The context
you choose
Speaker
Line Hjartarson
Design engineer @ Aline
Curious about data, security and ethics.
What it connects, what it costs, who it leaves out.
Every box ticked
- Unicorn
- High salary
- Big title
It didn’t work for me
Took the year off to break the pattern
- BeforeA career that looked right on paper
- 2025A full year, mostly offline
- AfterDeciding what to measure instead
What I measure now
Two currencies
Every project gets scored twice: what it pays, and what it does to my energy.
Currency 01
Money
What a project pays.
Currency 02
Energy
What a project costs, or gives back.
Five filters, built from my own data
| Filter | Question |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | Do I like the people. |
| Excitement | Am I curious about the problem. |
| Flexibility | Does it fit around life. |
| Ownership | Do I control the outcome. |
| Sustainability | Can I do this for years. |
Example request
Nice team, good pay, fixed spec, one-off
Without the framework
- Moneygood pay
- Chemistrynot asked
- Excitementnot asked
- Flexibilitynot asked
- Ownershipnot asked
- Sustainabilitynot asked
Yes
With the framework
- Moneygood pay
- Chemistrynice team
- Excitementpure execution
- Flexibilityfixed spec
- Ownershipno creative input
- Sustainabilityone-off
No, or later
Example request
Nice team, good pay, fixed spec, one-off
Without the framework
- Moneygood pay
- Chemistrynot asked
- Excitementnot asked
- Flexibilitynot asked
- Ownershipnot asked
- Sustainabilitynot asked
Yes
With the framework
- Moneygood pay
- Chemistrynice team
- Excitementpure execution
- Flexibilityfixed spec
- Ownershipno creative input
- Sustainabilityone-off
No, or later
The framework makes “no” sayable
I’m still bad at saying it without one.
What it doesn’t know, it guesses
The tool isn’t magic, it’s a mirror
75–100%
of the images of engineers, scientists and mathematicians were men
UNDP 2023 · DALL·E 2 + Stable Diffusion
So I wrote it down
First, for me
- Money
- Energy
Chemistry, excitement, flexibility, ownership, sustainability
→ I stopped defaulting
Then, for the machine
who-i-am.mdmy-company.mdvalues.md
→ It stopped guessing
So I wrote it down
First, for me
- Money
- Energy
Chemistry, excitement, flexibility, ownership, sustainability
→ I stopped defaulting
Then, for the machine
who-i-am.mdmy-company.mdvalues.md
→ It stopped guessing
Then it grew
What it knows
How I work
What runs without me
They draft and flag, I decide.
Then I built my studio on it
Everyone here gets the same new tools
39%
of workers’ core skills are expected to change by 2030
World Economic Forum · Future of Jobs Report 2025
Same model
Same tools, different outcome
Taken as it comes
Generic by default. You get what everyone gets.
Approached your way
Specific by design. You get what you built.
What does your AI tool think it knows about you?
“Based on everything you know about me, describe me to a stranger. Then mark which parts I actually told you, and which parts you filled in yourself.”
The thing that doesn’t expire
Knowing what you know and what you value
Thank you
aline.noin/linehjartarson