Level / Title | Skill (Individual) | Influence (Team) | Thinking (Team) |
L1 - Designer I | • Understands basic product design principles
• Effectively applies visual design elements like typography, layout, and information prioritization
• Adheres to established design systems and best practices
• Creates basic prototypes to validate design flows
• Provides constructive feedback to enhance the team's work quality | • Collaborates with PMs and engineers, engaging in existing processes
• Designs with consideration for the immediate problem space and context
• Recognizes the scope and necessary exploration of projects
• Understands the impact of their work on the product and other teams
• Works iteratively without attachment to a single solution | • Begins to grasp the strategy behind their projects
• Builds strong relationships within the team and with the design team
• Uses product knowledge to inform design decisions
• Leverages existing research to develop solutions
• Iterates designs based on customer feedback and data
• Starts to understand key metrics and how their projects drive them |
L2 - Designer II | • Demonstrates solid understanding of product design fundamentals
• Exhibits proficiency in visual design competencies
• Selects design patterns with well-founded rationale
• Contributes to the evolution of the design system
• Identifies the best prototyping methods for different stages of work
• Actively provides feedback to design and cross-functional partners | • Defines the design approach for their team
• Designs with a broader awareness of the problem space
• Focuses on creating clear, valuable solutions for users
• Considers technical constraints in design work
• Explores multiple design approaches, evaluating strengths and weaknesses to make informed recommendations | • Clearly understands the strategy behind project work
• Provides input on product strategy and roadmaps
• Identifies how design can contribute to team goals
• Collaborates with researchers, analysts, and PMs on research briefs and facilitation
• Understands and interprets success metrics effectively |
L3 - Sr Designer | • Demonstrates expert-level understanding of UX and strong product design fundamentals
• Drives improvements to the product's overall visual design
• Delivers micro-interactions that provide user delight
• Pairs with engineers through functional prototypes
• Designs complex features with dependencies across product lines and surfaces
• Begins to coach others in developing an understanding of product design | • Drives the design approach and shares practices that elevate the team
• Prioritizes a level of doneness that helps the project move towards bringing value to users | • Plays a key role in setting the strategic direction for work
• Begins to lead strategic conversations at the team level
• Organizes and leads workshops, design sprints, and other forms of collaborative problem-solving
• Collaborates with researchers and/or PMs to create and facilitate plans that inspire the customer vision
• Identifies gaps in data and helps define necessary metrics for success |
L4 - Lead Designer | • Demonstrates expert-level UX skills with specialization in certain areas
• Proactively addresses gaps in existing systems
• Applies expertise to meet team and broader product design needs
• Fosters a culture of design excellence and high standards
• Uses prototyping to envision and communicate future product states
• Sometimes coaches others in understanding product design | • Improves processes across teams and stakeholders
• Clarifies how design decisions impact other teams within the company
• Focuses the team on essential tasks, encouraging effective problem-solving
• Promotes learning over attachment to specific solutions
• Models a rationale-driven approach to design thinking | • Plays a key role in setting long-term strategic direction for the team
• Leads strategic product conversations at the team level
• Supports other senior team members in organizing and leading workshops and sprints
• Leads research to inspire and find new opportunities for the team
• Helps the team define success metrics |
L5 - Staff Designer | • Applies expert-level product design principles to high-priority projects
• Leads design work that influences multiple teams
• Champions design quality and high craft standards
• Regularly coaches others in product design | • Establishes innovative ways of working for product design teams
• Encourages holistic thinking about the problem space
• Brings sophistication to managing complexity in design work
• Cultivates high standards of design thinking within the team
• Enhances the team's focus on priority tasks
• Fosters rationale-driven design decision-making | • Deeply understands company-wide strategy and goals
• Contributes to strategic discussions beyond the team
• Guides critical, high-impact design work for the company
• Understands company OKRs and aligns design work to drive them |
L6 - Principal Designer | • Applies expert-level product design principles to high-impact projects
• Advocates for product design methodologies internally and externally
• Provides critical feedback and guidance on interaction design across the company | • Expands the team's understanding of the broader design context
• Promotes design thinking as essential for solving user problems | • Drives strategic conversations at the company level
• Champions the evolution of best practices
• Ensures the team uses the best methods to solve problems
• Helps define company OKRs and aligns design efforts to achieve them |