Hi! New to Blind. 👋 How’s IBM’s design team doing? I couldn’t find posts on here about the design team. Thinking of applying but wanted to learn more on the growth of the design org as a whole first. Is now a good time to join? #ibm #ui/ux #design
feel free to DM me
I have some questions, can I DM too?
it mostly depends on the specific team and the ppl you work with. i can’t speak for the whole org but my team has been growing consistently
That’s good to hear that your team is growing and it’s still a desirable place to work at for designers. 🙂 Thank you for your insight!
The Watson and security design teams in Austin are the only solid teams! All other teams are either really slow and unproductive or follow bad practices! I know this from being on several teams myself and hearing from colleagues on different teams.
Appreciate the info! Mind if I DM you?
Go for it !
Anyone know about the IBM IX team?
A guy just left there to join my team
iX is not under Phil and the Design org. (See below about his cult.) I’ve not enjoyed my interactions with the Design org: they think they’re amazing, they can’t/won’t make decisions, and they’re passive aggressive. iX just went through a re-org. Previously, it was about which studio you were in. Now, it’ll be about which iX design leader you’re under.
Not gonna lied, the design org is terrible. 1. Lack of leadership and terrible managers all over the org. Most of the managers are low achievers in life and are there to vest and rest. 2. Mediocre designers. Most of them are either new grads with no real experience or folks who came here from shitty tier companies and IBM was their first real gig.
Agree with this feedback. There may be few good teams and designers here and there, but the overall org and leadership is now terrible. Leadership continues to hire bad managers who either have no experience in product focused environment or frankly, just not very good (leading to hiring more subpar designers). In addition, compensation is lacking as there's usually no stocks granted as a part of total comp. So, they aren't really 'vesting'... more like just 'resting'. The problem stems from IBM as a whole, not just design. If I were a junior designer and am looking to develop a solid foundation and discipline, I definitely would not recommend IBM as a place to 'grow'. At best, IBM best serves as a stepping stone to have some name recognition on your resume based on its history and recent 'marketing' push for their design org several years ago.
Can confirm. As a whole, everyone I know in other orgs wonders what IBM Design does all day with 1000 designers. They have a reputation (stereotyping) of being slow, can never make up their minds/afraid to commit to a design, yet have a pompous attitude that they are the gospel. All run under the cult of Phil. He’s a little creepy. Agree it’s definitely a short term gig/step stone.
My mentee got hired there and she likes it.
There are some really amazing designers in every department, but they’re not ALL amazing... just like every discipline. Austin is very cliquey. But, if you find opportunities to work with them, they’re great. I’d agree, good leaders are very few and far between. I think it depends on what your goals are - but there are a lot opportunities. And I’d say dev is consistently slower (and sloppier) than design :)
I don't regret joining but that's because I wanted to work with a bunch of designers and that's exactly what I got. I agree that not all are good, but the good ones are amazing. They definitely hired too many and some of the teams have low standards which puts a burden on the good designers. I've interviewed designers who wanted to transfer to my team who clearly lied on their resumes and have no experience designing products but were hired as senior designers. They're the ones that give the design org a bad rep. If you're able to get on a good design team, the career pathway for designers here is good. They put a lot of thought into it but unfortunately not all managers are aware of how it works or care enough to cultivate it for their designers. I don't agree that Watson and Security are the only good teams. I know designers and researchers from both who left and don't regret it. IBM Research also looks like a good team. CIO designers all seen pretty happy when I talk to them about their experience there. The Redhat Open Shift designers also seem very happy. There are a lot of teams here so it's not fair to say that only two teams are good. You'll do well at IBM Design if you're ready to reach out to designers from all over and network. Not everyone is friendly but most people are open and willing to help. My advice is to just make sure you find a manager that knows how to navigate the blue tape around IBM otherwise you'll probably have zero support to grow.
I'm at Facebook because I was at IBM. Maybe more comparisons...I did more at IBM then I ever would have done at Apple. The design system IBM has is honestly one of the best thought out ones compared to Microsoft, honestly even Facebooks. I'm glad I moved on but working there made me a better designer. Your steps after will depend on how good of a designer you are.
Never a good time to join ibm Since you’re at fannie tho it’ll seem like faang to you
Thanks! Seems to be the consensus on here 🤣 but figured I’d ask around to see how IBM designers are doing and if this would be a good move.
Lol from a design team