The 6x6 Framework

Designers, Writers, and Researchers leave your company because of the lack of growth opportunities and purpose. I’ve seen, even in organizations that don’t offer sexy projects, team members expand existing skills and explore new ones amidst dull teams. That’s because we are innately curious. So if culture beats strategy, then developing the people you have is the key to any design team’s success.

Signposts, not box-ticking

There are a lot of frameworks out there. This framework is a matrix of signposts instead of a ladder to climb. It’s easy to refer to a ladder and check a series of boxes on the path to promotion. The difficulty with ladders is that even if boxes are checked, it doesn’t guarantee a merit increase. The goal of the 6x6 framework is not to be prescriptive with behaviors. That gets in the way of genuine improvement. I aim to give managers a tool for evaluating team progress, promoting evenhandedness in salaries, and hiring effectively. I aim to help you in your journey towards self-discovery, knowing yourself, and maximizing your strengths in the workforce.

The challenge with frameworks

As with any progression framework, if growth mindsets and proper coaching aren’t engrained into the culture’s DNA, the 6x6 will become soft and useless. The backbone of any progression framework is continuous feedback loops. Another challenge to installing the 6x6 framework is mapping levels and dimensions to our engineering and product counterparts. Separating levels from titles gives me flexibility with backend systems yet still matches the job expectations with their respective peers.

Let's normalize IC career tracks

At Carwow, we needed a way for leaders to grow as individual contributors and people managers. Those who wanted to increase their sphere of influence could improve without management responsibilities. As the team scaled, both disciplines were valued. I apply leadership to Brand, Research, and Product Design across all levels. Even junior members are regarded as leaders. It’s just their sphere of influence is much smaller. Examples per each level provide clarity around leadership behaviors.

Six competencies, six levels

The range from one to six indicates an increase in depth and breadth. The degrees of depth range from one to six, with Level 1 being a novice skill to Level 6, which is best-in-class. The order of magnitude ranges from “self” on the far left to “industry” on the far right. Daniel Pink in Drive states, “A fulfilling vocation requires three elements: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.” Here, I’ve combined autonomy and purpose into “Conduct,” or how one works. I’ve renamed mastery “Craft” or the output and production.

Craft

Personifies excellence in their respective practice to ensure quality.

1. Qualitative data: With smaller sample sizes, identifying the right problem, deploying the appropriate generative or evaluative method, synthesizing insights, and ensuring consistent action.

2. Quantitative data: With larger sample sizes, identifying the right situation, collecting actionable insights with structured methods, running experiments, and spotting patterns.

3. Illustration: Creating an image to communicate an idea, process, or thought. Visualizing concepts by drawing.

4. Writing: Expressing ideas, techniques, or thoughts within various written styles for the appropriate audience.

5. Concept Design: Facility with methods, processes, and tools to demonstrate proofs-of-concept in low- and mid-fidelity.

6. Execution Design: Facility with visual design principles including, but not limited to, color, type, composition, and scale. Ability to execute against existing patterns and styles.

Conduct

Inspires day-to-day excellence and embodies company values

1. Evangelism: Frames and elevates the design offering to the broader community and beyond.

2. Communication: Share the right amount of information with the right people at the right time. Listens actively and empathetically.

3. Planning: Delivers well-scoped outcomes that meet goals, on time and budget

4. Belonging: Builds a positive and rewarding culture internally

5. Initiative: Drives improvements and effects positive organizational change outside of mandated work

6. Coaching: Provides strategic support to help build and develop talent

Meet Leanne

Leanne is a Senior Product Designer looking to become a Lead. With 360, self, and manager reviews from Lattice, we map Leanne’s Craft and Conduct skills across the framework, create a plan, and discuss any skill gaps. I take a picture and refer to it with Leanne every six months. The highest grouping of proficiency labels indicates where she is. As Leanne evolves her Craft and Conduct skills, I’m delegating responsibilities to her. For example, I see Leanne is executing very well with high-impact projects, communicating with stakeholders at all levels.

Now, Leanne wants to be a Lead. I can give her new responsibilities like managing an intern for the summer or onboarding our next design hire as a first-week Design Sherpa. Or improve data collection skills. Together we’ll clarify the outcomes for these assignments and, based on her performance, move from left to right on the 6x6 framework. Proceeding from one column to the next helps build a convincing case during calibration periods or for a merit increase. Plotting my team on this framework can also identify stretch goals or important development areas outside of title and pay increases.

Final Thoughts

Building the 6x6 framework was a fun project, and it was a pleasure creating this alongside my counterparts in People and Engineering. Like most design projects, we’re testing and learning. After six months with the team, I’ll iterate and revise. Special thanks to Vrash Irbe and illustrious Jonny Burch for the progression framework’s greatest hits (check out his company!)