I was sitting in an interview and asked the Design Lead what her perfect candidate looked like. Expecting I’d have to mould my answer into something that I didn’t totally believe, to get the job. “Someone humble, who doesn’t take themselves too seriously. We try not to take ourselves too seriously here. I mean, we design websites, we’re not saving lives.”

I didn’t respond for a second. Partially from surprise. This is a feeling I’d had as a designer for so long, that I’d almost never come across in the design world before. Her response, choppy because of my poor internet connection, wafted over me like a fresh sea breeze.

My icy exterior started to melt. For the first time in my two years of working in this industry, I felt just a tinge of authenticity shine through. A moment where I could be myself, and be around someone who felt the same way I do about design.

Someone who finally saw it for what it was. Design.

UX Designers suck the fun out of UX

When I began my journey in UX, much of my family had no idea what it was. Which most UX Designers go through. I remember telling my family that I wanted a career that was fun and fulfilling, but low stakes. I didn’t want to feel responsible for someone's life, finances, or well-being. I just don’t have the emotional bandwidth to handle it.

Somehow, being in UX, other designers still made me feel like everything was so high-stakes. In a world, and industry so heavily focused on hopping on trends, and catering to only the wealthiest and most privileged around us, we’ve decided what we do is life-changing.

And, I won’t say it can’t be. New technology has the potential to really change people’s lives, but the level of drain and stress it causes to run an app to find cheap flights? Pardon my cynicism if it just doesn’t seem essential.

Obviously, UX is a job. It’s not meant to be “fun” per se. And maybe it’s my own desperate attempt at holding onto my youth when I was doing a lot of design for fun. But, I think the general seriousness we have towards what we do, and the gate-keeping and rigidity make it not just “no-fun” but soul-sucking.

The Perfectionism Complex

This industry expects a lot from designers. Since you don’t know how to code, you’re meant to know how to do everything else. We hold each other to insane standards.

I mean, we design websites, we’re not saving lives.

Recently, I did an interview for what was advertised as a position for a new grad. I’d asked about this and was assured, it was for an early career designer. Which, technically, I wasn’t anymore. It was already a bit unfair that I got the interview over an actual new grad.

The interview process for this job was one of the hardest I’ve done to date. They were so solemn. And asked for an incredible amount of knowledge and skill, which I’d yet to have, even with two years of experience. They also asked for projects I’d taken “ownership” on at work. Remember, this was advertised as an entry-level design job. I didn’t end up getting it due to a lack of experience.

This industry is incredibly hard to break into, and sometimes incredibly hard to love. It’s such a fun field to be in. Being able to research human behaviour and design apps and websites around it sounds like it should be fun. And then you add in pretentiousness, gatekeeping and an inability to see ourselves for what we really are, and you get constant burnout.

Burnout comes from the madness

I believe one of the main causes of burnout are the wild obstacles designers have to navigate; which often don’t have anything to do with design.

Most working designers will tell you most of their day isn’t spent designing. Frankly, they have to make time to do heads-down design work. It’s a lot more meeting, chatting, and general politics that take up time in a day.

And, then also keeping up with all you missed and need to know in the design world.

I think many of us got into this field for the love of creativity and human behaviour. Really, human interaction design is at the base of what we do. It’s refreshing, to see designers remembering that we’re allowed to enjoy ourselves. That it's okay not to take everything so seriously and get so lost in our heads all the time.

This is a unique, fun field. Sometimes I just think we forget that.