From Developers

“Your job is so easy! All you do is draw screens and we have to do all the hardwork of actually building it.”

“Why can’t you just change the screen in such a way that its easier for us?” 

“Your creativity is nice. But we don’t have time.”

“We can’t do this. Please change the design according to <insert template> and convince the client why this is better than your original design.”

“There is no need for a designer. We can handle this.” 

*messes the entire project up & turns up at your doorstep to say* 

“We need your help to solve 1000 issues in 500 screens and we need it in 2 days. Also, the client is very angry, please handle them.”

From Technical PMs who technically don’t care about you

“Can you please start creating the wireframes?” – minutes after the kickoff call

“Please do this faster, the development team is idle and waiting” – 10 mins after you were assigned.

“The client didn’t have budget for a designer so we started development without designs but we need you so can you “help” us for free?”

“Your time estimate is too high. I am going to reduce it to x% of development time.”

“Can we add 2 designers to make 1 screen so we can get it faster?”

From people of power who “believe in UX”

“I don’t know why but I don’t like this design.” 

“Can you design a site like xyz but doesn’t look like a copy?” 

“I don’t want to waste time on user research or user testing. As a UX designer, please imagine everything a user could possibly ever want and design it all. Thanks.”

“If I were a user, I wouldn’t like a blue button. Please use something else.”

“I believe in user experience. I just don’t have time and money for you. Work your designer magic.”

“I like the idea of a good user experience, not the actual investment it takes to create one.”

Parting words

No job is easier or harder than any other. Design, development, testing, marketing, sales, management, everything comes with its own challenges.

Something I hate in the tech world is how developers look down on designers and testers. How testers look down on developers. How UX designers look down on UI designers and UI designers who look down on UX designers. Stop this madness! 

Good things take time. It is true for creative and technical roles. Respect everyone’s talents and skills. All of us, together, create amazing products. None of our contribution alone makes a difference.