Credit: Ales

I honestly haven’t been feeling okay with work.

No, my job is great, I think many people would kill to be in my position and I have so many things to be thankful for.

But when I started threading the waters of UX in 2016, this wasn’t the profession I thought it’ll be.

It wasn’t this noisy, loud, and attention-seeking. It wasn’t a competition to see who earned more and who worked at the biggest companies. UX was a humble profession of practitioners who genuinely wanted to make the world a better place. Ideally quietly.

And I realised why I detest my life as a product designer now.

It’s because UX Design has become such a high profile job.

Perhaps I was naive. I did come into the industry knowing it’s just one profession of the many I know I’ll thread, but it was one that had a lot meaning for me personally. As someone who grew up with an neglectful upbringing, being able to serve others and be helpful brought me more joy than anything else. I definitely didn’t want to let that innocence go.

And with great luck, the money came in because it turns out being really helpful has a value that you can put dollar signs on. My natural inclination towards tech, cultivated from my childhood days tinkering with Arduino and Raspberry Pi, only fueled the path towards the money further.

Look, I understand that I’m spoiled.

Here I am writing what seems to be complaints, even when everything I’ve done has aligned with my goals and ultimately worked out in my favour. Luck and good planning does get people that far.

And yet, I am so listless when it comes to my career now. I did not sign up for the oversaturation of the industry and the literal prostitution of the skills I worked hard to cultivate.

Everyone is working for the money and hyper-focused on the gains of the industry, completely neglecting the essence of UX, design, and the value of…