97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know

Chapter 2. Your Worst Job May Be Your Best Learning Experience

Taylor Kostal-Bergmann

It may be surprising that our industry has but a few truly mature design organizations, and as a result many UX practitioners get frustrated within the first six months of beginning a job and start looking for a new one. Often, practitioners start looking once they realize their design organization has limited resources and is working under unreasonable expectations with people who don’t understand UX or its processes. They get burned out, realize that they won’t be doing the inspiring portfolio work they’ve dreamed of, and begin to wonder if another workplace would be a better fit. Those who consider leaving fear they will end up confronting the same issues in a new company. Those who consider staying recognize they need to fight for a seat at the table, and frankly, many people just aren’t interested in doing that.

I’m here to tell you that if you choose to stay, you can eventually change things, developing a level of skill and tenacity most designers take years to cultivate. To transform your workplace, however, you must focus on small cultural shifts rather than immediate sweeping changes. So where do you begin?

Start Small and Focus on Building Trust

I’ve worked in a variety of roles, and one thing I’ve consistently found in immature organizations is there are always some folks resistant ...