Intro

These are the design skills we choose to focus on at UpMail.

These pages are used for conversations about growth, promotions, pay and hiring. Individual staff will discuss these with their line manager to track goals, promotions and salaries.

How to read this framework

There are 6 subjects, each with a rating of 1 to 4.

Levels 1-2 indicate a “getting started” path: learning the ropes, using lots of support from your peers, and usually with mentorship or training involved.

Level 3 means a productive and independent level of skill. You can get on with moderately complicated tasks, needing little input from others, and produce good results.

Level 4 indicates leadership outside your personal influence, the ability to inform and improve team and company practices, and a level of very high skill. These levels are usually for those who want to step into leadership roles.

Service Design & User Needs

  1. Getting started. Understands that user needs drive design decisions.
  2. Can clearly map user journeys with multiple steps, with help from others.
  3. Independently maps complex journeys by leading research. Anticipates edge cases, aligns services around real user needs. Shapes problem framing for the team and communicates solutions with confidence.
  4. Leads this approach at a company-level, advancing how we design successful products.

UX Research

  1. Learning core methods (interviews, surveys, usability testing). Can assist with sessions and capture insights with guidance.
  2. Independently runs research activities, synthesises findings, and communicates them clearly to the team.