The Frustration of Being a UX Designer in a Feature-Driven Companies

Let’s be real, being a UX designer can be frustrating as hell sometimes. Not because we don’t love the work, but because too many companies still don’t understand what UX actually is.

You know the drill. A manager walks in with big ideas and says:

👔 “We need to add Feature X.”

👀 “Let’s build Feature Y because our competitor has it.”

🎨 “Just make it look nice.”

And suddenly, instead of designing meaningful user experiences, you’re reduced to a UI decorator, mindlessly executing a list of features with little thought about the bigger picture.

So, let’s clear something up: UX is not moving rectangles around and UX is definitely not just about adding features.

UX Design ≠ Just Making Screens

The real problem? Many companies treat UX as nothing more than a visual layer, something to be applied at the end, rather than a strategic discipline that shapes the entire product experience.

Too often, they want:

❌ Features, not holistic experiences

❌ Quick fixes, not long-term solutions

And what do we end up with?

🚨 Disjointed user flows – because features are bolted on without thinking about the entire experience.

🎨 Inconsistent design decisions – because there’s no clear UX strategy or vision.

💸 Wasted time and resources – because we’re building things that don’t actually solve user pain points.

Where’s the User Research?

One of the biggest UX frustrations? SKIPPING RESEARCH ENTIRELY.

Too many product decisions happen in a meeting room, driven by gut feelings, business needs, or what the CEO saw in another app last week, with zero input from actual users.

Instead of asking:

✅ “What problems are our users facing?”

✅ “How can we improve their experience?”

✅ “What insights do we have from user feedback?”

We hear:

❌ “Our competitor has this, let’s do it too.”

❌ “The CEO thinks this would be cool.”

❌ “We need to launch something fast.”

And then we wonder why products end up with bloated feature sets that nobody uses.

UX Designers Need a Seat at the Table

Great products aren’t built by just stacking features on top of each other. They’re built by understanding users, aligning with business goals, and working collaboratively across teams.

As UX designers, we need to push for:

🔍 More user research – so we’re solving the right problems, not just adding random features.

🤝 Cross-functional collaboration – because UX doesn’t live in a vacuum.

🎯 A holistic approach to product development – instead of treating UX as an afterthought.🧠 Design thinking at a strategic level – not just at the execution phase.

We’re not just here to make things look good, we’re here to make things work well.

Final Thoughts: UX Is Still Misunderstood

I love being a UX designer. I love solving problems, making products more intuitive, and improving people’s experiences. But let’s be honest, UX is still widely misunderstood in many companies.

Until leadership starts seeing UX as more than just "making screens", we’ll keep fighting the battle of designing experiences vs. just shipping features.