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What my younger self would have liked to have known
About the work life of a designer
I’m mostly happy with my job as a UX designer. I think that I make a difference within the teams I’m part of, and that I’m helping further my organization’s mission, which played a large role in accepting the job.
But recently I had a small epiphany: A coworker was designing 404 pages with cool images and funny copy, while I was building a spreadsheet totaling up and categorizing hundreds of responses to a user survey. I realized that no one is ever going to ooh and ahh over my latest user testing script or that piece of micro-copy I improved — certainly not the way folks praise a beautiful interface or a stunning hero image.
It got me thinking about the rewards and frustrations of the wide variety of jobs and roles that I’ve had over the 20+ years since I switched from journalism to design.
I offer the following insights hoping they will help others who are considering the design field to get a sense of what might be the best fit for their work style, and the questions to ask in interviews. They represent my personal experiences with specific employers. YMMV.
File them under “Things my younger self would have liked to have known.”
