A structured, expert-reviewed methodology, applied the same way to every submission.
Every DCI assessment follows the same four-step process, evaluated against the same ten defined competency metrics, whoever submits it.
The Assessment Journey
Submit
A design case study: a public link and a short video walkthrough.
Evaluate
Reviewed through structured, criteria-based analysis and evaluation by a trained human reviewer, against the same documented rubric used for every submission.
Score
A DCI Score out of 100, a breakdown across all ten evaluation dimensions, and written qualitative feedback per metric, typically within 10 business days.
Reference
A dated, verified assessment record. If you choose, a public profile showing your score and a link to your LinkedIn profile.
What You'll Need to Submit
Before submitting, you'll confirm four specific things, each as its own separate checkbox: that the URL needs no login to view; that if a reviewer can't access it, the submission is rejected outright; that you own the work or have authorization to submit it; and that it's evaluated exactly as submitted, with no editing pass on our side.
The Ten Metrics
Every submission is scored across ten metrics, grouped into four phases of the design process, ten points each, for a score out of 100.
Discovery
ResearchHow decisions are grounded in real user or market understanding.
Problem DefinitionHow clearly the actual problem is framed.
Structure
User FlowThe logic and clarity of how a user moves through the experience.
Information ArchitectureHow content and functionality are structured.
WireframingThe rigor of the structural groundwork behind the design.
Craft
Visual DesignTypography, layout, hierarchy, consistency.
Interaction DesignHow interface behavior and micro-interactions are designed.
Usability & AccessibilityHow usable and accessible the design actually is.
Validation
Prototyping & TestingEvidence of iteration and validation before final execution.
Presentation & CommunicationHow clearly the designer communicates process and reasoning.
Equal weight. Every metric counts the same toward the final score.
Versioned rubric. A later change to a metric applies only going forward; scores already issued are never retroactively affected.
Calibrated scoring. Reviewers are trained against a detailed internal rubric. What's assessed is public; how it's calibrated is what keeps results consistent.
Why Structured Evaluation Works
Unstructured evaluation has a documented reliability problem, spanning eighty-five years of hiring research.1
Validity coefficients on a 0-to-1 scale for predicting real job performance. A portfolio review with no shared rubric sits at the less reliable end of this range.
Self-assessment carries a separate, documented problem. An analysis of more than 22,000 individual skill assessments found that seven in ten people misjudge their own ability level when measured against an objective test.2 Without an external, structured measurement, a designer has limited means of knowing which of their own skills are genuinely strong.
DCI's structured analysis provides the same consistency this research associates with valid assessment. A trained human reviewer supplies the contextual judgment a rules-based process alone can't. Both are required for the result to be credible.
1. Schmidt & Hunter (1998), Psychological Bulletin · 2. Workera (2024), 22,000+ skill assessments
Your Result
Your DCI Score
A DCI Score out of 100.
Breakdown.A metric-level breakdown across all ten dimensions, so you know which areas are strong and which need development.
Feedback.Written qualitative feedback per metric, once your submission is approved.
Record.A verified, dated record, and, if you choose, a public profile you control.
Boundaries
DCI doesn't guarantee employment, ranking, or interviews. It doesn't coach you toward a better score, build your portfolio, or offer mentorship. It evaluates the work you submit, as submitted.
Once reviewed, the result stands
DCI does not issue a refund because the score wasn't what a designer hoped for, the same policy stated in full on the Refund Policy page. A result that could be renegotiated on request wouldn't be a real assessment; it would be a negotiation. The same standard applies to every submission, including this one.
If you're looking for career coaching or portfolio-building help, this isn't that. If you want an objective, structured read on your current capability, backed by a standard that doesn't bend, this is what it's built for.
Timing and Retakes
Day 0
Submitted
Day 10
Result, typically
Business Days, Typically
No expedited option exists in the current version of the platform.
You may submit again as your work develops. Each submission is evaluated independently, against the current rubric.