Julie: Utilization is pretty much the uber-metric of the consulting world, but I think what you’re getting at is using it organizationally. Google’s famed 20% time is an example of that, but outside of Gmail I’m not sure exactly what’s come of it. At an organization (at least like Google), success is defined by great products that lots of people use. In consulting, success is more achievable, e.g., getting a business inquiry as a result of a conference presentation. Maybe there are more direct, achievable measurements of success like that that you could tie to lower utilization?

John: I’ve ended up on Spolsky’s blog a couple of times but I never saw his proposed career ladder. Now that you point me to it, that’s very close to what I’m trying to do. There are, of course, salary bands for each of these levels that I’ve articulated, but I can’t share those. While Spolsky is focused on coding skills, one of the things his ladder and the path above have in common is that at the higher levels it’s less about task skills (high levels are assumed) and more about leadership. I think something important to mention here is a designer’s portfolio. Regarding years of experience, I agree. It’s a starting point. The definitive factor is a designer’s portfolio and their ability to show the thinking that led them to given solutions, conclusions, etc.