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“I am drawn to UX design because it enables me to combine research, strategy, and creativity to craft solutions that improve usability and deliver measurable value to both users and businesses.” - ChatGPT
Why do you do what you do? I don’t mean, why are you a UX designer, a financial advisor, or whatever your craft may be. You’ve probably chosen that path because it aligns with your natural strengths and interests.
While our answers will never be black and white, here are some candid examples to get you thinking:
"To be able to move to a better neighborhood"
"To build generational wealth for my kids"
"To prove to my parents that I'm not a failure"
"To prove to myself that I can transition fields"
"To pay down my credit card bills... wtf have I been buying?"
"To buy a Porsche and show it off to my annoying neighbor"
"Because I f*cking love my work and it directly helps my community"
"I would still do my work even if I wasn't getting paid, it's just enjoyable to me"
After pondering this question for myself, and guessing other people's motivations, I found that all answers can be charted in four categories: Stability, Intrinsic Achievement, Extrinsic Achievement, & Purpose.
“I am drawn to UX design because it enables me to combine research, strategy, and creativity to craft solutions that improve usability and deliver measurable value to both users and businesses.” - ChatGPT
... boring!!!
Why do you do what you do? As I started thinking about this question, I asked ChatGPT, “What’s a good answer to ‘Why am I a UX designer?’" Its response made me chuckle, but it also reminded me how hard it can be to figure out our real "whys".
The question is not meant to ask why you’re a UX designer, a financial advisor, or whatever your craft may be. Most of us chose our work because it fits who we are, our natural strengths and curiosities.
I mean: what motivates you to keep clocking in?
While our answers will never be black and white, here are some candid examples to get you thinking:
"To afford childcare and pay down my debt"
"To prove to my ex that I’m thriving without them"
"To prove to myself that I can transition fields"
"To buy a Porsche and show it off to my annoying neighbor"
"Because I f*cking love my work and it directly helps my community"
"I would still do my work even if I wasn't getting paid, it's just enjoyable to me"
^ if you answered this last one DM me bc i have a few questions
“I am drawn to UX design because it enables me to combine research, strategy, and creativity to craft solutions that improve usability and deliver measurable value to both users and businesses.” - ChatGPT
... boring!!!
Why do you do what you do? I don’t mean, why are you a UX designer, a financial advisor, or whatever your craft may be. You’ve probably chosen that path because it aligns with your natural strengths and interests.
I mean what motivates you to keep clocking in?
While our answers will never be black and white, here are some candid examples to get you thinking:
"To be able to move to a better neighborhood"
"To build generational wealth for my kids"
"To prove to my parents that I'm not a failure"
"To prove to myself that I can transition fields"
"To pay down my credit card bills... wtf have I been buying?"
"To buy a Porsche and show it off to my annoying neighbor"
"Because I f*cking love my work and it directly helps my community"
"I would still do my work even if I wasn't getting paid, it's just enjoyable to me"
After pondering this question for myself, and guessing other people's motivations, I found that all answers can be charted in four categories: Stability, Intrinsic Achievement, Extrinsic Achievement, & Purpose.
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After thinking about my own motivations and speculating over others, I found that every answer could be plotted into four categories that I call stability, intrinsic achievement, extrinsic achievement, and purpose.
With these categories defined, I started wishing there was a way to see my motivations, like a quick “test” that could plot them out and give me a visual snapshot. Naturally, I turned to AI for ideas on what to build, but that was a bust.
Take a few minutes to think about your internal motivations, then adjust the sliders below to visualize them proportionally.
So I brainstormed exactly what type of tool would be helpful then asked AI to help me build it.
This is where it AI became incredibly helpful, guiding me through coding, troubleshooting, and editing a tool I never could have built on my own.
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Curious to see where you fit in?
Take a few minutes to think about your internal motivations, then adjust the sliders below to visualize them proportionally.
Stability
Foundational physiological human needs revolving around housing, food, health. Think Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, lowest tier.
▐ How often do you worry about not having enough resources to support yourself? Your family?
Intrinsic Achievement
The drive to push yourself just to see what you’re capable of, to grow, learn, and feel proud of your own progress, no matter who’s watching.
▐ When was the last time you felt proud simply because you did something you weren’t sure you could?
Extrinsic Achievement
The drive to earn validation, to feel seen, respected, or successful based on how others respond to your work or achievements.
▐ Who at work or in life do you most want to impress or not let down — your boss, peers, clients, or random people on social media? How does that desire show up in the way you approach your work?
A Larger Sense of Purpose
The drive to improve lives and leave something better than you found it.
▐ In your day-to-day work, how connected do you feel to a bigger mission or purpose? Beyond your job, how much of your time and money do you intentionally direct toward causes that matter to you?
*data visualization tool brought to life through a collaboration with ChatGPT
Concluding thoughts & questions
After playing with the sliders myself, candidly, I wasn’t thrilled with what I saw. For me, the stability category took up more space than I’d like it to. But good, that’s the point of this exercise. Seeing it visualized hit differently than just thinking about it in my head. It made me wonder how much of that weight is truly about necessity, and how much is just a mental hurdle/habit I haven’t moved past yet.
So here are a few closing questions for you:
- Is there a section you’d like to shrink or shift, either now or over time?
- Do your results reflect the season of life you’re in, or are you still operating from an old mindset?
& a few nice words:
You don’t need to judge what you find; just get curious about it. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s alignment. Give yourself credit for how far you have already come <3
