UX REACTIONS

When I’m given a team of designers to manage

Any Windows update:

When I overestimate my ability to tackle a large project

When a pointless feature is explained to me as a “surprise and delight” for the user

When the new chief executive tries to lecture your team on the role of design

Heading into a Monday morning meeting after a long weekend

When a developer asks you to spec out your wireframe

When you’re new to a project and the team asks you to help present

When someone says you’re getting a little too attached to your project

When a project has a great kickoff but hits an early roadblock

When I think I’m going to nail the presentation but shit hits the fan

When you underestimate a task

Moving to an open office floor plan

When a feature that failed usability but was built anyway doesn’t perform well

When my boss needs someone to do updates over a holiday weekend

When I move from consumer products to enterprise

When the PO tries to describe your team’s design process

When you’re in a design groove and someone disturbs you

When your laptop is old, slow, and beat up but it gets the job done

When you put a program on your resume because you used it once in college and someone asks you to use it again

When the PO decides to dedicate a few sprints to marketing features

When I move from in-house to agency design

When the client decides to give feedback by mocking up a design in PowerPoint

When I try to help R&D solve a bug

When the PO starts giving you feedback on another designer's wires

When I barely avoid a nightmare project that someone else breezes through

When a client interrupts your presentation to complain about an image they told you to include

When someone uses your product in an unexpected way

Getting unhinged at the office holiday party

When a design event lists an open bar happy hour in their schedule

When the business reshuffles seating and you end up sitting with a different team

When you start a new job and the team is using terms and acronyms you don’t know

When the team helps make the creative director look good in a client meeting

When I forget to take off my headphones as I’m leaving and hear my laptop hit the floor

When the team uses fake data to make our design look better

When I’ve wrapped up my work but the computer crashes while saving

When I’m paired with my favorite dev and told to go “innovate”

When the Heads of Product and Marketing get into an argument over priorities

When the prototype is full of bugs but you still have to present

When a feature fails usability but the PO decides to release it anyway

When I overhear someone questioning my color choices

When I jump into visual design before testing

When the head of marketing stops by your desk to give feedback

Colleague: "If I was the user, I would..."

When there’s a cold going around the office

When a new product owner writes requirements

When the team finds out they’re getting new MacBook Pros

When the client starts to rant about politics during the weekly check-in

When the Creative Director installs a new design program and asks me for a quick lesson