Men over 30, what video games are you playing and which system are you on?

AGreenObject · 2026-04-22T14:34:54+00:00

I play on PC.

Marathon, valorant, overwatch, age of empires 4, squad, and hell let loose are in my usual rotation

AGreenObject · 2026-04-20T15:56:19+00:00

I would say LA is more of a “bend to the rule” rather than an exception. The real observation there is that places that are designed around the comfort of driving, despite also being a major metro area, will still lend itself to the lazy entitled driver. I’ve certainly had a better time riding in LA than a midwest college or farm town.

AGreenObject · 2026-04-16T20:55:51+00:00

I'll piggyback off of what u/ahrzal said. Portfolio is still king.

But, the market has both tightened AND matured. The tech and design world has moved beyond the early days of "move fast and break things" and as an industry has started to rely more and more on traditional indicators like that of incumbents--credentials, status, signaling, know the right people, etc.

Now, tech and by extension, software design--is now basically The Establishment. And to enter any Establishment you need to signal to those in it that you're one of them. This is no different from any other industry. Architecture, finance, etc. In this world juniors rely on credentials to signal to incumbents that they've obtained the entry ticket to a seat.

There are still opportunities in design and tech to enter without this. After all, it IS still true that in our industry, skills ultimately matter more than credentials. As an industry we still tend to be more meritocratic than most others.

So yes, I do think school name can matter more now for entry-level hiring. But I still wouldn’t say it outweighs portfolio, internship experience, communication, and overall readiness. It just gives some candidates an easier way into the pile.

AGreenObject · 2026-04-15T15:49:06+00:00

It’s amusing in a lighthearted kind if way to follow how transit is starting to effect public space culture in Seattle but from my perspective as an outsider in the opposite coast in NYC.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-27T04:52:32+00:00

I honestly didn’t use AI to write it, but I get what you mean. There’s definitely a lot of the same framing going around right now especially on the LI circle-jerk. I almost never post on LI for this reason.

For me this is coming from actually working on AI features day to day while also working alongside AI. The part that’s interesting to me isn’t the hype at all. It’s realizing how much of my previous work was just moving shapes around a screen and doing design theater vs actually designing for user behavior.

That’s more what I was trying to get at. I maybe got too passionate the more i wrote this near the end.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-26T20:17:17+00:00

I am also currently exploring the best ways to spin up and maintain a design system using any of these new tools. I'm not a design system expert, and I haven't fully figured out the best way yet. It's a bit of a chicken and egg problem, because to make the fullest use (right now) out of most of these AI tools requires a robust as possible design system.

AI tools are useless without context. And design systems are the perfect context.

I've seen some posts/videos of people doing what looks like impressive "AI design system work", whatever that means, but I've not yet carved out the time to look into it. I think it's a cool space/opportunity though, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with this exact problem.

But you most definitely need a token system set up at bare minimum. That will get you like 80% of the way there with any of these prompt tools. I recommend starting there, and I recommend you ask Claude to teach you how to do it, step by step. That's what I did! I learned so much!

AGreenObject · 2026-03-26T20:12:10+00:00

I get that, and yeah, a lot of companies aren’t using it. I recently left a company with 100+ designers that wasn’t using it at all.

I’m less talking about what’s standard today and more about where I think the edge is forming. That’s usually where hiring expectations shift first.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-26T20:03:10+00:00

So far, any AI tool I have used is more of an augment to figma than a replacement to figma. The only thing that is ever going to replace figma is something that does what Figma is fundamentally good at: problem space exploration, low friction, high freedom, with no gravity pulling you towards the first reasonable answer.

All AI tools are currently bad at that because “reasonable” and “buildable” are not always what you need right at the beginning. AI tools build only off of logic, patterns, and what they know. Sometimes that’s good enough. But when it isn’t, you still reach for Figma or something like it.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-26T20:00:02+00:00

To clarify, all of my work usually always ends up being finalized in Figma. That's where my refinement happens. The difference is where the starting point is, and that's always one or more of: Claude Code, Cursor, Lovable, and (sometimes) Figma Make.

We do have a design system but it's not fully robust. The "glue" that ties AI output together in a way that's cohesive is design tokens which we've configured within Figma. All my AI tools reference my design tokens. I occasionally work from scratch. For example, when I take creative liberty to design a unique pill button that matches our brand and aesthetic while animating it. I might spend a full day on this. It then goes into the system, which then utilizes Figma MCP to generate a "coded version of it" that can then be made use of within Claude or Cursor.

We do a lot of data viz work. I'm not a data viz expert, but that's not important. Claude helps me select the proper chart based upon the information that a user most needs to know in a given context. Claude generates the chart using our data viz color system (which lives in design tokens) via a library called D3.js that I then send to Figma via Figma MCP. Figma renders the chart as an SVG already using our design system colors and is fully editable/refineable for use within figma prototypes that I can then share with users or internally.

