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A song about Workday and the application process Thanks Dan · Cariño

What is a Super Senior Individual Contributor (SSIC) designer anyway? Is it simply an IC above the lead level? Most people conflate “SSICs” with strong abilities in design. But one can actually be a terrible designer and also a SSIC, just like how one can be an awful, toxic people manager but a manager nevertheless. Roles and responsibilities aren’t correlated with skills. Oftentimes, an SSIC is someone with many years of experience as an IC, and has previously held the lead designer title for several years. That’s mostly it for the sake of internet arguments. but do consider the following points: The SSIC role seems to have originated from engineering, where the expectation is for a staff level engineer who can overcome the increased complexity of multiple products to drive strategy. This makes sense for engineers due to the increased complexity of larger systems and multiple product lines, but isn’t as clear for designers since by default, a Design Strategist or Design Systems designer could also then be considered SSIC. In practice, the traditional definition of design SSICs might not make sense because so few companies are able to support SSICs due to a lack of infrastructure, capabilities, and talent necessary for SSICs to function effectively. An SSIC at an early startup working on only a single product is just like a head of design of a team of 1 designer; a misnomer. Similarly, a highly siloed mega corporation with top down strategy setting and low design maturity is also unable to support SSICs because there is simply no room for them to exercise their strategic capabilities across multiple divisions. SSICs roles are thus used as a compensation tool to attract and retain hard to find talent. What this means is that someone can be slotted as a SSIC due to their unique fit with a company but not perform traditional “SSIC” duties, at all. Thusly, SSICs often hone a combination of hard to find and much needed skills in the current job market. The term combination is important, as being very strong in “service design AND UX research” isn’t as rare and in demand as “visual design AND strategy AND zero-to-one experience”. The latter is more likely to attain an SSIC title even if the former is really damn good at what they do. Ultimately, what makes an SSIC in terms of titling and pay is their largely perceived value to that specific business. An SSIC from Instagram wouldn’t function the same as an SSIC from ServiceNow, and vice versa.

My book "Poor Trevor" is now available for pre-order. Peruse all 83-pages of Trevor being laid off, laughed at, and put on PIP repeatedly in devastating Workday memes. Share with coworkers, friends and family the sorrows of layoffs, unemployment and poor job security. Revel in the joy of seeing Trevor in it instead of yourself. Winner of the Newbery Prize and also part of Oprah's Book Club 2023.

“I’m interested in designing for AI, but where do I start besides ChatGPT or Midjourney?” I’ve always been impressed by how Joshua Butts approaches novel technology, whether it be 3D printing or AI. He seems to have an intuitive knack for diving in without instruction manuals and figuring things out on his own. Given how quickly AI is evolving and the need for design improvements, Joshua’s skills make him a unique talent in the current market. In this episode, Joshua will demo some of his designs and ideas for AI interactions and features, before taking us into how he approaches designing for new technology. He’ll showcase some of the resources he uses and the skills he’s had to build up for AI. 

Ever wondered what happens on the other side when you negotiate your salary? Dread the "what are your salary expectations?" question? Want to know the most effective ways to maximize your compensation without coming across as greedy? Wondering if hiring a resume writer is worth it? We're chatting with HRBP Daniel Space this Friday to dig into all things hiring, compensation and other corporate BS. We're going to call out bad advice and sketchy behavior, clear up misunderstandings, separate myths from facts. About Dan: Daniel’s an HRBP for big companies like Spotify, EA and consulted with FAANG before turning into an HR content creator DanFromHr.

Someone criticized me anonymously on reddit and it’s actually a really fair point that I wish people would tell me. Maybe the current UX discourse _is_ getting a little too negative. Maybe I'm falling into the engagement trap and bringing everyone else down in the process. My curiosity eventually got the better of me and I figured out who owned the anonymous account. Turns out it’s an in-house design recruiter of a top-tier tech company that I'd have loved to work with or at. Slight bummer to know that I have zero chance of getting past recruiting, and a reminder that content creation can certainly have a negative impact on future job prospects. I thought of sending a DM to ask if everything’s OK and if I had somehow offended them in the past... Then I saw their older Reddit comments about the so called “incidences at the Capitol”, how he briefly held 2 jobs at the same time at his current role while crapping on the people at r/antiwork, and how much his coworkers and designers he works with suck, so… yeah probably too awkward to reach out. Anyway, good call on this screenshot ending up on LI, and me “acting like they know”, but I’m not going to "expose" things. I wouldn’t want you to have to “go get a job” after bragging about your $230k/yr recruiter job on reddit ($190k base + 10% bonus and the rest in stock!)

Easily the saddest thing I’ve read lately that also made me laugh: “UX is no longer deemed a necessity in our team”. Definitely not something I'd have expected to hear even a year or two ago.

One of the most common reasons people don’t bother negotiating their salaries is: “Maybe I can negotiate for a little more, but it’s not that much money and I don’t want to jeopardize my offer.” This rationale makes sense in the present or short term, but when you look at the numbers over your career, it is shocking how much money it eventually becomes. Check the slideshow below to see why you should take every opportunity to negotiate for a bit more…

Ever wonder if a paid design course, book, video tutorial or retreat is worth the price? Leave the name and link in the comments and Trevor Nielsen and I will review and rate it on a live call later this week. Looking for great courses and scammy ones too.

I love that Brian Lin's been calling out LinkedIn design influencers who can't design. Recently he wrote a spicy post on the farce that is “design maturity”, and it was just too good to not dive deeper: https://lnkd.in/eV_g86y6 RSVP below for this Friday's debate between Brian and me. We're likely to have diametrically opposite viewpoints on the value of design maturity and the ownership that designers should have in today's design field.