Design Index | Jon Tinman

Project Lead for an internal designer self-evaluation tool

At Fuzzy Math, we challenged ourselves to create a design self-assessment that reflects our values as designers and is inclusive of all crucial components of human-centered design.

What was the problem?

As a growing company it was getting harder to scale our informal goals chats over coffee between partners and design team.
We needed a way to track strengths and growth areas across the entire company to inform hiring decisions.
There was a desire to put ownership of growth in the hands of designers.
There was also a desire to create a picture of what it means to be a designer that reflects the values and perspective of Fuzzy Math.

Design Index Goals

The goal of the Fuzzy Math Design Index was to provide a mechanism for designers to assess their skill and to identify areas of opportunity in their craft as designers, as members of a design team, and as design consultants. More specifically, our stated goals for this self-assessment are below:

A Starting Point : Provide a mechanism for all designers to evaluate their skill set against a set of criteria specifically catered to the unique work we do here at Fuzzy Math.

Measurable Goal Setting : This exercise should help everyone develop more actionable, measurable goals.

Visibility : Everyone - regardless of role - will take the same assessment so it gives everyone a view into other design practices. This will also provide a high-level view of Fuzzy Math’s design capabilities.

Self Reflection : This is an opportunity for everyone - no matter their level - to reflect on their work, think about areas where they’re developing and see areas where they could develop further.

Laying the Groundwork : This is the first tool intended to help us move forward in the growth and development department. As we grow each designer is partly responsible for their growth and this tool will help facilitate better discussions.

Our approach

To start, we researched existing design evaluations. There are numerous resources for self-evaluation, but not many specifically for designers. There are plenty of papers and blog posts and organizational design resources, but we couldn’t find anything that fit our exact needs. So we decided to create our own.

We took an in depth look at what it means to be a designer at Fuzzy Math. I organized workshops with designers from diverse backgrounds, and we started going through our day to day process.

We landed on a set of categorizations for the work we do including user research, strategy, visual analysis, communication, leadership, and more. From there, we got more granular and started asking how to quantify each of these skill sets. In total, we came up with 100 specific statements that we thought captured what it means to be a Fuzzy Math designer.

One of the most challenging parts of this assessment was finding a scale for these statements. Since this was meant to be a self-evaluation, we couldn’t really use a “meets or exceeds” type framework, and any other point system just felt arbitrary. We also wanted to emphasize that growth as a designer is a never-ending process.

We would ask designers to think about their most recent work, and place themselves on a scale based on how they worked with others. If a designer required assistance from others in a certain subject, they could say they’re practicing that skill. If a designer is giving talks and writing blog posts about a subject, then they’re innovating in that area. You can see the scale we used below.

Establishing: you have no experience applying the skill. You might have an awareness of this skill though.
Developing: you are applying this skill with some guidance.
Practicing: you are applying this skill with minimal supervision or oversight.
Guiding: you may still be applying this skill, but you're able to help or supervise others doing it. You're fueling others' growth in this skill.
Innovating: that you are developing new ways of applying this skill at Fuzzy Math and beyond.

Once the challenge of writing the assessment was complete, we moved onto design. We took an MVP approach from the start, hosting the assessment on Typeform and calculating responses in Google Sheets. The next time we filled out the assessment, we managed to host the landing page and scorecard on Fuzzy Math’s website. Getting this assessment up and hosted was a huge success, and feedback from the team was incredibly positive.

To continue the momentum, I conducted a few roadmapping workshops with the team to identify next steps, highlight useful features, and make sure that this self-evaluation would remain a useful, scalable, and easily implementable tool for years to come.