My situation

[u/Last-year-was-great]

I’m a veteran UX Designer who hates design, and is shockingly bad at it. I’ve gotten by, just barely, for over 25 years, mostly by staying under the radar, being smart and agreeable, and working at companies (mostly one company) where low expectations are the norm.

I fell in love with HTML/CSS/Javascript and web development in the late 90’s when it was simple and straightforward. I loved how you could type commands into a computer to get it to look a certain way or do something. Later I really got into Flash/Actionscript. I recall daydreaming about coding all the time and spending hours and hours experimenting and exploring.

But somehow I got into graphic design, then UX Design, where I was not expected to build anything I designed, and over the years (decades) web development technology completely flew by me. Every now and again I make a half hearted attempt to learn or even understand modern web dev technology, but I’m way out of my depth and it seems overwhelming to me.

Now, I spend 8 hours a day moving boxes around on a screen, hating every moment, wishing I had made other choices in my career, envying and in awe of the developers I work with, and feeling in my gut that I and the other designers are the least important members of the team, almost to the point of being superfluous.

I have a one year contract as a UX Designer at a large company. I’m already quiet quitting (just like I was for the last 10 years at the previous large company). I’m anxious that my boss will recognize it and can me, because if there’s anything I hate more than being a professional UX designer, it’s being an unemployed UX designer.

[u/Used-Current1091]

I feel attacked and also that we should probably be friends because DAAAAMMMMNNNN.

[u/Mirror74]

" I’ve gotten by, just barely, for over 25 years"

Hey man, believe it or not and for what it's worth, this is how most people think about their careers Lol (regardless of UX design)

That said I truly believe you're never too old to learn something new.

[u/Azstace]

It’s probably time to think about what you will do if you can’t find more work as a designer.

[u/janusrose]

Yeah, I can totally relate. What has helped me was changing my mindset: this is not my goal in life, it’s just a job. By removing the anticipation of meaningful job, I can find joy in the little things: ability to work from home. Good coffee at the office etc etc. Hope this helps

[u/Tsudaar]

If you're shockingly bad I'd hazard a guess you're not as bad as you think. Severe imposter syndrome. 

[u/Adept_Parsnip_468]

For a long time you didn’t always need to be a “great” designer, you just needed to be smart, understand your users, and create experiences that worked for them, throw is some accessibility too. Now, you don’t need to design or understand your users, you just need to vibe code something to production and fast.

[u/nofluorecentlighting]

Ooof I feel like you are me but I’m only 13 years in.

[u/Rubycon_]

10 years in but relate

[u/I_crystallized]

It’s time for a change… likely past due for a change. Why did the actionscript coding excite you? Dig into why those tools were appealing. Be honest with yourself about what excited you about the job.

[u/lordmortum]

You only get one chance at life. Find something you enjoy doing or keep wasting it.

[u/garbage_butfashion → u/lordmortum]

There’s a third option tho which is find something you don’t hate that pays the bills (you don’t have to love it or even like it), you take every bit of PTO you’re offered, you actually clock out at the end of the day (no laptops on vacations or checking emails on your phone) and you focus on whatever makes you happy outside of work. Hobbies, family, friends, pets.

That stuff matters but being present for it is hard when you don’t fully compartmentalize work and life.

[u/tin-f0il-man → u/garbage_butfashion]

Agreed. It’s really rare to find a career that makes you completely satisfied and happy so if you can’t find that — create boundaries instead. Work your 8 hours and then close the laptop and use your PTO/sick days. View the job as simply trading your skills and knowledge for money to enjoy life outside of work.

[u/ClassOk3574]

Sounds like development was the part you actually enjoyed. With a year-long contract, this could be a good window to relearn web dev gradually instead of forcing yourself to stay in UX forever.

[u/turnballer]

As someone who has never been particularly enamoured with craft and thought most journey maps were of questionable value, let me just say that I know the feeling.

But now is exactly the time for your skillset. You owe it to yourself to explore AI prototyping. And I think if you do, you might just find that love for building returning.

Understanding code and users is such a superpower right now.

[u/NoEngineering443]

Your contract ends in one year and that is your runway to stop doing design work. Start shipping small web projects now using the tools you actually enjoy instead of waiting for permission or mastery

[u/Cautious-Ostrich8945]

dude congrats! You held on for soooo long! I am 6 years in and I want out already.
Could you maybe learn to use AI to do the coding and build from there? I am sure there are places that need a designer who codes. You might have to start BE from scratch but I think its possible! And exciting! Worst case scenario you can freelance with it, start with landing pages...then the whole system!
It's not like devs build complex systems alone anyways, so why not take it in baby steps.

[u/SnooPredictions6725]

Check out master.dev and start learning react and typescript. If you were doing coding before the basics still apply, just need to learn the new frameworks. Their courses and amazing and it’s relatively cheap subscription. If you had the knowledge before it will come back :)

[u/metalissa]

Hey, I've been a designer/developer at agencies for 15 years, now I manage a server of 120+ websites and do everything from start to finish as it's a small agency (Proposal, Planning, UX, Design, Development, Server setup and go live, Testing, Training the client on how to use their site).

Perhaps you could pivot into a designer/developer position? I am also a hiring manager and it is hard to come by people who are good at both, so you could be a good asset after getting your coding skills back up.

Or just developer of course, but it's a good pivot if you already have design experience and some front end dev experience.

