Background

“I’ve envy you man. How do you do it? I always get upset.”

A friend of mine told me this recently. It’s a comment I heard him say to me years back when we were roommates. He was marvelling at my ability to take “bad” client feedback and apply it without getting angry.

Not that I didn’t want to do a good job.

Or I don’t care.

I’ve just seen the result before. Arguing in favour of good design. Most of the time it’s not a strong enough argument.

It’s just cocky to believe that you know better than the person who is running the actual business. It hurts me to write this, but sometimes bad design works well.

Somehow, early in my career I knew that the design work I do has nothing to do with doing something I love. Rather, it’s more about using my skills to help others for money.

I feel this is a super obvious thing, and yet there are so many designers getting angry at their clients for “not getting it”. I will guess that most of them come from an art or somewhat creative background, where they are led to believe that you should work on what you are passionate about, and that every piece of work is a deeply personal self-expression and should be guarded as such.

That’s me basically, years ago.

Not anymore though. Gimme some crazy designs to make! I’ll make ’em exactly how you want!

The Challenge

Understand passion. It’s a tricky concept.Making money out of your passion is not the goal.Don’t feel bad about doing UI/UX design for money. It’s a lucrative field after all.Realise that you can do a good job at something you are not passionate about.

Limitations

1. Do a good job. Be a mediocre UI/UX designer.
2. Know why you do it. Don’t feel bad about making it for money.

Solutions

What is passion?

Danger!
This is how the word passion sounds to me.

This is maybe due to the fact that I didn’t have a good example growing up of how to express my feelings and stuff.

It sounds a lot like addiction to me. Patterns of behaviour that help you avoid reason for the rest of your life.

It sounds great! Sign me up!

I wanna be passionate about my job.

It’s basically something you are willing to do without anyone paying you.

You are ready to sacrifice a lot just to keep doing it.

Pfff, maybe I should check the real definition on Wikipedia? I can’t be bothered. I like mine better.

Check for passion

After I spend a month on an island beach catching up on sleep and getting some sun, I’ll probably travel and become some sort of amateur sports trainer or give art classes. This will be my contribution to society if money was no longer an object.

I’m definitely not opening the Sketch or InVision again. And I’m not going to miss it one bit. I’m gonna get a flip phone, throw away my MacBook and iPhone, and I’ll make fun of people doing UI/UX design.

Or maybe I should teach people how to follow their passion. Wink emoji. This will be a great job in a society where everything is taken care of and everyone can choose how to contribute.

When I get bored of following my passion, I will sneak into some abundant office of a software company and watch Netflix for a month.

It’s about money

Money is a clear sign that you create value for others. You shouldn’t feel bad about it. When you ask for your cut, make sure the client will make at least double of what you are asking. It’s more like ten times in UI/UX design. So, ask away.

And when you have the money, take a vacation and go follow your passion.

Or stay poor and follow your passion. It’s not really convenient but it also works.

I claim it’s all about money until some recruiter offer me a job via LinkedIn. Then it isn’t. I politely decline offers what seems to be lucrative job opportunities without thinking twice about it. Probably a stupid move on my part. But I do it. And I kind of feel proud of myself.

So, it’s probably about freedom of choice and the courage to say “no” to things.

And this courage partly comes from the fact that you have some money already.
So, it’s about money after all?
Damn you capitalism!

Don’t be a jerk

I’m aware how all this sounds.

A bitter, greedy man whining about his dissatisfaction with his career. And someone who is cutting corners because they just don’t care. Weirdly, this is not the case.

It’s all just thoughts I’m pondering.

In reality I’m very empathetic with my clients, so much so that my own career suffers.

Very simply, I believe intent is everything.
If you genuinely care to help someone often this can compensate for lack of skill or domain expertise. The other thing is, I take on jobs in which I can clearly see that I can have a positive impact on the project. If I don’t know something, I say so. Not knowing is usually not a reason for me to not take on a project. But sometimes it is important for the client to know their industry and the jargon. Others look for the fresh outsider perspective. Address this in the beginning if it’s not a good fit — move on.

Conclusion

Don’t act like it’s your passion if it isn’t.
Don’t try to make money from your passion.
Don’t tell my clients I told you all this.