Summary
Ian recounts his journey as the first UX hire at Salesforce and later at other companies, managing increasingly large and diverse teams. Faced with a misalignment in evaluating top and bottom performers across directors, he recognized a need for a shared, transparent framework. Ian developed a career coaching framework that treats careers like a design project, emphasizing flexibility over rigid ladders and empowering individuals to define their own paths whether they aspire to management or deeper individual contribution. Drawing parallels to design practices, he created workshops that use collaborative exercises, personal branding, and goal-setting to facilitate career conversations and development. Ian details how skills span core design, knowledge, technical abilities, communication, leadership, culture, and innovation - each essential in different ways depending on role and career stage. The framework helped standardize language, reduce promotion tension, improve one-on-one effectiveness, and build team camaraderie. The talk underscores the value of applying design principles inwardly to careers and teams, rather than only focusing outwardly on users.
Key Insights
-
•
Large UX teams often lack alignment on performance evaluations, causing stalled promotion discussions.
-
•
Career paths should not be rigid ladders but flexible frameworks like a jungle gym, allowing lateral moves.
-
•
Design thinking methods can be applied to career planning to empower employees to own their growth.
-
•
Not all high performers want to manage; leadership includes mentoring and influence beyond formal management.
-
•
Communication skills, including clear writing and storytelling, strongly impact career effectiveness and influence.
-
•
Knowing the product, industry, and competitive landscape deeply is crucial for UX roles.
-
•
A diverse skill set including technical, communication, culture, and innovation differentiates senior roles.
-
•
Career workshops pairing personal brand reflection with goal setting drive productive one-on-ones and clarity.
-
•
Standardized frameworks and language reduce promotion debates and foster healthier team dynamics.
-
•
Innovation requires a fearless mindset to challenge existing rules and push design and process improvements.
Notable Quotes
"Careers as ladders are what HR wants, but careers aren’t linear; they should be a jungle gym."
"Why don’t we do what we do for users but apply it to our own careers? Absolutely nutty, right? So we did."
"Leadership doesn’t only mean managing; it can be mentoring, product leadership, or technical influence."
"If you’re amazing at your job but no one listens to your research or design, does it really have impact?"
"Communication matters—sending an email to an executive with spelling mistakes can ruin your respect."
"Your career is a design project. It’s the only one you own, so own it like you would a product."
"People care about titles way too much. I had a guy whose business card said star-bellied sneak—love that."
"A workshop helps people map their skills, identify gaps, and make specific goals for career jumps."
"It’s huge to have a framework so managers and employees speak the same language around skills and growth."
"Innovation is about being fearless, breaking rules, and refusing to stop at the way things have always been done."
Dig deeper—ask the Rosenbot:
More Videos
"Reflection in action involves noticing surprise, questioning assumptions, experimenting, and reflecting on the move."
Yoel SumitroActions and Reflections: Bridging the Skills Gap among Researchers
March 9, 2022
"A kickback is a free flowing and life giving gathering that transforms and electrifies throughout the night."
Zariah CameronReDesigning Wellbeing for Equitable Care in the Workplace
September 23, 2024
"Our essential skill in this next era will be managing disruptive change."
Doug PowellDesignOps and the Next Frontier: Leading Through Unpredictable Change
September 11, 2025
"By observing Jeff's concerns and asking questions, I was able to show empathy and distract myself from getting defensive."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"To innovate smarter, you need to get access to the roadmap as early as possible and start research even when not asked for it."
Mike OrenWhy Pharmaceutical's Research Model Should Replace Design Thinking
March 28, 2023
"My job is to make the head of design look super good."
Jacqui FreyScale is Social Work
March 19, 2020
"If you find someone not following values, start with a one-on-one to understand their point of view and realign together."
Kim Holt Emma Wylds Pearl Koppenhaver Maisee XiongA Salesforce Panel Discussion on Values-Driven DesignOps
September 8, 2022
"If we think about training AI on the average, then what we will get is more of the same."
Samuel ProulxFrom Standards to Innovation: Why Inclusive Design Wins
September 10, 2025
"We wanted to be aware of extraversion, so words like energy were changed to initiative to not favor personality types."
Laine Riley ProkayHow DesignOps can Drive Inclusive Career Ladders for All
September 30, 2021
