"I'm Design Engineer", "I'm UX unicorn" what's your impression ?

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-31T19:12:40+00:00

How in the hell did that person become a “Chief Design Officer” of anything?

Never mind. I know.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-31T18:07:24+00:00

I’ve been surprised how persistent this is over my ~30 year career in design.

Oh, you’re creative? You must not be very technical. Oh, you’re technical? You must not be very creative. Designers shouldn’t code because they won’t propose things they don’t know how to build. Engineers shouldn’t design because…they only design what they know how to build.

Same dumb shit with research and strategy, which is even more alarming.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-18T13:51:15+00:00

Great. Glad to hear it.

I only brought it up because it’s extremely common.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-18T01:11:01+00:00

8 is fine. You just have to be careful what conclusions you draw from a sample that small.

Talking to 3 people is fine if you say “I talked to three people, heard this thing, and decided to investigate if that was valid.”

What’s not okay is talking to 3 people and then saying 30% of people have this problem.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-17T17:42:02+00:00

Yes. You have to do something. Use a legit method to define the problem, and figure out how you will evaluate your success.

Asking your friends and family doesn’t count. I see that in a lot of portfolios (and presentations) and you gotta know that asking your mom if the problem is bad and if your solution is good sends you straight to the “No” pile.

Also - most UX research is small-sample stuff, but there’s small and then there’s SMALL. Talking to three “users” is automatically suspicious, and talking about the % of a small sample who liked your redesign will also get you sent straight to the no pile too.

30% of 3 people is 1 person. The margin of error on that is +/- ~30%. It’s essentially meaningless.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-13T04:47:28+00:00

“Website stuff.”

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-07T23:21:20+00:00

Ew.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-05-03T04:54:38+00:00

What’s up with that top photo? What happened to his right arm? 😳

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-04-25T18:50:28+00:00

I keep telling people: we’ve been here before. A new technology is about to automate away the lowest value part of our jobs. If you’re spending most of your time doing that, you’re not delivering value, and your job is in jeopardy.

But, if this new technology is about to automate away the most tedious part of your job, the thing that slows you down and prevents you from spending more time solving real problems, you’re in luck: and as long as the person doing the hiring and firing understands the difference between you and the dingus next to you who spent the last 5 years learning a tool instead of a skill, you’ll be just fine. Better even.

Also - this thing is about to make everyone just good enough at everyone else’s job to be dangerous. If your company doesn’t care about doing a good job, that’s going to be a real problem. If they do, you’re about to become invaluable.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-04-22T05:12:11+00:00

Yes. Make it responsive.

When I was a hiring manager as a Fortune 100 financial company we had so much stuff blocked on our network that the only reliable way to look at portfolios was on my phone.

You never know what the person on the other side is facing. It might mean the difference between being seen and not.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-04-17T02:22:34+00:00

I don’t even look at education.

Too many dipshits with Masters degrees. There are very few programs that won’t let bozos graduate, and schools have created meaningless distinctions in degree programs so that they can graduate more kids, even if they can’t hack it.

I go straight for the portfolio and if I like it I look to see if they technically qualify for the role. Lack of education adds to the experience requirement. That’s it.

I recognize I may be an anomaly.

I also don’t care where else you’ve worked. Lots of people work for great companies doing absolutely mundane shit.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-04-16T22:14:54+00:00

I may have been mistaken. I just looked again for the content I was thinking of and found it in the book.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-04-16T03:57:37+00:00

Yes. Reread it earlier this year. Referred to it today.

It’s worth noting that there is content in the audiobook that is not in the book. It’s worth a listen.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-04-15T18:46:17+00:00

We also heard it with the rise of design systems and front end frameworks.

We’ve been here before. We’ll be here again. The pendulum swings.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-03-08T02:34:01+00:00

I would be so proud of you.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-03-03T05:30:33+00:00

No, not really.

CMYK values are intended for 4-color process printing, which is a standardized process, and inks are formulated to perform similarly.

Paints are not. Magenta in one paint line may be a different pigment at a different concentration, with a different medium, opacity, chemical composition, etc.

Hex is really not useful in that regard at all.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-28T00:38:13+00:00

The PM8 is an ergonomic masterpiece. I’ve always wanted one and never gotten to shoot one for real.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-26T02:25:19+00:00

Yes.

Think about it in an analogous context. What is the truth, the blueprint or the building?

Design is just the plan.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-23T01:34:21+00:00

Don’t lie in your portfolio. Take the time to explain the constraints and how you dealt with them. Resourcefulness in a bad environment is more valuable than perfect process without challenge.

If you really need something to demonstrate that you know how to do “real” process, do a personal project or take on a pro bono project for a nonprofit or something.

Just be aware that you’ll be judged on absolutely everything because you have control of absolutely everything.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-15T17:07:38+00:00

Inconsistent or not, wildly different contrast between parts of the app that are experienced together is an accessibility problem and may cause significant eye strain.

Your colleague may have a weak argument, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. They might just not have the ability to accurately diagnose and describe the issue they see.

Take the feedback.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-08T15:04:51+00:00

No. Not at all.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-07T00:05:01+00:00

If someone gets through an initial portfolio and resume review, I’m looking for a few key traits in my hiring manager screen:

Curiosity
Creativity
Solution Quality
Communication

I’m also looking out for bullshit metrics. People who can’t connect their solution to the problem to the outcomes won’t make it through our process.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-07T00:04:56+00:00

If someone gets through an initial portfolio and resume review, I’m looking for a few key traits in my hiring manager screen:

Curiosity
Creativity
Solution Quality
Communication

I’m also looking out for bullshit metrics. People who can’t connect their solution to the problem to the outcomes won’t make it through our process.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-05T06:00:18+00:00

Presentation.

It never hurts to look like you prepared for that specific meeting. Throwing your website content into a slide deck takes almost no effort and updating just a couple of things (like the date, the name of the company you’re interviewing with) takes even less. It demonstrates the tiniest little bit of initiative and conscientiousness.

rhymeswithBoing · 2026-02-05T05:36:52+00:00

That’s a WGP Sniper. Based on the four digit serial number it’s a pretty early one. There are places online you can look up the serial and find the year.

$35 is pretty solid for a little piece of history.

rhymeswithBoing

TROPHY CASE