UI/UX Skills Assessment
A UI/UX skills assessment measures a designer's current skills across defined categories and compares them with what a target role and level expect. The result shows strengths, gaps and what to work on next, instead of a single pass or grade.
Example. On DesignPath, the assessment scores nine categories from 0 to 100 and sets them against the targets for your chosen role, such as a mid-level product designer.
Also called: ux skills assessment, design skills assessment, design skills test
Design Skills Diagnostic
A design skills diagnostic is an assessment built to find causes, beyond a score: which specific skills hold back your next step. It works like a medical check-up, measuring first and recommending after.
Example. A diagnostic shows that a designer's portfolio feels junior because Product Strategy is low, while their visual craft is already above the mid-level target.
Also called: designer diagnostic test, design skills evaluation
Competency Matrix
A competency matrix is a table of skills (rows) against levels (columns) that describes what good looks like at each level. Companies use it for hiring, reviews and promotions; designers use it to see what the next level asks for.
Example. In one matrix, a mid-level designer "runs usability tests on their own", while a senior "decides which questions the team researches".
Also called: design competency matrix, ux competency framework, skills matrix
Skill Gap Analysis
A skill gap analysis compares your current level in each skill with the level your target role expects. The difference is the gap, and the widest gaps on the skills that matter most for that role are where learning pays off first.
Example. If your target asks for 70 in Research & Insights and you score 45, that 25-point gap ranks above a 5-point gap in Visual Craft.
Also called: skill gap, ux skill gap test, design skill gaps
Skill Mapping
Skill mapping is laying out all your skills on one view, usually a chart or matrix, to see their shape: where you are deep, where you are broad and what is missing. It is the step before a gap analysis.
Example. A designer maps their skills and sees a T-shape: deep in prototyping, broad across UX, thin in research.
Also called: skills mapping, skill map
Skill Radar Chart
A skill radar chart plots several skill scores around a circle, so the overall shape of a profile is visible at once. Two shapes on one chart, yours and your target's, make every gap obvious.
Example. DesignPath draws your nine scores and the target for your role on one radar, so the areas where your shape falls inside the target stand out.
Also called: radar chart, spider chart, skills radar
Target Profile
A target profile is the set of skill levels a specific role expects at a specific level. It turns a vague goal like "become senior" into numbers you can measure against.
Example. DesignPath keeps targets for six design roles at four levels, Junior, Middle, Senior and Lead, across the same nine categories.
Also called: role targets, target role
Nine Skill Categories
The nine skill categories DesignPath scores are Visual Craft, Prototyping, Design Systems, UX Design, UX Copywriting, Research & Insights, Product Strategy, Design Leadership, and Communication & Teamwork. Together they cover the craft, the thinking and the people side of the job.
Example. A UX/UI designer's targets lean on craft early in a career, while Product Strategy and Design Leadership rise most toward senior and lead.
Also called: design skill categories, ux competencies
Research & Insights
Research & Insights is the skill of finding out what users need and turning findings into decisions: planning studies, interviewing, testing, analysing data and presenting what it means. It is one of the nine categories DesignPath scores.
Example. For a UX/UI designer, the Research & Insights target rises by 15 points from Junior to Middle, the largest rise of any category at that step.
Also called: ux research skills, research skills
Product Strategy
Product Strategy is the skill of connecting design decisions to business goals: choosing which problems are worth solving, framing opportunities, and measuring whether a change worked. It is one of the nine categories, and it grows fastest on the way to senior.
Example. For a product designer, the Product Strategy target rises by 15 points from Middle to Senior, more than any other category at that step.
Also called: product thinking, strategic design
Design Level
A design level describes how much scope and independence a designer handles: Junior works on defined tasks with guidance, Middle owns features end to end, Senior shapes problems and influences others, and Lead sets direction for a team. Titles vary by company; the scope is what counts.
Example. Two designers with the title "Product Designer" can sit at different levels: one ships screens from tickets, the other decides what the team builds next quarter.
Also called: designer levels, junior mid senior designer
Junior Designer
A junior designer is an early-career designer who works on well-defined tasks with regular guidance. The job is to build solid craft, learn the team's process and show steady growth in quality and independence.
Example. A junior designer takes a scoped ticket, such as a new empty state, designs options and refines them after a review with a senior.
Also called: junior ux designer, entry-level designer
Mid-Level Designer
A mid-level designer owns features from problem to release with little supervision, runs their own research and testing, and works directly with product and engineering. The common trap at this level is staying excellent at execution while the senior skills, strategy and influence, stay flat.
Example. A mid-level designer leads the redesign of a checkout step, tests it and ships it, but the decision to redesign checkout came from someone else.
Also called: middle designer, mid-level ux designer
Senior Designer
A senior designer shapes problems as well as solving them: they decide what is worth designing, connect work to business results, influence decisions outside design and help others grow. Seniority is about scope and impact more than years.
Example. A senior designer notices churn after the first week, makes the case for an onboarding project, and brings product and engineering along.
Also called: senior ux designer, senior product designer
Senior Readiness
Senior readiness is how close a designer is to working at senior level today, judged by evidence: the scope they own, their influence on decisions and their scores against senior targets. It answers "am I ready?" with proof instead of a feeling.
Example. A designer is ready on craft and research but 20 points short on Product Strategy, so the next six months focus there.
Also called: senior designer readiness, am I ready for senior
