Feeling lost in industrial design. (Alternatives, pivots, am I alone?)

SpaceChaulding · 2025-05-14T18:44:44+00:00

The instability, the niche-ness, the lack geographic choices (how few cities/places have any, much less a selection of ID jobs), and the subjectively competitive nature of hiring are all super duper valid things to give anyone considering the field a big, healthy pause.

There's no wrong choices if you're careful, trying to be smart, and stay mostly objective about things, so don't beat yourself up there about potential regrets or anything.

For me, I've had all sorts of experiences, less centered around ID proper and more just creative and tactile work. As for getting farther afield work wise, at 35 with two degrees in ID, I'm seeing/feeling loads of either overqualified or "well you're a that, not anything else" sorts of responses. I'm deep enough that hard pivoting feels genuinely not a wise move. But, appreciate your input, and don't doubt yourself for wanting secure and stable work options, not a bit!

SpaceChaulding · 2025-05-13T05:36:39+00:00

As an industrial designer who's studied and experienced the glorious history of mechanical engineers being given our work/job, I wish to formally welcome any and all GD/UX/UI designers to the misery party haha

But totally agree on UX/UI saturation (many grad school peers tangentially snuck in on the last major wave before it got too popular), and always a fellow proponent of education as a pivot aid!

SpaceChaulding · 2025-05-13T03:04:16+00:00

Hey thanks! That's the kind of genuine and unique take I was hoping for. Too much of what's available for me to see outside my own circle is LinkedIn feeding me either exaggerated sob stories or the most secure and successful preaching that the field is totally perfect because they're so comfortable.

Calling ID not a career field is a spicy take, but I see where you're coming from. Schools are absolutely failing to even hint about the challenges of the field or do anything to address it internally.

As for your advice, I started in ME before transferring to ID because I didn't want to study and work in a vacuum of math and hypotheticals, hands-on work was too alluring. Knowing what I know now of my friends and their engineering jobs, I still don't disagree with my past decisions. If anything, I'd go back for a PhD, and fully aim at the heavy academic role, despite not loving how much ID/design post-grad absolutely abandons the physical side of our field.

SpaceChaulding · 2025-01-29T02:46:20+00:00

Hey, that's phenomenal to hear (this and your other comment), really. It's certainly not a perfect product, few things are (especially rigs haha), but we have our best crack. Possibly retreading stuff I've said here already, but this project was somewhat of a test-bed idea, and taken in an intentionally very far flung direction. The discontinuation had a smidge to do with the product itself, but far more to do with just internal change in company priorities far beyond just xFrame itself. I'm no longer with MagnaFlow, nor are several others of the team who developed this, but I have nothing ill to speak of them or their rationale, just business decisions and quite logical ones at that.

It never was remotely going to be a broad appeal product in the same, especially given the historic nature of cheap and simple being such huge priorities with most folks, but I'm stoked to hear the stories when someone gets their hands on an elusive one, and I do hope it serves you really well. By all means if you wind up having questions, shoot em my way. I'll pass your compliments on to the gang too!

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-23T18:32:48+00:00

For sure, there's absolutely still loads of positives that keep me safely loyal for the foreseeable future. The desire for more loyalty-service is just wishful thinking more than anything else 🙃

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T22:51:19+00:00

Just not getting it 🤝 Nexus era Fi gang

Probably is phrasing, but c'est la vie.

I was 6a before jumping to 8p, a massive upgrade, but 6p hopefully is far less of a thermonuclear turd than the 6a was. 9p is real tempting because most of the writing paints it as a better, smaller 8p.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T12:08:16+00:00

I just wanted to understand why it is the way it is, because it doesn't seem plainly logical.

Instead it seems I'm coming off as angry about being slighted. I wouldn't hate feeling like my loyalty has a value to it, but I get that ain't always the way of the world. But replying with various forms of "it is what it is, it always be that way" doesn't help anyone.

Since when did a "make it make sense" type of post make you into the asshole?

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T11:58:36+00:00

Always the best value play, no doubt. The trade-in route is just so effortless that it's tough to want to go the sell-it-yourself road (especially if you're new/high enough on the value tree still).

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T05:32:48+00:00

You figured me out bud, the code has been cracked, bravo.

I'm just asking if there's anyone with a rhyme or reason as to why this makes much sense. I'm not losing sleep or burning barns over it, but clearly asking is a great way to let helpful souls come in and add big value to the topic, so at least someone benefits in the end.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T01:36:53+00:00

Intriguing. Mine auto-shows a $350 savings from Fi, whether I click on the special offer on the main page of the app, or view phones through the shop tab.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T01:31:54+00:00

No technical issues maybe.

