Workplace reviews and discussion: UIUX_Cafe_碩太網路有限公司

1. The company encourages employees to purchase books related to design, and all such purchases can be reimbursed.

2. Flexible working hours and flexible lunch breaks; there is no specifically designated break time, so you can take a break when you get tired. (See item 4 below for the drawbacks this brings.)

3. All necessary software is provided, and each person has an iMac in terms of hardware.

4. Everyone is a designer, so our ideas are similar and we can quickly reach agreement; almost everyone is also female.

5. The boss has their own firm principles regarding design. For newcomers, having a system to follow is helpful and makes it possible to get up to speed quickly. However, if you start to have different ideas, or if you already have experience, you will need to adapt to that system.

1. Limited scope and limited growth

Everyone is a designer, so there are no opportunities to interact with people in other positions. Communication with the client contact is limited, and because that person is a client rather than one's own colleague, things are almost always done however the other party says. This hinders growth. Also, because communication is inconvenient, it is not possible to discuss the product with engineers or learn how to improve one's designs from a development perspective. You can only learn business-oriented or design-oriented perspectives.

2. The boss evaluates employees based on personal preferences

The boss's preferences are obvious and are reflected in their attitude toward work. The entire company can tell whom the boss currently likes and dislikes, and the differences in how employees are treated are quite large. Those the boss likes can joke around with them and take on important positions; those they dislike are subjected to nitpicking and being ignored, or even dismissed.

The boss often invites employees to talk negatively about other employees: saying they are not serious, inefficient, or incapable at their work. However, when asked about the specific reasons they are not doing well, the answers become vague and the topic is hastily ended, seriously affecting employees' emotions.

The reasons for losing points or becoming disliked that I have heard include: liking video games too much; not obediently following the boss's design instructions (this is somewhat backwards in terms of cause and effect, because once the boss starts disliking someone, if that employee has doubts about a design proposal from the boss and hopes to discuss it, the boss considers it opposition or defiance and dislikes the employee even more); doing an assigned task poorly (the person in question was a woman who had only been there a few days and had little work experience; she was later dismissed); and having overly dirty fingernails.

It is unavoidable for people to have preferences, and there may not be many supervisors who can completely set aside preferences and biases. However, the situation here is too serious, ranging from being scolded a few times, to affecting the work atmosphere, to being dismissed.

3. Nothing is explained clearly

Although the boss says verbally that employees can request any benefits they want, that all government-designated holidays will be given, that employees can start work at any time, and that lunch hours are not regulated, the reality is that if you actually do these things or request the benefits you want, the boss will think you are lacking common sense and having it too easy. After that, they will start criticizing you for not being serious enough or not improving quickly enough, saying that a startup is not just about benefits and that everyone needs to work hard together, and so on. Your original requests will sink without a trace, and you will lose many points in the boss's impression of you.

I feel that if the boss wants employees to act according to their expectations, they should set out rules and limitations. Those who stay will naturally follow them, rather than having everyone constantly guess each other's intentions, accidentally stepping on a landmine, and then being criticized behind their back or even fired. This was truly the most exhausting thing for me during my time there.

I once proposed my ideas but was rejected. The boss said that they simply did not want to establish explicit rules. When I pressed for the reason, the topic was hastily ended, and no specific reason was explained. I guess that it looks better on the surface this way: they can say that their company is very free and does not restrict employees, or something like that. That is just my observation.

If a newcomer proactively brings up salary before joining, the boss will think, “Why is this person only thinking about money instead of focusing on ideal things such as their ideas about the work and their future outlook?” and deduct points from their first impression.

4. No standard for raises; everything depends on subjective impressions

As mentioned above, the extent to which points are deducted affects the size of your raise. There is no standardized scale explaining why an employee is paid a particular salary; everything is decided according to the boss's mood and preferences.

5. So much pressure; employees are seen as useless

When the boss's work pressure becomes increasingly intense, they spread that negative energy to employees. They feel that they are working so hard for the employees, but that the employees do not know it, have things too easy, and only think about benefits (as mentioned above). Without realizing it, they expect employees to do things outside their actual work and spend time outside working hours helping the company.

6. Looking at messages while acting as if it is completely justified

The boss has looked at employees' private Facebook messages, and not just once. Although they apologized verbally afterward, their actions showed no sign of genuine remorse. They even complained to others that being a boss is pitiful: despite working so hard, they still have to read employees' complaints about them in Facebook messages. (If they really thought invading someone else's privacy was wrong, they probably would not proactively tell others that they had done it.)

7. Motivational speeches

The boss constantly says, “You need to try harder” and “You need to grow faster,” but does not offer any concrete plan for how to improve quickly. Moreover, this improvement only counts if the boss can see it—for example, staying at the company a little longer after work or writing more articles for the company to publish. In short, the boss needs to feel that you are helping the company before they recognize it.