Building a Strong Foundation: Crafting a Career Ladder for Designers at Doddle
In the fast-paced world of design, growth without structure can quickly turn into chaos. At Doddle, a pivotal moment of company expansion highlighted the necessity of providing our design team with a clear path for growth. As the sole permanent designer amidst a sea of contractors, I realized the pressing need for a sustainable, strategic approach to team development. This led to the creation of a career development ladder—a tool not just for ticking boxes, but for retaining talent, scaling mindfully, and aligning our design efforts with the broader business direction.
# Recognizing the Need for a Career Ladder
When I joined Doddle, the company heavily relied on contractors. While this allowed for rapid progress, it was insufficient for long-term sustainability. Contractors, while efficient builders, often lack the strategic foresight needed as products evolve. The inconsistency and lack of strategic input highlighted the need for an in-house team dedicated to understanding and driving the product vision.
As we began expanding our product team, it became clear that we needed a formal structure to guide this growth. Questions from designers like “How do I progress?” and “What’s expected of me at the next level?” underscored the importance of a career ladder. Without a clear framework, we risked not only losing potential hires but also failing to retain our existing talent.
# Designing a Ladder That Fits Our Needs
The goal was to create a career ladder that was actionable, flexible, and grounded in the reality of a nimble startup. We needed a framework that could support us for the next two years, rather than a rigid structure meant for a large corporation.
Step 1: Aligning with the Business
The first step was understanding the business trajectory. Conversations with leadership helped identify the skills and mindsets needed to support our growth. For example, expanding our B2B offerings required strategic thinkers capable of influencing cross-functional decisions. Research emerged as a pivotal skill, essential for finding product-market fit and supporting product managers effectively.
Step 2: Researching the Landscape
Drawing inspiration from industry leaders like Figma, Intercom, and GitLab, I adapted existing frameworks to suit our needs. This alignment with industry standards provided structure and confidence, but every choice was tailored to fit our unique culture and team dynamics.
Step 3: Making it Collaborative
The ladder was designed collaboratively, with input from the design team gathered through one-on-one meetings, group chats, and feedback sessions. This ensured that the ladder was not something imposed upon the team but built with them, fostering better ideas and crucial buy-in.
# Establishing the Foundation
Before diving into the specifics, it was essential to establish baseline principles that would guide the ladder’s development. These principles emphasized returning to first principles, advocating for human-centered design beyond the design team, leading end-to-end product initiatives, and setting design strategy across the organization.
# Defining Key Skill Sets
The resulting career development ladder provided structure without being overly prescriptive. It was used for hiring, one-on-ones, and planning team growth. We identified five key skill areas for development:
1. Communication & Collaboration: Essential for cross-functional teamwork, understanding problems, and delivering solutions.
2. Problem Solving & Strategy: Involves knowing which problems to solve, considering business context, user needs, and product direction.
3. Research, Data & Validation: Continuous research mindset to inform design decisions and validate ideas.
4. Craft (UX): Focused on intentional design, planning, and creating artifacts that align and propel the team forward.
5. Visual Design: Attention to detail, understanding when to use or break established patterns, and evolving the visual identity with the product.
# Implementing the Ladder
The career ladder was immediately put to practical use:
– Hiring: Provided clear expectations for new roles, articulating what “good” looked like in terms of skills and mindset.
– Development: Offered designers clarity on growth paths with regular check-ins and discussions tied back to the framework.
– Alignment: Created a shared language with product and engineering teams, setting clear expectations for collaboration.
# Conclusion
Creating a career ladder at Doddle was more than just a theoretical exercise. It became a strategic tool that facilitated team growth and ensured our people felt valued and supported. While not perfect, the ladder served its purpose, providing a foundation for intentional growth and contributing to the development of a market-leading returns product. This strategic approach ultimately led to our successful acquisition by Blue Yonder, the world’s largest supply chain company.
In the dynamic world of design, a well-crafted career ladder can be the difference between chaos and purposeful growth. At Doddle, it proved to be an invaluable asset in building a strong, cohesive design team ready to meet the challenges of the future.
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