as a UX designer / product engineer, it's easier for me to jump into a nosql than to wire up a postgres instance for a small proof of concept project that I know won't really go anywhere
Unless you mean for solo projects? In that case, it may work for you, but if you're not a database expert, it makes sense you would work around your limitations. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a best practice.
All my proof of concept (and some production) stuff just uses that until I need features or concurrency that it can’t provide.