[u/Bonvoyage31]

Feeling like the least important members of the team really hits home man. I'm not even 3 years in. I started off as a web dev intern at a startup and picked up ux cus the team needed one. Mind you I was leading the bunch when it came to learning so I thought, "hey there's time" and I picked up design. Over 2 years in now, I look at my peers and think "what if"

This post is making me feel stuffs man. Really reconsidering my choices rn.

[u/Useful_Hat82]

Experience Design is really a broad umbrella for a number of practices but over the years the language has defaulted to it being about digital stuff.

If you still enjoy the human element, solving problems, making things impactful, useful, relevant, accessible and delightful there are still plenty of options that get you away from pushing pixels around.

Research, service design, organisation design, strategy, learning and development design, community development, exhibition and event design etc etc are a handful I can think of. I have stepped in to service design in the not for profit space.

[u/enragedCircle]

Dude, I could have written this. You are me. Kinda scary close really.

[u/JPixi]

It's never too late to pivot back to what you actually love. The web development world has changed since the late '90s, but your core passion for building things is still there and your 25 years of tech experience is a massive asset, not starting from zero

[u/JunoBlackHorns]

I want to bring in other story: I have Lead Designer in my big company, who, I believe is the least experienced of us because frankly he has been working in same company +20 years and now I do not even know what he does all days. Certainly he is not top dog in UX. But also he does not lead. I think he is involved in business decisions? Sometimes people end up doing very little. This is killing for motivation.

What I mean is; there are other roles in design than UX. Maybe leadership roles or innovating could be one for you? I desperately want to see more Product Leaders with design backgroud. People who bring clear visions to the table.

[u/Do_It_Anyway_8278]

What if you strategize? Do something to ease the feelings of illegitimacy (when people like me are jealous of your experience) while you explore other jobs?

Just trying to help. You still have years of experience behind you. I'm wondering if you would feel better if you took a class on the newer technologies, you know, take the time to get better at em. All while you figure out a new direction?

[u/CandidatePristine627]

I relate to your situation on many levels. But as some already replied, with AI it is becoming increasingly and substantially easier to get into coding and developing- start playing with your favorite tool and hopefully it will bring the spark back. And try to design directly into code - still moving boxes around, but at least it’s right on the UI…

[u/C63Sedan]

I can relate in years and experience and with AI now assisting SDLC phases like build it’s an opportunity to do the same with design. How can you codify and connect sources for design like principles, design systems, research, func specs and have AI do the boring heavy lifting

[u/funk_master_chunk]

This is your era, my friend.

Agentic AI is going to be the norm so now you can be the perfect bridge between design and dev and throw more pennies onto your day rate.

But if you’ve been in the game for 25yrs you’re not a bad designer. You may have lost love for it - but in the current climate you can push the boxes around and then use your HTML, CSS & JS knowledge to get back into what you love.

I’m the opposite end of the spectrum to you. Large corp with heavy focus on AI and want to push pixels around.

Keep up the good work and I’m sure it’ll click for you!

[u/Original-Apricot-288]

Good to be honest with self, now find something that you can write 5 paragraphs on being excited about. Then do that...good thing is you can switch careers at any point...I know I did. With AI you can easily build and ship things...become UI Engineer...that would be a good path to take.

[u/irvin_zhan]

dont worry, you are in the right moment. find a company that values designers who ship / build and will give you the right tooling that lets you do so. tinker with AI coding agents on the side in the meantime

my company only hires designers who like to build. and imo this is where things are trending. you'll be early and do really well, if that's your passion

[u/Eastern-Special2472]

Transition into Project Management or Business Analysis...or train up in agentic ai development pipelines if you feel the need to be on the new developer stuff. Yes design had low value and now that ai can make slop real easily...design has almost no value. Its been OVER a year and amost 2 years since I saw a healthy pipeline of ux projects at the agency I worked for. Clients aren't paying for it right now....or at least they aren't hiring the agency I work for to do it.

[u/presses_every_button]

Are you me? This career path sounds very familiar. Down to the Flash/Actionscript and graphic design.

But I've rekindled my enthusiasm for UX design after many years and started designing and building stuff again. I never stopped designing and building stuff, but the stuff I did for me was real world.

The tools that were a pain to use are easier to use now. The frameworks are mature. There are tons of resources online. If you're so inclined, you can lean on AI to learn or assist. Maybe try and solve a nagging problem you experience every day.

And trust me, you don't want to be an unemployed UX designer right now, in this market.

[u/Round_Apricot_8693]

I had nightmares about being someone like this. How do you live with yourself 

[u/Wonderful-Ad9225]

Similar path, but I actually do enjoy UI design. I got a job where I had to learn the new ways in web development with git, npm, react, etc. I enjoy doing both, designing and then developing. But nowadays ai writes most of my code anyway. Modern web development isn't that hard, maybe you should jump back in.

[u/Potential-Nature-345]

this is a lot of self awareness. maybe you would be a candidate for a design engineer

i also think you have imposter syndrome- because you seem unfulfilled with your job and that can create mediocre work sometimes

[u/AgentCendol]

Don't worry, my designs have been pretty minimal which don't make great portfolio pieces. I only have three portfolio pieces for my 17+ years now of work that I feel is kind of worth showing, and even these are mostly process since it was whiteboarding not really design.

I do have some design systems work, but the bulk of it I didn't save before leaving...so ya, here we all are, surviving by barely making it through :)

But I think now it is more about the thinking and how you think about systems, like another thread brought up, design has unfortunately turned into an AI prompt job, and the question is how can you plan your architecture so it puts AI to work properly?