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SELF-CARE IS FOR UX

The Emotional Toll of Working in UX

There are times when our work impacts us deeply — sometimes in ways we neither acknowledge nor understand.

Vivianne Castillo
Modus
Published in
8 min readDec 3, 2019

Illustration: Deb Lee

This story is from the Founder of HmntyCntrd and is part of Self-Care is for UX, a series on the personal risks of working in design. Check out their Healing Conversations course!

If you are reading this, you most likely fall into one of two categories: You’re either interested in becoming a UX professional or you already are one.

Regardless of which category you fall into, you’ve probably heard or identify with some of the following:

  • You like helping people and are fascinated with human behavior.
  • You’re curious about how people interact with each other, their experiences, and the ecosystems they live in.
  • You enjoy solving problems and learning new things.
  • Many UX professionals are paid well, enjoy their work, and find it meaningful. Let’s be honest; who doesn’t want that?

However, if you are a UX professional, you may have either experienced or know of UX professionals who have experienced the following:

  • You’ve found yourself being given a…

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Modus
Modus

Published in Modus

A former Medium publication about UX/UI design. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Vivianne Castillo
Vivianne Castillo

Written by Vivianne Castillo

UX Researcher. Humanity in Tech Advocate-Warrior. Founder of HmntyCntrd (www.hmntycntrd.com). Choosing courage over comfort.

Responses (3)

What are your thoughts?

Compassion fatigue is common in people for whom extending empathy is a core aspect of what they do. Dr. Charles Figley, a world-renowned trauma expert, describes compassion fatigue as “...

Thanks for sharing Vivianne. I didn’t know about this term and we, designers, definitely need to talk more about this.
As our discipline is getting more relevant in a myriad of industries over time, we are touching on essential areas of people’s lives and having this awareness will be even more important.

10

Thank you for sharing this. I was working on an intense user research project earlier this year, and so much of what you wrote describes exactly what I was experiencing at the time. Its good to be made aware of this ... its like, you know, but you…

I created a Google Sheet of the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Makes it a little easier to fill and digest the scoresheet.