Punchkick Interactive Reviews

• Lack of explanation from management regarding role and requirements I applied for the available Product Designer role and made it known that I was at the level of a mid-level product designer. However, I was placed in a senior product designer position with no knowledge of my position and was expected to perform at that level and higher. There was little guidance, instruction, and support in this role, and when doing everything I could with little instruction, I was belittled and questioned about the decisions I made. If I did something different than what a design team member imagined in their mind, they often challenged my decisions and approaches. Then, after defending my work and explaining how it would benefit the users of Punchkick’s clients, the designs were deemed wrong and incorrect. • Lack of support and trust from management and performance coaches Punchkick prides itself on the close-knit teams that they like to call a family and their flat-level management, which results in managers being called "performance coaches." Performance coaches hold a sense of entitlement in teams and on projects. Some of these individuals on the design team would withhold and gatekeep information and knowledge required for the success of projects and team members beneath them. This led to future issues with projects and nonstop work after finding out about unshared requirements or not aligning with a design team member’s thought process. One of the members that are higher up on the design team is hesitant to trust other designers on the team with work, and when the designs do not fall in line with precisely what is envisioned, the designs would often be turned down. This caused designs to need to be recreated, extra work time put in that was often hidden or dark work, and multiple changes to be made. Punchkick team members say they work a 40-hour week, but there are hundreds of hidden hours put towards the work done behind closed doors. When asking questions on how to move forward on designs that were turned down by higher-ups on the team, there was often not enough time to discuss the specific projects and requirements with management before the sprint deadline. There was no guidance; the only response I was met with was a passive-aggressive suggestion to figure it out. • Meeting heavy days with a lack of work-life balance I moved to Punchkick from a role with no work-life balance. During the interview process, the team at Punchkick prided themselves on their consciousness of work-life balance. They ensured that there would be no hidden work outside of some busier days where you may need to stay online for 30 more minutes than regular. This wasn't the case; there was absolutely no work-life balance, and I often worked 18-20 hour days only to be questioned about the work I did during the hidden overtime. Employees typically hid away the extra work they had to complete. Even though the team was “offline” on Slack, most team members were available and online into the early morning hours, working many hours, especially after hours. While at Punchkick, I worked and was stuck inside for more hours than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every morning began with a 30-minute meeting about what the team did the night before. It was a terrible way to start work and a meeting nobody wanted to attend. However, it was a mandatory meeting. Each day also consisted of long and drawn-out meetings where little was accomplished. There was hardly any time to work during the day between meetings. Some more important meetings, such as retros, typically lasted over three hours for a team of 8 as opposed to hour-long retros that I’ve been part of on much larger teams. • Lack of forward-thinking The design tech stack used at Punchkick is behind the industry standard. Any suggestions or improvements are swiftly shot down. When questioned about future opportunities to extend and expand the design tech stack, one of the higher-up designers shut down these questions. There is no insight into when the design team at Punchkick will get back up to speed with the industry. While Punchkick may say they want to move fast and break things, the teams within the company would much prefer to be slotted into a comfortable space that provides them with success on the few projects they are barely holding onto.