When I decided to quit architecture school and become a software designer, I knew I had a lot to learn quickly. I had worked in physical design for six years but digital design processes and tools are quite different. Luckily, there are an infinite amount of classes, videos, tutorials, workshops and blog posts. In fact, it easily became overwhelming. I needed to prioritize what to learn.
A few years later, when I worked at Neo, the leadership team developed thorough guidelines on how to get a promotion in product, engineering or design. There were three levels in our design practice and you could easily identify where you were and what skills you needed to master to move up. I had worked at companies with job descriptions before, but I had never seen a list as fine-grained at the one they came up with. In one document, it highlighted how far I had come and also made it very clear where to focus next.
Since then, I’ve created and iterated my own list. It has been informed by job postings, emerging themes in design and conversations with other practitioners. Every few months, I rate myself on how much I think I’ve mastered each skill. I also add new skills to the list.
Here’s my current grid. As you can see, my strongest areas are interaction design, facilitation and business strategy. My weakest areas are visual design and development. The yellow and red cards are at the top so they’re easy to find.
I use this tool in two ways. First, I go through it every so often before meeting with my boss. I can see where I’ve improved and what needs work. My work spans from research to visual design so I’m focusing on anything red or yellow that would improve our products. Right now, that’s working on communicating animations and transitions as well as expanding brand design.
Secondly, I use this to find classes, workshops, conferences and books. I try to focus on only one or two skills at a time and find as many resources as I can. Classes have a timeline which can be motivating but if I can pair a project at work with some online tutorials, that can be the stickiest way for me to learn.
If you’re impatient like I am, you want to know everything yesterday. Until our brains are like Google, the next best thing is learning the most important things as fast as you can.
Here’s the public board on Trello — copy it and make your own! Then, master the universe!
