Do you ever feel like a fraud? Like your success is down to luck or artifice? Do you find yourself deflecting praise and dodging compliments? If not, you almost certainly work with someone who does. That’s imposter syndrome: an insidious, inner critic. At best it sucks the joy out of a job well done, and at worst it can cripple your career. Kat surveyed 100 user centred designers about their experiences of imposter syndrome and is here to share what she learned about where it comes from, who it affects the most, and of course how to beat it.

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and how to beat it
Image: pikisuperstar
Imposter syndrome in
user centred design

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● What imposter syndrome is
● How you compare to the survey respondents
● How to beat imposter syndrome
○ Recognise it in the first place
○ Deal with it in the moment
○ Deal with it medium term
○ Beat it for good…?

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Hope I don’t
get found out
I’m a fraud
Praise is a fluke
Fear of being found
out as just little old me
trying to do my best
Am I good enough
to be doing this?

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“Whether you experience these
feelings or not, male or female,
if you lead, teach, mentor,
manage or parent others, you
need to understand impostor
syndrome.”
Dr Valerie Young

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UX Bristol
audience poll

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It’s not just you
I opened up to my colleagues
and found that all of them felt
exactly the same. We were all
comparing ourselves to each
other and suffering in silence.
We’re all putting on brave
faces but questioning
ourselves behind them.

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About the survey respondents
Fields (select all that apply) Role levels
Be aware that everyone,
at every level, seems to
have it to some degree

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Their experience of imposter syndrome

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UX Bristol
audience poll

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‘Imposter types’ from the survey

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How to beat
imposter syndrome
Tips from survey respondents

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Recognise it in
the first place
● Learn about it
● Talk about your feelings
● Accept and forgive yourself
I have found self compassion
a very hard skill to learn, but
one that’s very useful.
The pressure I was
putting on myself
was ridiculous.
Talk to yourself as
a friend would

14. @KatHusbands
Deal with it in the
moment
● Use your self-care toolkit
● Confess your weaknesses
● Feel the fear and do it anyway
14
Being honest if you
don’t know something
and not trying to
brazen it out.
Admit when you don’t
know, because then
you get to learn it from
somebody else.

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● Develop a habit of conscious
self-reflection
● Find a supportive team
● Ask for feedback
● Focus on the positive
● Turn weaknesses into strengths
● Support others: learn by teaching
It puts the focus on
the work instead of
my abilities.
What they tell you will surprise
you! Easy format if tricky is to
ask what should I stop, start &
continue doing?
Deal with it
medium term

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Keep a file of positive feedback
from others to remind myself
no-one else sees me that way
Write down the daily small
achievements and try to focus
on this positive part rather than
to always think about the things
that I have not down yet.
Great to remind yourself what
you've done - updating CV is a great
hack for this and useful to do anyway
● Develop a habit of conscious
self-reflection
● Find a supportive team
● Ask for feedback
● Focus on the positive
● Turn weaknesses into strengths
● Support others: learn by teaching
Deal with it
medium term

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A friend said to me once
it's actually a strength to
question your own
abilities and biases
My ability to put pressure
on myself could be useful if
I focused it positively,
towards purpose
● Develop a habit of conscious
self-reflection
● Find a supportive team
● Ask for feedback
● Focus on the positive
● Turn weaknesses into strengths
● Support others: learn by teaching
Deal with it
medium term

18. @KatHusbands
Beat it for
good…?
18
● Update your core beliefs
● Learn to accept praise
● Choose to fail
Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy (CBT)
Informal
counselling
at work
Inner critic
worksheets
Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy (ACT)

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Image: David Whittaker

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Beat it for
good…? Beginner level
“Thank you.”
Intermediate level
“Thank you, I’m glad that [echo
details of the praise]”
Advanced level
“Thank you. Could you put that in
writing please?”
20
● Update your core beliefs
● Learn to accept praise
● Choose to fail
Try to accept praise for a job well done
(not a very Scottish thing to do)

21. @KatHusbands
Beat it for
good…?
21
● Update your core beliefs
● Learn to accept praise
● Choose to fail
I chose to try dancing, and
used it as a way to embrace
being bad at something.
Trying it and fixing something is
better than getting paralysed by
overthinking or over-planning.
See your work as
experiments, not
everything works but
it's always interesting
to learn why.

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What will you try? (select all
that apply)
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

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How to beat imposter syndrome
● Figure out your imposter type(s)
● Accept and forgive yourself
● Confess your weaknesses
● Ask for feedback
● Focus on the positive
● Turn your weaknesses into strengths
● Update your core beliefs
● Learn to accept praise
● Choose to fail
Plus all the general mental health tips!
UX Bristol
audience poll

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Further reading and listening
● My blog post on the survey results
● My Flourish story with aaaaall the charts
● Find your ‘imposter type’ and type-specific tips
● V insightful episode of the Squiggly Careers
podcast
● In-depth self-help resources including
worksheets
Any questions?