The document discusses impostor syndrome, which is an internal experience of feeling like a fraud. It provides statistics from a survey that found many people in UX fields feel like impostors at least sometimes. Examples of thoughts people experience are provided, such as worrying that their skills are not as good as others think or that praise is just people being nice. The document concludes with quotes meant to make people feel better about experiencing impostor syndrome.
5. #ImpSyn
“(T)hese women find innumerable
means of negating any external
evidence that contradicts their belief
that they are, in reality,
unintelligent.”!
!
—Clance & Imes, from their 1978 study
20. #ImpSyn
“I often feel like I'm just making it
up as I go along, so worry that
I'm not ‘good enough’ to
compete with those who've spent
more time in teams and have
worked with official job titles and
the recognition it brings.”
21. #ImpSyn
“I feel more below the mark
more with other designers
outside of work. I guess I feel
that there's so much praise for
a certain type of designer, one
that is a consultant, works at
certain agencies, and/or writes
books and blogs.”
23. #ImpSyn
“I feel constrained, like I'll never
be able to be a "real UXer" -- I
don't have ecommerce or
product experiences, so how do
I know that my skills are really
as good as I think they are?”
24. #ImpSyn
“Sometimes, I feel like my career
is an exercise in ice skating up
hill: there are constantly new
skills to learn, new lessons to
learn, new tools to master, and
there is a lot of pressure to be
good at a lot of things.”
26. #ImpSyn
“It's a sort of continuous feeling that my
education and experience aren't good
enough, that I don't actually know
anything more than anyone else does,
and that by writing or giving talks or
workshops that I'm just a fraud. And, of
course, everyone will realize it soon, or
they're just being too nice to point out
that I don't know what I'm talking about.”
28. #ImpSyn
“I don't think I am as talented as
people tell me I am. I constantly
doubt myself. Every year at my
yearly review, I'm told I'm doing
great when I think I'm doing just
ok. You would think I would gain
confidence and learn from this but
I still constantly doubt myself.”
29. #ImpSyn
“I know that I'm not, but I
spend most of my
professional life feeling
like a complete fraud.”
33. #ImpSyn
“There are no information
architects. There are no
interaction designers. There
are only, and only ever have
been, user experience
designers.”
34. #ImpSyn
“All this talk about being a unicorn I
think contributes to a feeling of
inadequacy for people who aren't.”