V Skill HF-D7.4-002 sector-specific 10 skills
Software design and architecture
Designs the structure of an application or interface, distributes functionality across components and weighs choices on maintainability, performance and security.
How hrmforce measures this
- Assessment method
- Work sample test · rho 0.33 (SD 0.09)
- hrmforce instrument
- Work sample test, Portfolio
- Competency (50-framework)
- Conceptual thinking
- Trainability
- medium
- Demand outlook 2026 to 2030
- rising
The candidate performs a representative work sample under standardised conditions.
Behavioural anchors
| Level | Behaviour at this level |
|---|---|
| N1 Guided | Elaborates a supplied design into components and asks questions when the design turns out to be incomplete. works under supervision and follows instruction · routine, one variable at a time · own task |
| N3 Proficient | Produces a design for a defined application, records the main choices and alternatives and reviews it with colleagues. sets own approach and seeks input proactively · several variables, some ambiguity · own team or process |
| N5 Leading | Sets the organisation's architecture principles and decides on designs that affect multiple systems. sets the standard and the policy · strategic, under high uncertainty · organisation, value chain or profession |
N2 and N4 are deliberately not anchored. Raters place them between the anchors, following the O*NET convention.
Underlying skills
These skills inherit the assessment route and the behavioural anchors of this construct.
| T | Skill | Definition | Demand outlook 2026 to 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|
| T | Tailwind CSS Tailwind CSS | Builds consistent interfaces with Tailwind by composing styling in utility classes and configuring a custom theme. | rising |
| T | Astro Astro | Builds fast websites in Astro with pages, components and partially interactive islands. | rising |
| V | Applying design patterns Design patterns | Chooses known patterns such as repository, factory or observer where they make the design simpler. | stable |
| V | Splitting an application into layers Layered architecture | Separates presentation, logic and data storage so parts can be changed and tested independently. | stable |
| V | Weighing microservices Microservices | Weighs splitting into separate services against a single application on operations, interfaces and team size. | stable |
| V | Recording an architecture decision Architecture decision record · ADR | Records per choice the problem, the options considered and the consequences in a short decision document. | rising |
| V | Database design for an application Database design | Designs tables, relationships and indexes that suit the read and write patterns of the application. | stable |
| V | Applying WCAG accessibility WCAG · Accessibility | Builds interfaces usable with keyboard and screen reader and tests them against the accessibility guidelines. | rising |
| V | Designing for performance requirements Performance design | Translates requirements on response time and user volume into choices on caching, indexes and background processing. | rising |
| V | Managing technical debt Technical debt | Makes deferred maintenance visible, estimates the risk and plans paying it down with the client. | rising |