Design is not a valued function here, and that's not a temporary growing pain, it's structural. Collaboration between UX, PM, and engineering has always been uneven. Design is consistently brought in late, given fewer resources, and expected to execute rather than shape direction. The push toward AI makes this worse. The official message is about embracing the future, but the undertone is adapt or die, with little acknowledgment of what experienced designers actually bring that AI can't replicate. Leadership doesn't understand what UX brings to the table, budget and headcount flow to PM and engineering, and you'll spend significant energy justifying basic design work rather than doing it. There is no mature UX culture to plug into, and no hope of one being built anytime soon.
There's also a persistent gap between what leadership says and what they do. They talk about improving, investing in quality, building the right way. In practice, the priority is always speed and short-term delivery. The optimism is real, but so is the pattern. Meaningful change here would require a fundamental organizational reset.
You're expected to be based near one of their California offices or travel frequently, which immediately cuts out a huge pool of talented people who work remotely. If location flexibility matters to you, this is not the place.
So retention has been a problem. Good people leave consistently, and the organization struggles to find and keep the right talent.
