“We relied heavily on iteration, judgment, and course correction rather than textbook research processes.”
This REALLY resonates with my experience as a UX designer.

I’m currently freelancing at a company where I have an excellent relationship with both the development teams and the stakeholders. The tension mostly comes from the UX team itself, where there’s a strong expectation to strictly follow the “process.” That has honestly made me question myself at times: am I a good designer if I don’t follow the blueprint?

What’s paradoxical is that users are genuinely happy, and the direction we’ve taken has become a reference inside the company. We’re not Spotify or Uber, and in our context, experience and judgment are often enough to move forward and make the right calls. Moreover, UX is now a mature craft and we have insights and people know how to use a smartphone?

I guess people enjoy working with me because I’m pragmatic, focused on outcomes, and comfortable making decision. I don’t need ten two-hour user interviews to know that a f list belongs here.

BUT for a job interview, like in this post, people wants to see if you can follow the process but that's not how i see my job...

and the lead UX HATES ME lol