Adding it all up: The math behind designing your career | Figma | Figma Blog
A career is less a predetermined trajectory than a collection of experiments, interests, and opportunities whose meaning becomes clearer in hindsight. Kylie Poppen argues that because work occupies roughly 90,000 hours of our lives, we should actively examine the patterns shaping our choices rather than assume a single “destiny.” Mathematical metaphors—scatterplots and Venn diagrams—offer tools for making more intentional career decisions. ## Careers as Scatterplots - People often describe careers as trend lines, connecting past experiences into a coherent narrative. - In reality, careers are lived as scatterplots: a series of moves between interests, jobs, and opportunities. - The next point cannot reliably be predicted from the current one; clarity usually comes only afterward. - Regularly reflecting on experiences can help reveal a more accurate career trajectory over time. - Work deserves careful consideration because it consumes about one-third of waking life and affects financial stability, purpose, frustration, pride, and identity. ## Finding Meaning Through Overlap - Venn diagrams illustrate how combining different interests can reveal unexpected possibilities and innovations. - Career choices do not need to force a decision between passion and practicality; meaningful work can emerge where hobbies, skills, and interests intersect. - Poppen’s childhood interest in designing posters with CorelDRAW, combined with her passions for storytelling, technology, and people, eventually pointed toward product design. - Her path was not direct: she explored recruiting, marketing, engineering, and project management before gaining the confidence to pursue design. - Mentorship and constructive feedback helped her see design as a craft developed through practice rather than an innate destiny. - Mapping personal interests can uncover overlooked career options and provide confidence to pursue a desired direction. A practical approach is to treat your career as an evolving set of data points, then look for recurring patterns and intersections among your interests, abilities, and experiences. This can lead to more fulfilling choices without requiring certainty about the final destination.
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