The Halloween Meme Special 🎃


The Halloween Meme Special 🎃

by Jeff Humble


Dear Reader,

This year, I went a little crazy with the Spirit of Halloween designer memes.

I could only find three on Google, so I made nine new ones for you. 🤓

Now, you have no excuse for showing up to work without a costume. I'm sure you can steal anything you need to make these costumes from the office supplies closet. 🫢

1. UX Designer

Making this one was too easy. How are there so many clichés in the UX world?

2. Service Designer

I made this meme for the most underappreciated role in design...the service designer. If you see someone wearing this costume, hug them immediately.

3. Strategic Designer

I made this meme, but it really made itself because Strategic Designers have so many clichés. If you're curious about the role, learn more about strategic design here.

4. Growth Designer

Growth Designers get a lot of hate because they tend to be so marketing-driven, but we need designers who aren't afraid of numbers. If you're interested in growth design, check out my guide to testing and experiments for designers.

5. Staff Designer

Just say "no" to managing kids! Staff Designer positions are rising after the lockdown, so with this costume, you, too, can experience the joy and pain of being the team's "mature" designer.

6. UX Architect

I've always wondered how you get these magical roles like UX architect, but now you know it's the label maker. Re-live the good 'ole UX days when people let you organize the product according to the users' needs rather than the feature factory Frankensteins we have today.

7. Design Manager

This one leaves a trail of greasy fingerprints wherever they go. You've never worked for an agency if this image doesn't trigger you.

8. UX Strategist

I designed this costume around the mystical notebook that (supposedly) guides the UX team, but nobody can understand it. This is probably the easiest costume, but the job is perhaps the hardest. My advice: read this article before considering the costume or the job.

9. Entry-Level Design Job

This costume takes six months to put on, and somehow, it always turns into a costume for an unpaid internship.

Share this meme on Linkedin


COURSE: Facilitating Workshops
Next course: Spring 2025
Master practical techniques to lead effective, problem-solving workshops.
Join the waitlist


COURSE: Defining UX Strategy
Next live course: Spring 2025
Learn to design a winning strategy that aligns design with business
Buy a self-paced seat


May your treat bags be filled with good feedback and not a single dark pattern this year!

Jeff Humble
Designer & Co-Founder
The Fountain Institute

The Fountain Institute

The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.

Read more from The Fountain Institute
A hand holding a illustration of a brain representing dyslexia

Turning Challenges into Confidence: Lessons from Dyslexia By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, When I was seven, I was an expert at pretending. I could "read" picture books without actually decoding the words, using context to fill in the gaps. It wasn’t until my mom, a teacher, noticed I was faking it that I was tested and diagnosed with dyslexia. What followed were years of frustration, advocacy, and learning how to embrace a brain that simply worked differently. While my initial reaction was...

4 risks of designing new products

28 Ways to Test an Idea (that is NOT an A/B Test) by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, Today I'm thankful for all the ways you can test that are not A/B tests. Executives and product people think A/B testing is the only thing on the testing menu. 🍽️ For me, it doesn't usually make sense to A/B test. Here's why: A/B tests should happen as late as possible. They might be the most scientific approach, but they require a lot of traffic. Plus, they're usually live and in code, so everything must be...

Big Updates and New Initiatives at the Guild of Working Designers By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, It’s been a transformative year for the Guild of Working Designers. We set out with a vision: to shape a community that’s driven by its members and creates real value for working designers. From co-creating our purpose and values with the community to building a core team, we’ve come a long way—and we’re only getting started! Here’s a quick look at everything that’s led us to this point, along with...