Getting started

Do you hate wasting time on skill assessments? I sure do.

You schedule long meetings. You create spreadsheets. You ask people to rate themselves.

Before you know it, a week has passed. You've lost hours of productive time. And you still don't really know what your team is good at.

This happens when you use old-school skill mapping methods.

It's like trying to build furniture without instructions. You might eventually get there. But you'll waste a lot of time and probably make some mistakes.

Brittany from Roll20 knows this pain well. She used to make Excel spreadsheets with little dots to show each person's skills. It took forever.

You have two options:

  1. Keep guessing about your team's skills and hope your training plans work out.
  2. Use a quick, fair system that shows exactly what each person is good at in just 20 minutes.

This guide shows how Uxcel Teams maps your entire team's skills in about 20 minutes per person.

Roll20 went from spending hours on spreadsheets to having clear skill data automatically. Their secret? Using a tool that was built for design teams, not HR departments.

Let me show you how they did it.

What you need

Before we start, grab these things:

  • Your Uxcel Teams account with admin access
  • Your team's work emails
  • About 20 minutes of each team member's time
  • A basic idea of what design skills matter to you

We'll use these Uxcel Teams features:

  • Uxcel Pulse to track who's done their assessment
  • Uxcel Skill Mapping to see what everyone's good at
  • Uxcel Assignments to send out the assessment

You don't need to prep anything special. Just let your team know this is coming. Tell them it's about growth, not scoring them.

Step 1: Set up your team

Setting up skill tracking systems usually takes forever. Most managers avoid it because it feels too complex. You can make it hassle free. And here's how:

  1. Log into your Uxcel Teams dashboard
  2. Click "Members" in the main navigation
  3. Select "Invite Members" and type in your team's work emails
  4. Review and click "Send Invites"

That's it! Once you send the invitations, Uxcel Pulse will be automatically assigned to everyone.

Pro tip: Add all your team members at once instead of in batches. This way, you'll get everyone's data around the same time.

What happens next: Your team gets email invites to join Uxcel Teams with clear instructions. The system tracks who accepts and starts the process on its own.

Step 2: Get your team's skills mapped out

Getting people to actually complete assessments is usually like pulling teeth. Most assessments are boring, take too long, or feel like judgment. Here's how to do it without putting peer pressure on your team:

  1. Send a message to each team member (or in your team channel) why is this crucial and how it will benefit them
  2. Explain to them that you're here to serve them and help them gain the skills they need to become the most valuable person in the room
  3. Check your dashboard to see who's accepted their invite
  4. For team members who need an extra nudge, click "Send Reminder"
  5. Head over to Reporting to see how many people have finished

Pro tip: Have a quick team meeting to explain why you're doing this. Tell everyone it's to help them grow, not to judge them. This makes people much more likely to complete it.

What happens next: Your team finishes the assessment at their own pace, usually within a few days. The reminder system keeps things moving without you having to chase anyone down.

Step 3 Build personalized learning plans

Having data is great, but knowing how to use it to make better decisions is what really matters. Now it's time to understand how to use their strengths properly, as well as to turn their gaps into unique values.

  1. Go to Reporting
  2. Look at the team-wide skill graph to spot patterns
  3. Check individual profiles to see specific skills
  4. Analyze the individual Pulse completions
  5. Share insights with team members in one-on-ones
  6. Make learning plans based on what you find

Pro tip: When making project teams, pair people with different strengths. They can learn from each other while delivering great work.

What happens next: You now have clear, honest data about your team's skills. You can use this to:

  • Create better project teams
  • Make targeted training plans
  • Give team members clear growth paths
  • Find skill gaps you might need to hire for

How Roll20 influences team growth with Skill Mapping

Roll20 runs a virtual tabletop gaming platform. Their lead designer Brittany Vick had a small but growing team working on complex products.

Before Uxcel, Brittany spent hours making Excel spreadsheets with dots to show each person's skills. This manual work ate up time she needed for strategy and mentoring.

"For junior team members without formal training, even figuring out what skills to track was confusing," Brittany says.

"As we planned to grow from two to three designers, our spreadsheet method just wasn't going to scale."

Uxcel Teams changed everything for them through:

  • Automatic skill checks that gave clear measures across design disciplines
  • Visual skill maps that showed strengths and growth areas at a glance
  • Built-in learning that taught junior team members key concepts
  • Fun, game-like challenges that matched Roll20's gaming-focused culture

What Changed:

  • Brittany spent less time on paperwork and more time helping her team grow
  • Junior designers understood what skills they needed to work on
  • The team enjoyed learning through game-like skill challenges
  • Their company culture got stronger as learning matched their gaming identity

"For small teams with limited time, automatic skill assessment creates huge value by cutting paperwork," Brittany says. "This becomes even more important as teams grow."

How to implement this playbook

Based on Roll20's success and other design teams, here's how to start your own skill mapping:

1. Match learning to your culture

Make skill mapping fit your company's style. Roll20's gaming culture made Uxcel's game-like learning perfect for them. When the tool matches your culture, people actually want to use it.

For your team:

  • Link skill mapping to what your company values
  • Use words your team already knows when you introduce the tool
  • Frame it in a way that feels natural to your unique team

2. Follow this simple timeline

  • Day 1: Set up your team in Uxcel and send invites
  • Days 2-5: Team members join and take the 20-minute assessment
  • Days 6-10: Send friendly reminders to anyone who hasn't started
  • Days 11-14: Look at the data and spot patterns
  • Day 15: Share what you learned with your team

3. Talk about it the right way

When you tell your team about this, focus on:

  • Why you're doing it: "This helps us learn together, not judge each other"
  • How quick it is: "Just 20 minutes to get really helpful insights"
  • What's in it for them: "You'll see your strengths and where you can grow"

4. Handle common questions smoothly

  • If people worry about being judged: Share team-wide patterns first before individual results
  • If someone scores lower than expected: Focus on specific skills to build, not the overall number
  • If junior team members feel lost: Show how the tool teaches concepts, not just tests them
  • For small teams that are growing: Talk about how this frees up more time for mentoring

Why this matters

Brittany from Roll20 said it perfectly: "For small design teams with limited time, automatic skill assessment creates huge value by cutting paperwork."

This is the big change you can make too. In just 20 minutes per person, you get something most design leaders only dream about: a clear, honest map of your team's skills.

This isn't just data. It's your guide to:

  • Building better project teams based on complementary skills
  • Creating focused learning paths that fix actual gaps
  • Helping each team member grow in ways that really matter
  • Making smarter hiring choices to round out your team

The system works quietly behind the scenes. Automatic assessments and gentle reminders handle the busy work. Your time shifts from tracking to guiding. That's where you make the biggest impact as a leader.

As your team grows, this foundation becomes even more valuable. The insights grow with you. You keep your finger on the pulse of team skills without drowning in paperwork.

Ready to change how you understand and develop your design team? Book a demo today and start your first skill mapping in minutes.