Prompting
Operate the right agent with clear inputs, bounded instructions, and basic output validation.
Executes correctly04 · The capability system
Build judgment.
Measure capability.
TADF measures the ability to prompt, direct, evaluate, override, and orchestrate, not familiarity with one vendor or interface.
Individual maturity
Three levels of demonstrated practice.
A designer’s stage maturity is bottlenecked by anchor skills. Strong averages cannot hide weak judgment at a critical checkpoint.
Directing
Diagnose weak output, redirect the work, combine evidence, and explain trade-offs.
Improves qualityOrchestrating
Decide when not to delegate, own the checkpoint, and remain accountable for the outcome.
Owns judgmentPractice capability map
Capability is visible by stage.
This illustrative heatmap shows the reporting model. Real scores require assessed evidence and must not be inferred from self-rating alone.
StagePromptingDirectingOrchestratingAnchor skills
01 Opportunity Framing3
02 Intelligence Gathering3
03 Insight Generation3
04 Concept Exploration3
05 Experience Architecture3
06 Experience Crafting2
07 Experience Validation2
08 Build Enablement3
09 Continuous Learning3
Illustrative structure only. No organisational performance is implied.
Role pathways
Different roles enter at different stages.
All roles share cross-cutting governance literacy. Depth then follows the decisions each role owns most often.
Product designer
Concept Exploration → Experience Architecture → Experience Crafting → Validation.
Explore role skills →Design researcher
Opportunity Framing → Intelligence Gathering → Insight Generation → Validation.
Explore research skills →Design systems practitioner
Experience Architecture → Experience Crafting → Build Enablement → Continuous Learning.
Explore systems skills →Design leader
Anchor skills across all stages, governance, capability review, and outcome accountability.
Explore leadership role →141-skill library
Every skill has a place in the system.
Open any stage to see its skill count and anchors, or enter the full searchable HTML library.
01→02→03→04→05→06→07→08→09→
Open the complete skill library ↘Opportunity Framing
14 skills · 3 anchors
Intelligence Gathering
20 skills · 3 anchors
Insight Generation
10 skills · 3 anchors
Concept Exploration
16 skills · 3 anchors
Experience Architecture
13 skills · 3 anchors
Experience Crafting
18 skills · 2 anchors
Experience Validation
16 skills · 2 anchors
Build Enablement
12 skills · 3 anchors
Continuous Learning
12 skills · 3 anchors