Ten years, it’s a long time. Aspirations of what you’ll be doing in ten years could be absolutely anything. I personally look to the things which I’d like to have achieved in ten years time and a few of these are; authoring a book, speaking more frequently and having multiple businesses. In ten years time I’ll be 36 and while I think it is a long way off there will be one day when I think it has gone way too fast, so by the time I am forty I want to achieve as much as I can. I wanted to know about other 10 year plans and asked some awesome people from the web community about what thoughts they had for the future.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time, what would you like to achieve?
I consider myself to be an ambitious person, which makes answering this all the more difficult. In 10 years I’ll be 32, and I see myself having taken my current business to new heights, as well as having started up another business more in line with my personality. But variety truly is the spice of life, and I’d like to dabble in many things alongside that. In the future I’d love to get involved with presenting in a video game niche, as well as keep myself busy with various web projects as I continue to learn Ruby. Basically, I see myself doing quite a few things. Life will never be boring.
On a personal note, I definitely see myself happily settled with Daniel Craig and our beautiful babies, which we very much enjoyed making. Ahem.
That’s a question to which I don’t want to know the answer. What I love so much about this business is you don’t know what you’ll be doing next.
Also: I’m not much of a 10-year plan guy. I don’t plan, I wait and see. If there’s one thing I want to do some day, it must be teaching. Teaching people the right way to make a website is very satisfying, and I’d love to teach the next generation everything I was lucky enough to learn myself.
In ten years time I would want to be doing what I love on my own terms. I love talking, and writing about design, the design process, and the practical aspects of working in the design industry, so it would be awesome to be speaking on these topics and or contributing to books on them. To sum it “doing what I love on my own terms, and spending more time with the people I love (family, and friends).
I really have no idea where I’ll be in 10 years. I don’t see that far into the future. However, I would hope by then I will be able start my foundation to help fund causes that I believe in. I always said the worth of a man is not how much he makes, it’s how much he gives. I hope in 10 years, I will be able to give more than I’ve ever dreamed possible.
I see myself working at home full time dedicated to web design and other design trends (industry design), together with my wife doing some illustrations i normally use in my webdesigns. I would love to start up my own design studio, and have a less stressed life.
In 10 years time I would hope that Headscape will still be going strong. However, I would like to see its daily operation less reliant on myself and the other directors. This would free up my time to develop personal projects and maybe even have a life beyond the web. I have been working with the web since 1994 and although it has been an incredibly exciting ride I am not sure I see myself developing websites forever.
Thanks for your note. I appreciate your request, but I’m afraid I’ll not be able to provide very good fare. I’m already doing what I’ve wanted to work toward. I own a nice design agency and work with great people who do excellent work. So, I’m good; mission accomplished. I see perhaps adding one or two more agency partners over the next few years, but as far as plans …I’m not looking for much in the way of change. I certainly want to be doing better work in 10 years, but I’ve already achieved what I set out to achieve.
I have no idea where I’ll be in 10 years. Every time I try and answer this question, I end up being wrong, so my answers get more and more vague.
I’d like to be in charge of something – most probably a startup. I’ve been setting myself up to run a startup for some time now – I just haven’t figured out what to do. Ideally I’ll be working with a small team, and having a lot of fun. I certainly hope I’m not working in a cubicle somewhere, for somebody else, developing Death March software and hating it. I don’t know where I’ll have to be to make this happen – possibly San Fransisco or London.
In my opinion, it’s a very difficult question to answer – as soon as you start deciding, you begin to limit your options. Ten years ago, I’d never have expected to be living in the UK, or even working in this industry. So far I’ve played it by ear, and it seems to have worked out fine. As long as I can be flexible enough to jump at opportunities, things should be okay!
In 10 years, I’d like to be making annual trips around the world working as a volunteer for understaffed schools and orphanages. I really admire the people who are able to organize projects that allow the world as a community to help each other (a kind of organization I’ll never be able to achieve), and it’s something I think would be very interesting to be more involved in. Of course, I’d like to still be working on the side with various blog projects like UX Booth, Tutorial9, and Better Blogger.
Ten years time, that’s a far way away, that’s about half my life!
I would say there are a few things that spring to mind, career wise; the mose basic goal would certainly be to have a stable, scalable business; be it in themes, site development or anything else which Obox ventures into in the coming years. I don’t need a sport scar or a mansion, if I have a house with a garden and a business which gives me enough time to ride/run/chill in the day, work in the mornings and evenings, then I’ll be happy.
In 10 years time I would still like to see myself primarily designing websites, but working more on logo and print work running a small design agency or online business.
I hope to have my work featured in a publication such as .net or a book at some point, and for it to be well received within the web community.
No idea, my goal is to enjoy the process of gettin there but I am a reActionary businessman and don’t make predicitions or have jar thoughts where I will be.
In ten years I hope I’ll be traveling around the world and answering emails from my laptop on some airport wireless internet access. Though I see no reason for not doing this now, I’m not sure I want to wait 10 years to be where I want to be and go where I want to go. I will surely still be designing websites but probably work more on personal projects rather than client projects.
In 10 years time, if all goes to plan, I hope to be primarily focusing on raising a family. It’s a tad old-fashioned, I know, but I was fortunate to have had a stay-at-home mom and I’ve always wanted to be as involved with my children. This doesn’t mean I’d abandon web design altogether – just schedule projects in a way that will allow me to maintain a nice balance between work and family. That’s if all goes to plan.