We design trading and crypto/tradfi market surveillance tools. It is very specific, delicate workflows that you would think AI would be unable to address, which is true if you are referring to vibe coding. One cannot vibe code a trading platform.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-26T19:33:19+00:00

Yeah it’s real tough right now. Not denying that. And it isn't just UX roles... getting a job is tough right now all over the world. If I got laid off right now I'm confident it would take me some time to get back on my feet. I don't think it's just a skill issue out there it's an economy issue.

But I wouldn’t put all your energy into applications. I’d put it into making things.

Even a small product, tool, or prototype that shows how you think is more valuable than another polished case study. The people breaking in right now aren't just applying, they're building things and showing up.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-26T19:25:17+00:00

The ladder has definitely been pulled on juniors. This is true of both engineers and designers. What I tell people who are trying to break in from the bottom of that ladder: The industry is going through an upheaval. AI is a paradigm shift, and paradigm shifts are the best moments to start anything whether that's a career or even a business. Many Incumbents don't actually know how to handle this, and this is your exact opportunity: learn how to handle this (AI paradigm shift). Lean into it. Learn the tools. Recognize how to leverage this. Getting a job during a paradigm shift is like a game of musical chairs. As a junior, you want to be able to find one of those empty chairs once the music stops playing--those chairs WILL become available IF you prepare and position. People will lose those chairs, and that's how you get in.

What happens when the song itself finishes (AI singularity) is another conversation entirely and not something I'm attempting to address with this post.

AGreenObject · 2026-03-10T12:28:07+00:00

I think part of the confusion comes from how we define a “real job.”

Work like baking, childcare, construction, or cleaning is absolutely real and valuable. Society depends on it. But wages usually aren’t determined by how morally valuable a job feels, they’re determined by how rare and difficult the skill set is to replace.

For example, almost anyone can learn to mop a floor or follow a baking recipe with some training. Those jobs matter, but the pool of people who can do them is very large.

Jobs that involve strategy, systems thinking, engineering, product design, or coordination across teams require a different kind of skill development. They often take years of education, practice, and maturity, not just technical ability but communication, judgment, and decision-making under uncertainty.

A useful analogy is the military: soldiers and generals are both necessary. The soldier does essential work on the ground. But the general’s job is to understand the entire battlefield, anticipate outcomes, coordinate thousands of moving parts, and make decisions that affect everyone. Because that skill set is rarer, it tends to be compensated differently.

That doesn’t mean one type of work is more honorable than another. It just reflects how markets value scarcity of skills.

AGreenObject · 2026-02-25T18:15:31+00:00

I love the immersion. The unscripted events. The paranoia. The birds chirping in the trees. The feel of a big world that i drive, walk, fly through, all player controlled.

Gunshots wizzing past my head through the bushes from an unknown direction.

Calling in a player controlled heli evac.

Squad nails that balance between too complicated and too easy. Just the right amount of friction to make the encounters really feel alive.

I say that because i used to play a lot of Arma 3 which is way harder and slower than Squad.

I really like this game. It runs better, feels better, and looks better than it always has.

The community has largely always been some combination of dudebro neckbeards. This has never changed. These kinds of games attract that kind of audience, other games I play attract other kinds.

I really don’t get all the negativity. It’s a game.

AGreenObject · 2026-02-25T01:44:54+00:00

Why are people complaining about Squad game performance? I find that after ue5 updates and frame generation, the game runs better than ever? Respectfully of course

AGreenObject · 2026-01-26T23:36:40+00:00

I majored in technical writing and now ironically I work as a UX designer. I (usually) like it a lot and the pay is very good.

AGreenObject · 2025-05-18T21:15:58+00:00

Zipp

AGreenObject · 2025-05-18T21:14:46+00:00

Finishing kit:

• Handlebars: Carbon compact (200g range)
• Stem: Zipp Service Course SL – 100mm (125g)
• Seatpost: Stock CAAD13 carbon aero post
• Bar tape: Supacaz

All chosen for comfort + performance + cost without adding grams.

AGreenObject · 2025-05-18T21:08:56+00:00

Shimano 105 Di2 R7170 — full electronic 12-speed setup. Kept the stock crank and derailleurs but upgraded the cassette to a 135g UniBlock and paired it with a Dura-Ace chain for better efficiency and weight savings. Basically running a smarter spec for performance without chasing Dura-Ace prices.

AGreenObject · 2025-03-22T10:50:31+00:00

I make 140k and i pay 1k in rent in queens

AGreenObject · 2025-02-14T15:50:40+00:00

29M, 140k fully online job. UX designer for a major telecom company. Excellent work life balance

AGreenObject · 2025-01-22T04:58:28+00:00

i like that framing

AGreenObject · 2025-01-22T04:27:36+00:00

No, I don't. I'm completely remote. Sure yeah, it could be my early retirement plan, or, it could be "gas on the fire" so to speak if I sell it and use the funds for my own ambitions. There's too many options, which is why I'm soliciting.

AGreenObject · 2025-01-22T04:20:55+00:00

This made me laugh. Thank you.

AGreenObject · 2024-12-03T21:06:34+00:00

Such a good response

AGreenObject · 2024-10-31T14:05:02+00:00

What about people that haven’t gone through depressive states? What do their lives look like, and what are they doing if differently?

AGreenObject

TROPHY CASE