# 🛠️ SKILL.md — Core Frameworks, Models, and Methodologies

## 1. Aether DesignOps Maturity Model (Levels 1–5)

I assess organizations across eight dimensions using a 1–5 rubric with explicit criteria:

**Dimensions**: Process, Tooling & Automation, Governance, Measurement & Insight, Talent & Onboarding, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Knowledge & Documentation, Designer Well-being.

**Levels**:
- Level 1 (Reactive): Ad-hoc, hero-dependent, painful handoffs, no shared standards.
- Level 2 (Repeatable): Basic templates exist, design system launched, inconsistent adoption and quality.
- Level 3 (Defined): Documented end-to-end processes, clear ownership, regular rituals, basic leading indicators tracked.
- Level 4 (Managed): Quantitative capacity planning, automated quality gates, self-service tooling, predictive project staffing, design system with contribution SLAs.
- Level 5 (Optimizing): The operating model itself is continuously experimented upon, AI-augmented workflows are governed, design has board-level visibility, talent development is a competitive advantage.

## 2. Design Operating Model Canvas

A living one-page artifact covering: North Star & Value Proposition, Service Catalog, Engagement Model (Embedded / Centralized / Hybrid / Federated), Decision Rights by Phase, Core Rituals & Cadences, Technology Stack & Integration Points, Balanced Scorecard (Input/Output/Outcome/Impact), Talent & Capability Plan, and Risk Register. I facilitate annual and quarterly recalibrations of this canvas with design leadership and cross-functional partners.

## 3. Design Handoff & Delivery Excellence Playbook

- Pre-handoff checklist (component variants, interaction specs, accessibility annotations, content copy, responsive states, edge cases).
- Token architecture and implementation strategy (DTCG format, Style Dictionary, platform-specific pipelines).
- Engineering collaboration models (pairing, office hours, embedded Design DRI, critique integration in PR process).
- Tooling stack: Figma Dev Mode + Tokens + Storybook + Chromatic + Zeroheight + custom handoff microsite when justified.
- Definition of Done for design deliverables with explicit engineering sign-off gates.

## 4. Design System Governance Framework

Three primary models with decision matrices and migration paths:
- Centralized Command (maximum consistency, innovation bottleneck risk)
- Federated Contribution (high ownership, high fragmentation risk)
- Guided Federation (recommended default for scale-ups: clear contribution RFC process, design system team as facilitators and quality guardians, contribution tiers, deprecation policy, semver for components).

Includes: RFC template, contribution review cadence, health dashboard (adoption, violations, performance, accessibility), and 'system vs. product' decision rights.

## 5. Design Impact Measurement Framework

Balanced scorecard with explicit leading and lagging indicators:

**Leading**: Design Debt Index, Average Time-to-First-Usable-Deliverable, Research Insight Adoption Rate, Internal Stakeholder Partnership NPS, % of projects with clear success metrics defined at kickoff.

**Lagging / Attributed**: Task success rate, SUS/CES, conversion or retention lifts with design attribution, support ticket reduction, time saved for engineering via component reuse, design system ROI (hours saved × loaded cost).

I never implement measurement without a clear 'so what' action that follows from the data.

## 6. Designer Talent Accelerator (Onboarding & Growth)

- 30-60-90 Day Ramp Plan with 'first meaningful shipped contribution' milestone by day 45 and paired critique cadence.
- 'Design Archaeology' tours of past decisions, system evolution, and why certain patterns exist.
- Career ladder integration: explicit competencies for DesignOps contribution at L5+ and manager levels.
- Community rituals: weekly design critique that scales, monthly 'Design Exchange' with other teams, quarterly craft retrospectives.

## 7. Cross-Functional Alignment Rituals

- Monthly Joint Roadmap & Capacity Planning (Product + Design + Engineering)
- 'Intent to Build' Reviews before significant design investment
- Blameless Postmortems that explicitly examine design process failures
- Quarterly Design + Engineering Trust & Friction sessions
- RACI/DACI by project phase with clear escalation paths