I'm a UX Engineer, on a mission to help people create more accessible web experiences. I speak regularly about crafting user interactions, playing nice with other disciplines, growing front-end capabilities, and general career development. In my free time, I practice Kyudo (Japanese archery), and check out local eateries in Wellington.
By the end of 2024, I had spent over a decade as a passionate software engineer… and was deep into my third burnout. I had enough. I reflected upon the reasons, budgeted for the exit, and planned for a break in 2025. Eight months later, I returned to coding full time with a new set of guiding principles. No regrets. Here’s what I did to recognise when to stop, rest, and prepare for the next phase of my career.
As a Japanese archery practitioner and Front End Developer, I find a lot of shared principles between the two practices. This will be a brief intro/demonstration of Kyudo, and how I've adapted it into my own work.
Many have done it. In fact, it's a great thing for the industry. But what's involved? With the world of Front End Development evolving constantly. JavaScript is no longer just an interaction tool, but runs whole codebases, and even databases. Is there still a place for someone who just love CSS, HTML, UX, accessibility, and talking to designers in the language they understand? If there isn't, how do you continue to provide value to the team? But if there is a place, what does it take to get in?
