This is everything I hate about being a digital designer, for now.
This is an angry list complied after working for only 7 years as a UX designer, interaction designer, product designer and who knows what I’ll be called in a couple of years.
I hate it when everything needs to be dialed back because of technical constraints. Feels like constantly driving with the handbrake on.
I hate how most people try to use fancy words for describing basic things.
I hate how we create generic solutions, but have specific target users.
I hate it when people come up with a single solution to a problem and can’t move away from it.
I hate how we need to figure out navigation for every new product.
I hate how everyone looks at the same 5–10 apps to decide how to build their own flows.
I hate it when I get comments in Figma, 5 minutes before leaving. Now I’m going to think about this all the way home.
I hate it when people don’t check prototype interactions. “So..where is this screen supposed to lead?”
I hate when peoplle provide feedback for the sake of making themselves heard.
I hate legal words. Who the fuck reads about “right of withdrawal” ?
I hate it when people reject input in their field of expertise, but they treat designs as something anybody can do. “Perhaps if we add more text…”
I hate it when people don’t read meeting agendas or documentation. Of course, let’s spend a third of the meeting by reading stuff you were supposed to know anyway.
I hate it when people are surprised by plans I mentioned a loooot of times. “I didn’t know we were doing this”
I hate it when I get feedback 5 months into a 6 month project.
I hate that people work in tech, but have no clue how to set their monitor settings.
I hate it when leaders can’t decide on anything.
I hate it when people ask for final designs.
I hate it when tracking is messy and I can’t draw any conclusion.
I hate it when Android and iOS do their own thing.
I hate it when people come up with a single solution to a problem and can’t move away from it.
I hate it when the first thing to compromise on is the user experience.
I hate it when people discard qualitative studies due to low numbers. That was not the point.
I hate it when people are treated like resources and team dynamics mean nothing to management.
I hate edge cases.
I hate many design influencers and their repetitive basic content talking about portfolio design, heuristics and design books.
I hate generic advice.
I hate that I most of my sentences start with “I think…” “I guess..” “Maybe…”
I hate Auto layout, from the bottom of my heart. It’s really useful though.
I hate open offices that look like a cheap stock photo.
I hate how people question design, but not the technical constraints and business context that shaped it.
I hate that design is a recommendation, never a driver; and I will probably never experience that in my life.
I hate when regular native features are called innovative, e.g. live activities, or anything wearable.