around you; you attract new talent, new projects, and new business opportunities.
Stage 7:
Growing the business
What’s happening in this phase:
The designer has direct impact in the organization’s business. The designer is managing bigger teams, leading bigger projects, and most importantly: generating growth in multiple different areas of the organization — beyond just the “design department”.
The KPI:
Growth. In different organizations that can mean different things: either new business, new projects, team growth, more customers, more awareness/visibility, more money. Ultimately, this is about making the business stronger and bigger.
What will make your manager happy:
Growing the business, really. When the business grows, departments grow, and there’s good chances you and your manager will grow as well.
The risk of shaping (or becoming) a hollow designer
Some designers might read this and think… “Well, I should try to skip a few levels altogether, then, so I can get a promotion and a higher salary”.
Sorry to be the one who breaks the news: but it doesn’t really work that way.
Each of those pieces is intrinsically connected to one another. Each of this layers sets the foundation that will prepare you to develop the next one. And the next one. You have to spend a considerable amount of time (years, really) focusing on each one of these layers before you move on to the next one.
You cannot present a design concept with confidence and credibility, if you haven’t really spent years of your career operating the tools, designing thousands of different screens, prototyping them, researching best practices, testing your solutions with users, etc. You might be able to get away in one or two meetings, or even in a job interview. But soon enough, more experienced people will start seeing through you. Good managers and good business people can smell design hollowness from far away. And they won’t put their money where they can sense something is not right.
The last thing you want (and the last thing our industry needs) is to become a hollow designer. One who is able to fake their way to the top, to only then get there and realize how mediocre they have become in each one of the aspects of the design craft.
This article is part of Journey: lessons from the amazing journey of being a designer.
