I have Special Interests (pixel-perfect UIs, the overall ‘feel’ of software, old computers, obsolete media like floppies, useless machines, etc.) that my brain finds extremely stimulating and rewarding and I’m able to devote hours to creating things that scratch these itches. Unfortunately neither the job market, nor anyone else actually, sees beauty there where I see it and so they will not value it (that includes financially). Meanwhile, there are other things like machine learning or cell biology that my brain is also very well equipped for but I don’t spend time learning them because they don’t draw me to them the way my SIs do (I have ADHD so the stimulation level of activities is quite decisive). This is a handicap because it leaves me fixated on several irrelevant things which I did not choose. How do you guys deal with this?
Maybe I don’t quite get what exactly your brain is fixated on, but I think there’s a niche for your interest.
Idk where it is exactly, but for example Midi-Controllers for music production and performance are innovating a lot. You had normal keyboards, but then they did stuff like the OP-1 which has a very unique control surface and same goes for the ROLI keyboard or launchpads, which they kind of had to imagine out of thin air. Idk how well it translates tho.
I know depending on the software, real good innovative UI designs can be really expensive and there’s definitely a market for that as well. I’m looking at stuff like Apple’s iOS interface, but also web UI like bootstrap or Vue. It might be too new to scratch that itch, but the designs go through trend phases and everything old kinda becomes new again, do maybe there’s something there.
Now to give you a specific answer: I do music production as a hobby and software development as a day job. I just accepted that I will never make good money with my hobby and that that’s alright, because it moves the stress away from the things I love. And I’m also not that bad as a software developer, so that’s a plus. But to split up those things I’ve learned is a good thing, because you need hobbies, but if you make money with your hobby and you depend on it, eventually you have to start treating it as work, and that means you might not like it as much anymore and that would be sad.
So yeah, there might still be opportunities for you if you wanna work in the field of your special interest, but not working in that field can also be a really good decision, depending on how you think about it. That’s probably easier to say than to internalize or feel, but it is the way I have come to think about it.