Let’s clear the air about a few things.

First, I never said that UX’ers were STUPID. In fact, I implied quite the opposite. UX’ers are freakin’ brilliant. I love them. Hugs, and all that.

(Don’t put words in my mouth. See, I say enough stuff that confuses people without outsiders clouding the waters.)

By the way, to set the record straight, most marketing folks are dumb as rocks. Big, stupid rocks.

Those big, stupid rocks don’t mind being stupid as long as they make a lot of money. And, they don’t mind getting smacked around a little. In fact, it’s part of The Angry Monkey Game.

By the way, let’s clear up something else –

UX’ers *do* make good money. I don’t question THAT…

The numbers don’t lie. A blind man can see that. So, I don’t deny that UX’ers can make a good living. My point is that they have a hell of a time making a GREAT living.

Allow me to use some fancy pants words: UX’ers have a limited ability to make extraordinary income. UX’ers don’t tend to get crazy bonuses. They don’t tend to get paid on commission. They’re income is linear not exponential. Put another way, UX’ers get paid for their time, not their true bottom line VALUE.

The high end compensation ain’t there.

** Ouch. **

The market says this, not me. Throw turds at me if you want but you’re just throwing turds at capitalism. Good luck.

But all that is kind of boring. Here’s what really matters…

And, this keeps us on topic…

UX’ers tend to look inward. UX’ers are naturally introspective. And, they’re mostly a passive lot. Fight this if you want, but UX’ers tell me this. They validate this every time shuffle around and stare at their feet in social situations. Most UX’ers are wallflowers. Most UX’ers are deep thinkers — they care about other people, but at arms length.

Nothing’s wrong with that, and look, I don’t have an incentive to make this stuff up. I’m not slamming UX’ers, if that’s what some of you might be thinking. Hell, I am a UX’er 50% of the time. Or more. I’m not going to poop on myself that much. What I’m doing is spitting out a stereotype that most UX’ers will agree with, if they have the guts to do a self assessment.

‘Nuff said.

OK, next. Let’s do a little contrasting –

Marketing and sales folks look OUTWARD. The Angry Monkey is an engine of creation because he sees the world for what it is — brutally competitive but also full of opportunity. The Angry Monkey sees people in the world as PROSPECTS not USERS.

Sales and Marketing folks focus on building value for *customers* and then extracting cash.

Sales and marketing folks are highly focused on money. Yeah, I’m saying they’re much more greedy than UX’ers. (How controlversial.) They’re ANGRY they don’t have more money. Well, maybe not “angry” but they tend to care an awful lot about the cash. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

That’s also why they call bullshit so often…

I suppose I could give some personal examples of how the Angry Monkey is different than the average UX’er. But, that would be rather disingenious. Plus, I don’t kiss and tell. How freakin’ rude. If you, my dear reader, cannot see the difference between the Angry Monkey and the UX’er, then you need to leave a comment and get it off your chest.

~ John S. Rhodes

p.s. Let me know (publicly of privately) if you want me to talk more about marketing. I’d be happy to share.