With an 'always a student' mindset, I’m a product designer and a UX consultant who believes that while frameworks like IXD, HCI, and Lean offer guidance, every design challenge is unique. So, I use both theory and practical together to design solution.
For me, UX design isn't a defined process. It's a task where we define your own process - every, single, time. Sometimes, we won't have ideal use cases or a dedicated research team. We might have to create our own product requirements documents and advocate for users myself.
"Follow the principles, but don't be bounded by them" - Bruce Lee