As we try to get into our day, I just have to say, we’re having a mixture of emotions today. So I’m gonna need a moment to figure out how we want to structure ou rflow for today’s blog entry. I want to start first by refreshing your memory about how the life of an industry pioneer really works. The truth is, we never have a ready-made map 🗺️. For as long as pioneers and explorers have existed on this earth, we’re usually the ones navigating with a compass 🧭.

Honestly, that can be one of the scariest and most terrifying realities of being a pioneer/explorer. You don’t get to see the entire staircase. In most situations, all we can really see, is just the next step and then the next. Even when we do get to that next step, sometimes, the next one after that wouldn’t reveal itself immediately either. And that is precisely when things can get really mind-fucked!

As an industry pioneer, you get there and then you’ll first find yourself, thinking, “So, what the fuck am I supposed to do now/next?”, “What the fuck am I really doing here, man? This is so stupid! We should just go back already.”

But if you have been doing this for as long as I have, you’ll learn that part of the journey is to trust your own instincts, no matter how the external circumstances might be telling you otherwise. Because that is precisely how we’ve managed to pioneer an entire UX industry (by bring UX Design into the digital space).

🎂 Happy Birthday, UX Industry

So, today, on January 2, 2026, we want to take a moment to wish the UX industry a Happy 20th Birthday! Honestly, we cannot believe that it’s been 20 years already. It felt like an insanely long eternity. But here we are. The only reason we’re here, being able to celebrate this day is because I had trusted my instincts back in 2006, same day today. If I had not trusted my instincts, I’ll probably not be able to do this today.

😔 Managing Our Personal Disappointment

While we are on this topic though, I do want to take a moment to acknowledge something that I’ve been feeling on the inside. This is the sort of stuff that most folks on LinkedIn would never admit to. Not if you care about getting reactions and engagements. But you know me, I don’t care about that kind of shit. So I’ll share exactly what I’ve been feeling in recent days.

When I created that post on December 31 to celebrate being a pioneer of Design Engineering, and then last night, when we celebrated the anniversary of the UX industry; part of me hoped that it would’ve spark something. Maybe recognition, maybe connection, maybe just… acknowledgment. But the community I helped build? They’re not showing up. And I’d be lying if I said that didn’t sting a little.

But then I remember: pioneers don’t get celebrated while they’re exploring. They get celebrated in hindsight, when the maps are drawn and the territory is settled. By then, they’ve usually moved on to the next frontier.
So yeah, it’s lonely. But it’s also the nature of the work I’ve chosen. The support I need probably isn’t coming from traditional places anyway.

🎞️ A New Professional Vlog Series #lifeofapioneer

Going back to the whole navigating with a compass thing though, one of the very first “waypoints” that we could see this morning, was to start a new professional vlog series. I don’t really think we have given it any official title or anything. But then again, it is quite funny, we don’t think we really need an official name either.

So, I think we just naturally decided to use “PROFESSIONAL VLOG SERIES”, and then we added our own unique hashtag for signature, “#lifeofapioneer”.

Personally, I thought it was quite genious because this way, we won’t have to spend time and energy trying to figure out some kind of “branding” for our series. We just keep it simple. Besides, at the end of the day, I think the content of our video itself should matter a lot more than just the title itself.

For our first video in this series though, keeping it under 15 minutes without any preparation or rehearsal was pretty neat too. Not too long that viewers might lose their attention span, but it is also a good enough pacing to cover the things that I really wanted to cover.

Topics for Today

Our Careerquake

I shared mostly about the changes and transformations that we’ve been going through for the last few months. This is really meant for those that might have known us from our life before. We also included a personal shout-out 📣 to Uma Thana and her YouTube channel, #RAWwithUma, which has been really important in help me to understand my own Careerquake experiences.

I described my careerquake as this massive seismic shift that didn’t just change my career’s trajectory, but it also brought about an internal identity shift. If the Careerquake had a magnitude scale to it, I would say that mine was definitely a 10.0. Everything that I’ve used to known has been shaken down to the foundations, and now we have literally build up from the ashes.

And with that sort of massive transformation, also comes a shift in how we choose to see the world, ourselves and how we want to carry ourselves within that world.

Our 3 Core Philosophies

That brings us to our THREE Core Philosophies. I think my explanation in the video is a pretty solid one. Here’s how I broke everything down.

1️⃣ Purpose (and also mission-oriented)

• first filter.
• does this decision & action align with my purpose & mission?

2️⃣ Intentionality (related to self-awareness & conscious choices/living)

• second filter.
• living in a “shell” tends to create a more “reactive living”.
• reverses the polarity on that
• am I reacting to an external stimuli?
• am I fully aware of what I’m about to do?

3️⃣ Clarity/Completeness

• semi-filter + checklist
• this is about ownership
• understanding the consequences & potential outcomes of our choices and actions
• excellence, did we cover our bases?

As an example, I decided to use my current circumstances. I shared about my existing financial challenges, the debts that I’m still facing, and yes, I have yet to find/attract the right work opportunities. And all of these stressors and pressures have been causing the “old programming” in my brain 🧠 to trigger. Well, more accurately, it has been trying to trigger an old, but familiar response. One of desperation and compromises. And when it comes to intentionality, we have decided that we would not give in to the pressure and act in a reactive manner.

