Burnout: the ugly side of UX
I have followed UX articles for years now. I read a lot about trends, good practice, case studies. When I go on Linkedin, it seems that everybody is happy and successful. People share their achievements as well as inspiring stories and advice. It is very rare to see someone express weakness. It doesn’t sell well and might even be frowned upon. You might even hear that discussing these feelings scares off recruiters and sabotages your job hunting efforts.
But there is more to UX than nice colors, experiments, workshops, talking to users and all the other things we enjoy. There is also frustration, sadness, fatigue, fear, anger.
There is burnout.
And we should talk about it.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is:
“a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.”
Additionally, burnout is classified as a medical condition (ICD-10).
So, what does it look like IRL?
I personally witnessed burnout in at least 3 colleagues. As painful as it was to watch, I decided it was not enough of a sample to draw conclusions from. To better understand the topic, I conducted interviews and a survey where I asked 40 UX professionals about their experience with this disorder.
What I found was alarming. Out of all the UX specialists who participated in my research, over 90% (!!!) have experienced or are still experiencing burnout.
Here’s what they told me.
What causes burnout?
The reason why I decided to conduct my research among UX specialists is that I was interested in finding burnout root causes that are specific to UX work. Here are some of them.
“The cause of my burnout was the lack or very small understanding of UX process and UX role in the product development and what comes with it, the lack or very small trust.“
I think one of the main reasons for UX specialists burning out is the lack of UX awareness in the organization. Many of us, especially those with over 5 years’ experience, have seen it. The lack of UX awareness means resistance from colleagues and management. They are used to The Way We Do Things Around Here, and they are reluctant to change. We need to start from the bottom and explain our role and the ways it can benefit them. We all know it is necessary, but it is also a long process that exhausts us and consumes time we could be spending on cool projects.
“I was treated like an interface-producing machine.”
Another thing that other specialists (especially those in strongly technical roles) don’t necessarily have to deal with is the lack of trust in our skills. If we had a drink every time someone tried to tell us how to design something, we would qualify for rehab. Sometimes it’s a developer who refuses to translate our work into code because he disagrees with our decisions. Sometimes it’s a business representative who dislikes the colors we used. One way or another, it can be frustrating when people question our work and think they would have done it better.
“I worked my ass off over projects that were never implemented.”
Another reality of working in IT is that not everything we put our heart and soul into gets actually implemented. The more dead-end projects there are, the more frustrated and disappointed we grow.
“A lot of people got fired in a short amount of time. Everybody who stayed feared being fired, too.”
A thing that might sound familiar not only to UX people is a stressful work environment. Among those of my respondents who have experienced burnout, the majority have done so while working for a corporation. It makes sense — changes in leadership, tight deadlines and inflexible procedures, all of which are associated with big firms, understandably can cause tension and anxiety in employees.
“The work might be great, but the person might feel that the output doesn’t match their input.”
Last but not least, most of us don’t work just for the money. Ideally, we want to do something we enjoy, and see our work bring certain results. If that doesn’t happen, we are thrown off balance and negative feelings inside of us arise.
How burnout affects us
Burnout has many faces. Of course, there is the definition I mentioned earlier, but we are all different and certain symptoms might be more or less strong from person to person. I asked my respondents how they felt while experiencing burnout, and how it affected their daily work.
“I couldn’t really work for more that 1–2 hours per day. Being at the office made me physically ill.”
The most common theme was, of course, a decreased ability to fulfill one’s duties. I think at some point in our lives, all of us have at least once woken up in the morning, not wanting to go to the office. But this is more than that. The feeling accompanies you every day, so much it gets psychosomatic.
“I wasn’t as driven as before. I worked slowly, my ambition decreased, and so did my performance.”
Even when you force yourself out of the bed and turn up at your workplace, you might be absent-minded. You don’t care enough to be efficient, not to mention to excel at what you do. You just do the bare minimum required to go on, but even that comes very hard.
“I felt guilty and embarrassed that I had let myself be affected so much by a company.”
Do you blame work? Your company? Not necessarily. You might also feel bad about your own self, wondering how you let that happen. What have you done wrong to find yourself in this position? Could it have been avoided? Does it mean you’re weak?
“I must admit I was obnoxious towards colleagues and clients.”
What was difficult for my respondents to admit was the fact that their negative feelings affected people around them. It is hard to pretend everything is coolio when you feel terrible, especially if it goes on for days, weeks, and especially months. People can feel it, and they start resonating with you.
But the worst-case scenario is if you slip and become openly mean to them. It is especially bad since it is often your colleagues who can motivate you and lift you up. Treating them badly makes you feel even more guilty about your burnout.
How we cope
Now, even after conducting this research, I am no expert and I am not eligible to give you any advice. Still, I want to pass on what my respondents told me about how they dealt with burnout. Maybe it helps you or at least gives you some direction.
“I cut myself some slack. I spent more time on my hobbies that were not UX-related.”
One of the reasons for burnout might be spending too much of your free time trying to perfect your craft. Do you come back home and jump straight to your freelance side-work? Is your Pocket account full of unread articles about UX and merely looking at them gives you anxiety?
Let your hair down. Maybe there is a hobby you feel like you never have time to pursue? Or maybe you simply want to read some pulp fiction? Make some time for that, even if it is just half an hour per day.
“I attended a workshop which reminded me that UX is great and I want to keep getting better at it.”
I know it is counter-intuitive. I just told you to think less about UX! However, for some of us, learning more about it and taking some side-project might be helpful, especially if our job is more boring than creative.
“I think of my child. I am responsible for her well-being and that keeps me going.”
Family is our rock to lean on, but also our responsibility. As much as it can add to the stress, it can also remind you why you work and what (or rather, who) is the most important thing in your life. It gives you some perspective, doesn’t it?
“I had my feelings validated by other colleagues, external people and a doctor/therapist.”
Last but not least, I would like to stress out that you can seek professional help. As mentioned before, burnout is a medical condition and there is no shame in talking to a doctor about it. You won’t necessarily need medications, but it might help to even just talk to someone about how you feel. Especially if you don’t feel comfortable discussing it with someone closer to you.
Whatever you do, remember: there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Be kind to yourself. Try to find the reason why you feel the way you feel, and think about what changes you could make. It might get as extreme as finding a new job or even finding a new career path, but it might also be a small adjustment. Whatever works for you and you only.
It gets better.
I’d like to thank everyone who agreed to talk to me about burnout. I know it was not easy to trust me and share your thoughts, and I appreciate it very, very much. I keep my fingers crossed for all of you. ❤
