Taking the intitative to define roles and unlock paths to progression for UX Designers, Researchers and Writers at Dyson.
I led the creation of a UX Career Framework to help improve clarity around roles, skills, and progression paths within the team. The aim was to support individual development, align expectations across the business, and make it easier for individuals to have meaningful performance and growth conversations with managers.
Why it was needed
Lack of consistency in how roles and seniority levels were defined across the UX team
Designers unsure how to progress or where to focus their development
Managers struggled to give structured feedback or set clear expectations
Key Contributions
Researched existing frameworks used by other design teams (e.g. Intercom, Buzzfeed) to identify best practices
Ran workshops and interviews with designers, managers and HR to understand pain points and what they needed from a framework
Mapped out core competency areas across UX disciplines (e.g. Research, UI Design, Strategy, Collaboration, Communication)
Created IC level definitions using behavioural examples to make progression clear
Produced practical tools like self-assessment templates, workshop guides, and role profile summaries
Worked with HR and leadership to align the framework with broader company performance structures
Piloted and iterated the framework with a small group before rolling it out across the wider team
Advocated for a phased shift towards a Y-Shaped Career path to further open up progression opportunities
Impact
✅ Created a shared language across UX, HR and leadership for discussing progression and performance
✅ Team members reported feeling clearer on what was expected at each level and how to grow
✅ Managers used the framework to guide career conversations and align role expectations
Takeaways
Creating transparency around roles felt threatening for some managers, signifying the need for a culture shift
Bringing in HR even earlier could have sped up adoption and reduced speculation around the correct approach
Buy in from Leadership is pivotal to drive adoption of change - even an overwhelmingly positive one
