What makes you a Senior Designer?
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Everything when I see the problem ;)) I can brainstorm and sketch in my head how to solve it by different way
It can depend on where you are working, but usually, when a designer develops and demonstrates:
- the ability to think beyond their own design tasks and consider the big picture
- a strategic and solution-oriented approach that ladders up to the objectives of campaigns
- leadership in projects and the ability to guide junior designers
- effective communication skills that can articulate design concepts and rationales
- the ability to work across different teams
- initiative.
There are other things to consider- but in general those are the main markers I see in designers being promoted to senior designer.
I think the "depends on where you work" distinction draws a lot of question marks.
Early in my career I worked as the only designer embedded in a dev team. I worked there a year got a nice pay bump and my manager threw around the word senior a bit, but it made me uncomfortable. I barely had 2 years experience. I debated using the term lead but decided against that too.
Long story short I had the chance to be labeled senior at 2 years exp but knew on my resume that I would be balked at.
What would you recommend for designers in similar positions? How do you see companies with looser definitions of the term Senior?
I’ve designed websites in PageMill, GoLive, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, Sketch, and Figma.
"Wow figma came out before I was even born, I can't imagine using any software other than SqibbleBitsGPT for AR UX Generation."
- Doc Martin III • 2044
I am old and the mouse has given me my fair share of hand cramps
"Seniority is measured in unique cases of carpel tunnel"
Finally a quantifiable metric we can all get behind.
A senior designer should be more involved in the strategic decisions of the product they work on. There's more responsibility on you for the success of your product (you can't just let your Product Manager hold your hand).
This is a really cool visualization someone posted on LinkedIn (originally meant for engineers but applicable to designers too).
Basically the problem you're solving becomes more vague the higher up the ladder you move. As a junior, everything is passed down to you and explained very clearly. As you move up in seniority the onus is on you to find opportunities to make your product better.
Another big component for me is that you are expanding your influence to a broader group. You're identifying opportunities for improvement in other products, you're mentoring other designers, etc.
Some managers will not look past years of experience, but I see it more as a meritocracy (although it will take some time to prove that you’re operating at a higher level than your years of experience indicate).
What I’ve told people on my team is that it’s up to you to get yourself promoted up to Senior. Beyond senior (staff, principal, management) there has to also be a business need. Meaning no matter how insanely good you are, you won’t earn your way to principal unless we really need another principal on the team. Hope that makes sense.
I think it's the amount of time you been in that position and how much you know. You need to be able to guide the younger generation
So are you saying there is a personable element here?
Are people with leadership attributes more qualified than the same skill level without?
If you qualify for a senior citizen discount, you’re in the club.
I'll accept this only if you save me some Social Services for when I get there.
Feeling jaded?
Nah, genuinely curious.
So far I have really enjoyed people's answers.
55+
Years of experience. When asked the different between a Junior, mid-level or senior designer once, a senior designer said, “Nothing. Just years of experience. We do the exact same job.”
Typically, yes, more senior=more mentorship & management. Also more client facing time & presentations.
However, in my personal experience I mentored seniors often as a junior as well. My managers & more senior coworkers have always gone to me with program & tech questions. Also general pop culture as it relates to our work.
the level of experience in the field and strong leadership, mentorship skills to guide designers that are starting out in the field
If you're talking about UX, then it's best to understand it's a massive field. Anyone with less than 5 years of experience without a formal HCI or similar degree will honestly not be exposed to enough of the field to be considered experienced in UX. (At least this is my take on it)
Knowledge is a very important aspect, so many people that are bumped to senior roles don't even have basic understanding around research methods and when to use each of them.
You need to know how to lead and facilitate workshops. This could be a couple people in your normal team, to a room full of execs that you're working with to define product goals, strategy, etc... Being able to manage those personalities and be productive is important.
You should know how to mentor your other team members. Knowing how and when to give feedback in a positive way, and knowing each person has a different approach how they accept feedback.
Anything you can do I can do better
I can do anything better than you 🎶
It was the job title given to me by my bosses after I was just a designer for a while.
senior is mid-level. expected to be able to do everything, but maybe not lead a project typically left to managers (lead and above if the org has no IC track)
Tools don’t make you a senior designer. If you mean interaction design, ux design, hci then being able to apply the science of design and make decisions for valid reasons. Do you apply Fitts Law and Hicks Law in your designs? Can you coach others on design and what research methods would help in each use case you are working on? Can you write use cases? Understand visual and color theories and apply them to an international audience? How about accessibility standards? Can you design with style, write with the company tone, apply new design patterns correctly and know which patterns suck (I am talking about you film strip). These are characteristics of senior designers.
Totally agree with the qualities others have mentioned but also CONFIDENCE! It’s hard to trust someone who clearly lacks confidence to effectively lead others through ambiguity and changing requirements.