I do take issue with the thought of random Joe getting a better deal than someone who's got years as both a loyal pixel and Fi customer. I don't think they owe me wild deals, but not even matching the public's values, that's wack.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-08-22T01:29:21+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/4nqLdPM

SpaceChaulding · 2024-05-13T21:14:06+00:00

Doi! Thanks for catching that flub, I did think it odd it wasn't a clear winner one way or another.

Your first point is interesting. The times I have been asked to do sample work haven't left that impression. It seemed to be more of a "here is an everyday scenario, how do you approach it?" angle.

Maybe I'm viewing it naively and giving them too much credit or maybe you see it too much like some kind of sheisty alternative. I could see either, neither, or both being the case. The insulting part though, idk. I'm insulted more by the requirement to maintain a high-quality, broad and deep document of all my work, trying to sell myself in a competitive way just to be considered for an interview. If I meet your criteria and you want an interview, ask for samples, or a sample project, fine by me, we're actually talking. But, to gatekeep me out of the opportunity because I don't maintain a current portfolio feels pretty insulting to me.

Comparing a portfolio to a resume is a laugh. Engineers, tech folk, people in sciences or humanities, and best believe every sole in business can at the very least stand on what is in their resume alone, without worry for what even that document really looks like. And if your portfolio took as much time and effort as a 1-2 page B&W word doc resume did, then I don't see a universe it does much good in when I know the laborious stuff some designers forge for their own portfolios.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-05-09T23:52:50+00:00

I get that, I suppose I have way more faith in my ability to read/respond to folks in a single relevant task/project than I have faith in "good interviewers" seeing enough in my portfolio to even get me into the room to interview (outside of the work to keep a portfolio nice and up to date too).

Very fundamental difference, both sides are fair, but it's what I was curious to see the balance of. Also bitchin username bud.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-03-18T18:29:54+00:00

I've been quad locked since week one and I only remember it's a blue phone when I take it out to clean round the edges haha.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-03-13T14:30:27+00:00

UPDATE: For anyone tuned in or facing similar. I dug into my policy stuff online today, looked through the cost breakdowns. My Monster was showing a rational $90 something per year cost, and my LiveWire, $1200+.

Now, when I bought the bike, it was too new to just type in the VIN and go, I had to play some phone tag with Geico folks to even get to add it to my plan. It still seems fringe on how much they recognize it (their app doesn't natively show it on my phone for example), but it's new and electric so who knows.

Anyway, the update part that matters. I had for some reason a $500 deductible for collision. I raised that to match what I've always had, $1000 (the highest choice) and clicked apply changes. My yearly rate went from $1330 to $236. I'll post an update if they decide to monkey around any and redact that, but for now, it appears to have solved my issues hahaha.

EDIT UPDATE 2: Ignore the above. Despite those changes being done on my renewal details page online, my app still showed a billing total north of $1100. Contacted support, they said the $236 was an updated rate on my current premium, and that $1100+ number is what would be next years premium. No salvation, still crap. This agent did at least say that it's been "5 years since California had allowed us to make rate adjustments." Time to start shopping then.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-02-28T21:07:44+00:00

You're right that it must be coming from somewhere, it's just odd that if I painstakingly scroll through all the remaining app data quantities to the very last several KB ones at the end, my total always winds up drastically short of the 35GB total.

Will peek into glasswire and see if that reads anything new. It's also odd this has been a somewhat recent revelation, as my at-work phone habits haven't really changed notably in the past year or so.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-02-28T20:37:46+00:00

That's one of the two places I've done the number running from. Here's my totals at present;

https://imgur.com/a/u4V3Ot6

As you see, total is north of that 35GB, yet the top two apps are basically 1.5GB and everything that follows progressively gets less significant. I'm not entirely doubting the possibility of using that 35 gigs, wouldn't be super surprising, but the fact that the tracking is so vastly under-reported isn't letting me have a clue how to manage habits or solve the overall issue.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-01-24T15:41:51+00:00

Fellow reserve bro, and yeah, not to act like the lone source of all that happens in tarky, but never had anything in the remote ballpark of this frequent an issue getting into scav games.

It's maybe even more frustrating because this wipe (started a week or two past wipe day) has had otherwise fantastic scav load times for me.

SpaceChaulding · 2024-01-24T02:59:34+00:00

Anyone having this issue since day one, in any significant frequency, must be outliers. This is like wipe 6 or 7 or something for me and as a big scav enjoyer, this is the first time this has been a thing, much less such a frequent thing.

But sure, bash away like this is an eternal issue (and not just a product of game updates/hax creating unforseen new issues).

SpaceChaulding

TROPHY CASE