How do I know my work matters when I'm always overruled?

You fight to get the user's voice into a room that would rather move on without it. When opinion and deadlines win anyway, you start to ask whether any of it mattered. That question is heavy, and it deserves an honest answer. Impact is rarely the clean thing we hope for. You may never see the full result of insisting that a real person's needs be considered. But the room is different because you were in it. Some idea landed. Some bad choice was softened. That counts, even when no one says so. Do not measure yourself only by the fights you win. Measure yourself by whether you kept telling the truth about the people you serve. Keep a short list of moments your work clearly changed something. Read it when you doubt. Then go back and say the true thing again. That steadiness is your impact, even when it is quiet.