My Plan B is to really focus on my career, get a few big name clients under my belt after which I would speak in peer conferences, teach college classes and/or write a book.
In ten years I’d like to be at a point where I am able to do some traveling, see parts of the world that I’ve never seen before and spend time with my family. Running my own business is fun and I’d like to continue doing that as well, creating and defining user experience on the web and beyond. I’m positive in 10 years the “Internet” will have evolved to the point where it’s rarely just a mouse and keyboard, but rather a window into other parts of the world. I want to be heavily involved in that.
It’s pretty hard to imagine where I will be in ten years time, or even to imagine what I’d like to be doing. A career in web design ten years ago would be a completely different scenario than what it is now, so who knows what the industry will be like in another ten into the future?!
With that said, I’ve recently moved myself into a position where I’m supporting myself working as a self employed person doing something I love, so I can only hope this will continue into the future. It would be awesome to be able to lead a fulfilling life from a mix of blogging and design projects that offers plenty of exciting work while also allowing for personal time to head off and do whatever I like!
In ten years. Well, let me think about where I was on this day ten years ago first. Okay, I got it, I was in my third semester at Colorado State University, a year before I left for England, and I was totally dissatisfied with my art education. I thought then, that commercial art was a form of selling out to the man. I like beer and raising a family, so I’m a little more open minded now.
So, ten years? Sheesh! I have no idea where I’ll be in ten years, but I can say a few things I dream about. I dream about starting a school/agency that builds young people up into powerful thinkers, designers, citizens, and provides quality services and products to the design industry and the world at large. I dream about having opportunities to work on projects that change people, change institutions, and help people grow. I’d like to be a fun dad, and a kick ass husband. I’d like have written a book or two.
All the stuff I wanted to do ten years ago, now seems wimpy though. I’ve done and seen so much more than I thought I would, and the smallest things ended up being the most important. It’s not easy for me to answer a question like this with a simple “I’d like to have made my first million”, though that’d be nice too 
When I look back on my life in 10 years’ time, I’d love to see that I had been slowly improving myself on a daily basis during those 10 years. Fact is, I’m an entrepreneur and I’ll most probably (touch wood) be involved in a few businesses in the next 10 years; so my only goal relating to my “career” is to be successful enough not to ever have to go back to back to full-time employment.
Beyond that, improving & challenging myself is much more important, as I know that those two things will mean that I’ll be happy with my life in 10 years’ time.
Without a doubt I would still be working in the creative industry, but focused on writing while perhaps pursuing photography on a more professional level. While I love web design and development I am becoming extremely passionate about developing my knowledge and skills as a writer and blogger and I’ve recently become obsessed with photography (having bought my first DSLR this year).
Ideally in the future I would like to be a published author within the design sector as well as exhibiting my work as a photographer. I would also hope in 10 years to still be publishing online and be heavily involved within the web community.
My thoughts on where I will be in 10 years are diverse as I hope I will have several creative outlets that constantly challenge and inspire me. If that’s the case then I know i will be both happy and fulfilled.
It’s no secret that us humans are creatures of learning and I’m know different. I love expanding my knowledge on every subject possible (yet still fare badly in pub quizzes and IT-Boxes). As a result of this, I hope that in ten years time I’ve managed to expand upon my knowledge of the web and related technologies and practices. And a pay rise or two.
At the moment, I work as a web developer, mainly developing websites in HTML/CSS and building applications with PHP and MySQL. In ten years time, I would like to be proficient in at least two more server-side/programming languages. Ruby on Rails strikes me as one of those that’s good to know. Java and .NET are also alluring to me, but I feel those are a definitely a step up from my good ol’ trusty PHP.
Right now I seem to be at a bit of a crossroads, where in ten years I can see myself following two different paths. My original goal was always to make a career of being an in-house graphic designer, whether through a private company (like my current position) or with an agency. Following that path, in ten years I would like to be in an art/creative director position, being part of a team of like-minded creative people all working together to produce an exceptional and beautiful product, whether it be literature or software or art. Recently, however, I’ve also been able to see myself accomplishing a different, but similar, goal, that of the successful freelancer. The freedom, variety, and independence that it offers are very alluring to me. Communicating as often as I do with people who are making it work being their own boss and calling the shots makes me believe that it’s a great opportunity. And in the end, if the freelance path is successful, I may end up with a team to work with and rely on. What this means to me is that it’s not so much specifically where I am that is an important goal for me, but that creativity, collaboration, excellence, and teamwork are abstract goals that no matter where I end up in ten years, I want to make happen.
I never thought it would be such a tricky question…it’s definitely got my brain ticking!! I LOVE the freelance world and feel quite content with being a one (wo)man band. I’ve never been one to plan so far in advance and i’m still learning a lot about who i am and about our industry. I love designing for the web and hope to continue doing what i love for many years to come. I plan to start working with more freelancers and design agencies and focus on what i know best, setup a few personal projects helping others and reflecting on my experiences, travel more, continue to work along side my husbands business and most of all, enjoy myself in the process!
In ten years I see myself still running FUEL and not working for anyone else but myself. I know that’s a long time from now, however there are so many possibilities and growth to be had that I won’t be able to stop until I have achieved all of my personal goals as well as company goals. (Currently finishing up a solid year one). We have many more additions to the publishing (Fuel Brand Network) side of Fuel Brand Inc. as well as some non-profit goals and teaching through conferences & workshops. Maybe catch up with me in ten years?
Thanks to all who were involved in this post, if you’d like to be featured in future posts, drop me an email with a little bit about yourself.
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