Designers deal with abstraction daily!

The design arena has never been an absolute field. One can’t be judgemental about design solutions, what works for you may not work for the end user. It’s never about right or wrong, rather it’s if the design solution “Will Work” vs “Is it Compelling?” (some like to call it ‘out of the box’)

Unlike some departments where job roles are defined for hierarchy, the same can’t be said about the Design Team. Companies usually maintain a lean design team structure (Ahha… rolling eyes…) where sometimes the chief designer is expected (actually, obligated) to perform all design roles year after year. Thankfully, we’ve alteast moved out of the era with the question: “print or web?” for a designer to be distinguished.

So how can a designer actually evaluate if he/she is growing? What really changes in the job roles?

From the world of UX UI, we’ve tried to put together a quick guide with expectations and skills for a JUNIOR vs a SENIOR in the role of UX Designer (head here to learn more about job titles & what they really do?)

Junior UX Designer – An Enthusiastic Fresh Nugget & a Learning Sponge

Expectations:

• Design execution or creating the mockups

• Solve UX problems of secondary and tertiary screens

• Ensure designs do not have usability issues

• Basic problem identification and solving skills to ensure the designer grows into the role of a Lead UX designer

Important Skills:

• Speed in creating mockups to enable rapid iterations

• Ability to grasp and implement feedback

• Basic UI skills to ensure designs are created in the correct dimensions

Lead UX Designer – The Evaluator of Functional Design

Expectations:

• Problem identification and solving skills

• Ability to prioritize the most impactful problems to solve

• Convert abstract ideas into executable next steps

• Steer the design direction if the same is derailing

Important Skills:

• Articulation and communication of requirements to different stakeholders

• Defining problem statements, user flows, and design direction

• Sprint planning

• Assigning the right type of work to the right person

Based on interest and skill set, a junior designer eventually grows into the roles of either a Designer Manager (people skills), Product Owner (tech and business skills), UX Architect (product skills), or a Creative Director (creative skills).

Takeaway:

So have you been evolving from a junior skill-set to that of a senior? Are you scaling & narrowing your future senior job profile? Are you learning & unlearning on your way up?

If you CHECK-ed them all, you are on the track of progress buddy.

This kind of hierarchy reads cleaner and feels less “shouty bold everywhere,” more “calm authority.” Like a designer who aligns things without announcing it.