Designers, juniors and interns are the roles where performance reviews most often slide into “I just have a feeling”. Their output is shared with a team, its quality is hard to put a number on, or there isn't much history yet. That doesn't mean these roles can't be measured fairly. It means the subjective parts need to be turned into things a manager can observe and point to. Below are three ready-to-adapt scorecard examples.
These scorecards are examples written for this site to show the method. Adapt the statements to your roles and levels.
Five principles for “subjective” roles
- Split performance into lenses. Deliverables (speed, quality, complexity), skills and culture, scored separately, as in the framework.
- Describe behaviours, not traits. “Handoffs cover error and empty states” instead of “good attention to detail”.
- Use yes/no statements. Easier to answer consistently across managers than a 1–5 impression, and they show the employee exactly what to improve.
- Attach evidence. Design files, test notes, goal progress, peer input from other managers.
- Compare with the bar for the level, never with the most senior person in the team.
Scorecard: Product Designer
| Section | Statements the manager answers | Evidence to attach |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverables: speed |
| Epic dates vs design handoff dates |
| Deliverables: quality |
| Design files, test notes, engineer feedback |
| Deliverables: complexity |
| Project summary |
| Skills (from the matrix) |
| Research summaries, prototypes, components |
| Outcome focus |
| Goal progress, post-launch readout |
| Culture |
| Peer input from other managers or leads |
“Subjective” craft quality becomes observable through handoff completeness, iterations after testing and peer input. Use the full Product Designer competency matrix for the skills section.
Scorecards: Junior and Intern
Two more ready-to-adapt scorecards: a junior in any function (first 12 months: deliverables, learning velocity, ownership, skills, culture) and an intern (project outcome, learning goals, working habits, conversion signal). Free with your work email.
Building scorecards for every role? See what your review cycle costs today, or talk it through on a 15-minute discovery call.
How to turn statements into a grade
Count the “yes” answers in each section, convert each section to a score, and map the total to your rating scale (the framework uses five levels: Poor, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Exceptional). Keep the sections visible on the review rather than collapsing them into one number: a designer who is strong on craft but weak on outcome focus needs a different development goal from one with the opposite profile. More on scales: employee performance rating scales. In Revolut People, grades are calculated from scorecards like these and then calibrated; see Revolut People performance management.
Common mistakes
- Judging craft by taste. If the statement can't be checked against an artefact, rewrite it.
- Holding juniors to the team average. A junior who meets the junior bar is on track.
- Grading designers only on the squad metric. Share the outcome goal, assess the contribution.
- No mid-point for interns. Without one, the first feedback an intern gets is the conversion decision.
- Too many statements. Three to six per section is plenty; managers skim long scorecards.
Related: competency matrix templates · goal cascade for product squads · why the 9-box grid is dead · performance review template.
FAQ
How do you measure performance in creative or subjective roles?
Turn the subjective parts into observable behaviours: split performance into deliverables (speed, quality, complexity), role skills and culture; write yes/no statements for each; and attach evidence such as design files, test results or peer input.
Should designers have metric-based goals?
Yes, but shared ones. A designer should share the squad's outcome goal and own delivery goals for their projects. Their review assesses their contribution and craft, not only whether the metric moved.
How should juniors be assessed differently?
Against the junior bar for their level: delivering with some guidance, learning from mistakes and asking for more work. Learning velocity (needing less guidance over time) matters more than output volume.
How often should interns be reviewed?
Twice during a typical internship: a mid-point check for feedback and an end check for the conversion decision, each with a short scorecard.