What every UX-er can learn from Seneca’s struggles.
Have you seen Gladiator II yet? Did you enjoy it? Did it make you want to pack your things and move to the Roman Empire?
Well, let me tell you — if you’re a UX-er, that is, if you work in User Experience — as a researcher, designer, or a writer (like me) — not that much has actually changed for us in 2,000 years.
I’ve always believed that UX and design don’t exist in a bubble. We must learn from life itself. Great minds like van Gogh or Caravaggio have plenty to teach us about UX, but… Seneca?
What does Seneca have to do with UX?
What if I told you that the famous Roman philosopher (fun fact: he was actually Spanish) was an employee just like us? That he lived through his writing, much like UX writers do? And that Seneca was far, far from the perfect Stoic he thought he was?
Seneca, in many ways, lived the life of a modern UX professional:
- He had to compromise his values of what UX should be for what his management wanted it to be.
- He made bad choices and faced people and systems that stunted his growth (this guy worked for the crazy emperor Nero, after all).