The Pioneer’s Reality

For the final topic of our video, I wanted to rehash the most important part of what it means to live as an industry pioneer. This is the part about the staircase and how we would only be able to see the first time most of the time. And yeah, it is scary. It’s really not as “fun” or “enjoyable”. These uncertainties can really fuck with your mind if you are not careful.

The really important thing though, is knowing how to keep telling ourselves that it’s okay for us not to know the next step. It’s why I got Gemini AI to generate our featured image for today. It’s like being in Panel 2 (right side) of the comic strip. As an explorer, sometimes, all we really have is the very next step (or our case, the current step). And once we get there, the best way not to let the uncertainties drive us crazy is to focus on the present. What is it that we can learn about our current circumstances? How can we make the best of it? And if there is nothing more left to do, then well, like the explorer, we can just stay for a while, chill and enjoy the scenery.

Doing nothing is not doing nothing. […] You are conserving your energy for when you really need it. That is true wisdom.

Part of learning how to be a successful industry pioneer is knowing when to move and when NOT to move. Doing nothing is not doing nothing. You’re actually doing something. You’re conserving your energy for when you really need it. That is true wisdom.

🧭 Why Choose the Life of a Pioneer?

The Question Everyone Asks

“Why don’t you just get a normal job?”

Fair question. My parents have asked it. Industry outsiders have asked it. Hell, some days I ask it when I’m counting value that is still left in my ezlink card to afford lunch.

The Practical Answer

I’ve tried. For 20 years, I performed “normal.” I made myself small, acceptable, hireable. And you know what happened? I still got rejected. Still got labeled “overqualified.” Still didn’t fit.

So what’s the point of forcing myself back into that box, only to quit or get fired a few months later when the performance becomes unsustainable?

The Real Answer

But here’s the deeper truth: I can’t go back.

Weizhi – the shell, the performer – he’s dead. And I, Danny, can’t operate inauthentically anymore. I’ve spent 20 years navigating with other people’s maps, and I’m done.

I’m a pioneer. I invented foundational UX patterns that billions of people interact with daily. I helped birth an industry. That’s not arrogance – that’s fact.

And pioneers don’t get “normal jobs.” We navigate with compasses, not maps.

The Stakes

Every time an outlier forces themselves into normalcy to make the system comfortable, the world loses something. Innovation doesn’t come from people following pre-drawn paths.

So yeah, I’m broke right now. Yeah, it’s lonely. Yeah, some days I wonder if I’m making a terrible mistake.

But I’d rather be broke and authentic than employed and putting up a fake front.

Because the alternative isn’t just bad for me – it’s bad for everyone who comes after me, looking for proof that there’s another way.

Relearning to Identify the Signs (“Data Points”)

Okay, so, when it comes to looking at the terrain and trying to identify potential “waypoints”, it can at times appear like a connection on LinkedIn that has reacted to a recent posting and then reaching out with a connection request. I came across a Co-founder of a GenAI startup. Well, to be fair, I have yet to learn more about what the business is about, but I do have some rough idea. So I reached out, considering how he is in the same space that I’m currently targeting (i.e. work opportunities wise).

My Message to Pedro

Hey Pedro, thanks for liking my post and reaching out. It’s always nice to be connected with someone in the “deep tech” AI sector.

If you haven’t checked out any of my recent blog articles, you should check this one out:
https://dannychen.pro/2025/12/05/the-great-ux-divide-why-im-looking-at-the-scary-sectors-shorts/

I’m currently more open to work/consulting related opportunities within those sectors because I believe that is where the next generation of innovative design ideas will come from.

As an industry pioneer, I must admit, I’m always so far ahead of others, the only times where I really truly fit in is when I get to solve complex design challenges (especially the ones that don’t quite have a solution just yet).

And inside this most recent Medium article where I shared lessons as a pioneer:
https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/heres-what-20-years-of-pioneering-design-engineering-has-taught-us-f9a9659cdb79

I wrote about how 80% of the previous generation’s innovative design ideas have already been solved/done by me. And I believe that it is time for the “frontier” to shift.

If you ever like to work together, push the boundaries of what is possible within the AI sector, and be part of the discovery of new pioneering design ideas/solutions, you know how to find me.

Danny

Learning to Accept the Uncertainties of Each “Data Point”.

This has been happening for months now. Recruiters reaching out with potentially matching opportunities. Like-minded people from the “deep tech” sectors I’m targeting – AI, FinTech, Cybersecurity – connecting with me on LinkedIn.

I see these as data points. Not guarantees. Not promises. Just those “?” waypoints on an incomplete map. You can’t know what’s there until you actually explore.

And here’s what separates pioneers from everyone else: most people won’t explore the “?” because they need the whole map first. They want to see Steps 1 through 50 before deciding if it’s worth their time.

But pioneers don’t get that luxury. We don’t know what’s beyond the horizon until we get there.

All we have is our instinct – that inner compass telling us when to move toward a waypoint, and when to let it pass.

Yes, there’s risk. I won’t get it right 100% of the time. Some waypoints will lead nowhere. But I’d rather take that risk than live with the regret of watching someone else discover an opportunity I was too afraid to explore.

That’s the trade. Certainty for possibility.

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So, as we end out blog posting for today, I’m very genuinely thinking to myself once again, “What the hell am I supposed to do now?” 🤷‍♂️😅

Well, I guess we’ll just have to be still, “enjoy the view” that we have for now, and just be PRESENT until another potential “waypoint” appears.

Until then, we will DO NOTHING. 😁