One of the Product Designers I managed was an enthusiastic team player who proactively looked for ways to make an impact at our company. Yet, in our one-on-ones, we often discussed how to deliver high-priority work on time and to a high standard.
I asked: “What are your focuses this week? What’s on your plate?”
They responded: designing product features, writing a user interview script, creating website assets, unblocking engineers, touching up the Design System. And, being an incredible team player, they also offered to help me review design portfolios for an open role we were hiring for.
On the surface, all of their work seemed useful and important, but I saw how competing priorities were pulling them away from what mattered the most.
Your Onion
I drew three concentric circles: “This is your Onion.”
The Onion maps your core tasks and responsibilities, keeping you focused in demanding environments where everyone wants your time. It’s a universal framework that extends beyond Design and Tech, and it’s especially helpful when you’re in the early-to-middle stage of your career.
Note: The examples I use below are illustrative rather than prescriptive. No two roles, teams, or companies are the same!
The Core
The middle of the Onion holds your core responsibilities, work that is:
High importance and impact
Low substitution — only you (or a few others) can do it well
Directly aligned with your role (i.e. work that you were hired to do)
For a Product Designer, this usually means:
Designing, implementing, and testing products and features
Gathering and applying user feedback
Using and improving the Design System
This deserves most of your time and focus – expect to work on these tasks daily. If you took a week off work, few others could do this work well because they lack your expertise and context.
If your core responsibilities are off track, focus on fixing them before taking on any other work.
Inner Ring
Once your core responsibilities are running smoothly, move onto the inner-ring work:
High importance and impact
Medium substitution — your direct team members could do this well
Closely aligned with your role, but not central to it
For a Product Designer, this includes:
Improving processes and tools
Mentoring and knowledge sharing
Ad-hoc requests like fixing bugs
Inner-ring tasks are important but they shouldn’t take priority over your core work. Tackle these a few times a week (at most).
Outer Ring
When your core and inner-ring are on track, move onto outer-ring work:
Medium importance and impact
Medium-to-high substitution – people outside your team can do this work
Less aligned with your role
For a Product Designer, this includes:
Recruiting: sourcing and interviewing design candidates
Designing brand or marketing materials
Networking and brand building
This work is helpful but lower priority. Tackle these every couple of weeks.
Outside the Onion
Responsibilities outside your Onion are:
Very high substitution — other functions (non-Designers) can do this better than you
Not aligned with your role – work that you weren’t hired to do
This could include:
Planning offsites and events
Doing your Manager’s work
Being pulled into projects that aren’t related to your role
This work can be enjoyable but it distracts you from your core responsibilities. When you do this work, it’s harder to be recognized and rewarded for it.
You also risk stretching yourself too thin, stepping on other functions, and even being taken advantage of. While it’s normal to assign Juniors more menial and manual work, we shouldn’t constantly ask Juniors to do work outside their scope.
Putting It Into Action
Here’s how to create your own Onion:
Map out your Onion. Discuss and refine it with your Manager.
Keep it visible. Stick it on your wall to guide your decisions every day.
Review it regularly, especially when your role or team structure changes.
When work falls outside your Onion, you can immediately:
Push back: “I’d love to help, but I’m focused on core tasks right now — this seems beyond my remit.”
Escalate it: ”X wants my help on this, but it feels beyond my scope. How might we resolve this?”
Best Practices
The best way to work with your Onion is to prioritize your core and inner-ring work. If they’re on track and you have extra capacity, then take on additional work:
Don’t Be Too Rigid
This isn’t a hard and fast rule, however. During intense periods (like product launches), the core may consume all of your time. But if you always work like this – with too-strict boundaries that prevent you from stretching beyond your core – then you limit your growth and bypass opportunities to help your team:
Don’t Do This!
Don’t work like this! If outer-ring work is taking up too much of your time, then review and reassess your priorities:
Manage Your Resources
Finally, spreading yourself too thin puts you at risk of burning out. There may be short bursts of this (like when your team is short-staffed or you’re pushing for an upcoming promotion) but it’s unsustainable in the long-term:
Bonus: Energy Mapping
Another way to use the Onion is to mark what work energizes you (tasks you look forward to) and which work drains you (tasks you dread).
If you’re spending a lot of time on core work that feels draining, balance it out with energizing tasks from outer rings to stay engaged.
For example, when I felt drained from reporting metrics to leadership, I would write educational guides for the team to feel energized again.
After all, we aren’t just drones deployed to the highest-priority work. We’re human beings who need to feel engaged and fulfilled.
This framework is an awesome way for ICs and Managers alike to agree on what work matters the most. Use it to manage your most precious resources: your time, focus and attention.