When I first started in design, I thought career growth was all about climbing titles. Junior to mid, mid to senior, senior to lead-it looked like a neat ladder. But the reality is less about job labels and more about what you learn at each stage. Every step demands a different mindset, and understanding that has shaped how I approach my own path.

The typical ladder looks something like this:

• Product Designer / UX Designer – learning the craft, shipping usable work, and building confidence.
• Mid-Level Product Designer – owning features, collaborating with engineers, and starting to influence the product.
• Senior Product Designer – leading end-to-end flows, mentoring juniors, and balancing business with user needs.
• Staff Product Designer – shaping strategy, guiding teams, and solving problems that span beyond a single project.
• Principal / Lead Designer – setting vision, raising the design bar, and being trusted as a thought partner for leadership.
• Design Manager / Head of Design – growing people, shaping culture, and balancing design quality with business priorities.
• Director / VP / CDO – driving organizational impact, aligning design with strategy, and shaping the future of the company’s experience.

Looking at this list, it’s easy to think progress is about speed-climb fast, collect titles, move up. But in practice, the value of each stage is in depth, not just pace. At junior levels you hone craft. At senior levels you learn influence. At staff or principal, you stop asking, “How do I design this screen?” and start asking, “How does this system work, and what future do we want to create?”

What I’ve learned is that roles don’t define you-impact does. A title might say senior, but if you’re not mentoring, influencing roadmaps, or shaping outcomes, you’re not really operating at that level. On the flip side, a mid-level designer who consistently drives clarity and collaboration might already be working above their title. The ladder is a guide, not a guarantee.

So my approach now is simple: don’t chase titles, chase growth. Focus on the skills and behaviors each step requires, and the titles will follow. Design careers aren’t won by speed, but by substance-and the strongest designers I know are the ones who mastered each rung before moving to the next.