Dear Santa,
I have no way to know, but I do hope I’m in your Nice list this year. I might not have been perfect, but I promise, I tried very hard to improve, and to help those around me improve too:
- I’ve tried to implement as much user research as possible - but I think I can do better than 3 usability tests every 6 months.
- I’ve been a champion for accessibility and inclusivity - I get positive feedback from the team, but that’s about it for now…
- I’ve stayed true to our Design System - but sometimes I feel like I’m the only one 😢
- I’ve shared our research repository to the whole company - the good news is that it’s being used, the bad news is that I can’t find anything inside it anymore
So for this year, I’m hoping to ask some help from you!
- First things first. I’d love to have Figma back! I don’t really care how, but I just want my favorite tool NOT to get ruined by Adobe.
- Can you give me the power to stop time? So that I can FINALLY get some work done - like organising my design files properly, or formatting my research insights properly, or prepare that killer presentation that will convince the whole company that, yes, UX is worth it, or just to go to all the amazing design events that I never have time to go to…
- Sometimes, I feel like accessibility and inclusivity are like world peace - everyone wants them, no one wants to put the effort to get there. If you could just give everyone a mild disability for, say, a month, I think that would really help my case!
- AI tools are getting big. Can you give me one that will help me get better at my job, but without stealing it? Maybe one that can convince Product Managers and Stakeholders of the importance of user research for me?
- Can you also make people stop detaching instances from components? It really rubs me in the wrong way - and makes a mess of our design files. (In exchange, I also promise I’ll stop doing it too)
- I’d really like a shield that prevents people from interrupting me while I’m trying to focus - and maybe a magic compass that takes them directly to the mock-up they are asking for.
- Can you make our personas come to life, like thinking and movings pictures in Harry Potter? So that they can yell at us from across the open space about how we stuck them on the wall 3 years ago and haven’t looked at them ever since.
- And finally, can you let me in on the secret of all those other successful designers, you know, the ones who write articles, speak at events, mentor and teach, and overall succeed at everything? I’m sure none of them ever feels like an impostor…
Of course, you know that I’m just kidding. I know that I can’t get rid of all the hurdles in UX and design magically like that - and of course I must admit, these challenges are also part of the fun!
Except for that Figma thing - I’m really looking forward your help on that front.
To a hopeful 2023!
Cheers!
