How can a UX designer successfully pass an interview at a top company? What questions are asked in startup interviews? What You Need to Work Well to Get Hired Graphic Designer Interview

Interviewing a job applicant is not an easy job. And often a lot of stress for the person being interviewed. During the interview, a variety of questions are asked, often unexpected for those who are looking for a job. And if some questions of a general nature can be prepared in advance, then this is definitely worth doing. A few years ago, conversations about user experience began among designers and marketers, and around the same time arose new profession- UX designer. For recruiters, this profession is still a mystery, as it is not always possible to formulate the right questions for the person who will be engaged in user experience design. UX has no specific outlines, it is difficult to arrange it in the form of a portfolio, which is why interview problems arise. However, there are seven basic questions that allow you to understand whether a person is suitable for the position of a UX designer or not.

What is UX Design? Can you elaborate on how user experience design is created?

This is a general question that is best asked at the very beginning of the interview. It helps to find out if the candidate has an understanding of what UX is and how to create it. You need to understand that the answers to this question can be very different. The interviewer may completely disagree with the applicant's point of view, but in the case of UX, this does not mean at all that he is right.

What answer would suit a recruiter? Although this is a general question, it is better not to give general answers to it. A job applicant needs to find a specific definition that will show exactly what area of ​​UX he is a specialist in. If a person who really understands UX design comes to the interview, it will not be difficult for him to explain the principles of creating user experience on the most simple examples. If the designer starts to use terms, then it makes sense to interrupt him and ask him to talk about UX in such a way that even a ten-year-old child can understand it.

There should be some structure to the answers to the question about creating user experience. Here's what a UX designer should talk about when they show up for an interview:

  • User audience research
  • Ease of use of the product
  • Information architecture
  • User interface design
  • interactive design
  • Experience Creation Strategy

Useful advice. The applicant needs to focus on a definition of UX that is based on empathy and an understanding of how important design is to people. A significant part of the work of a UX designer is related to the collection and analysis of feedback, so this should be emphasized.

What is your design process? Describe the design methods you use

What will help clarify this question? First of all, how experienced the applicant is. If he already has successful UX cases, he will be happy to talk about them.

A designer who wants to talk about their design process should start by describing typical approaches and describe how well those approaches have worked in their past projects. In UX, as in other types of design, there are basic principles and the applicant must be aware of them. The story of design methods should be consistent: the idea, the opportunity, the process, the successes and mistakes in the work, and finally the completion of the project. History must be accompanied concrete examples, any action of the designer should have a visible effect, so these answers are very important for the interviewer.

Useful advice. It will help a UX designer a lot if he touches on such aspects of work as:

  • Audience research. Methods that were used and why it was decided to use them
  • User portrait. What was the process of defining a "character". How many categories of potential users were identified in the course of research
  • User flows and route map
  • Prototyping and prototyping tools
  • Metrics and Analytics
Describe your approach to working with other designers? How do you interact with developers and managers?

This question allows the interviewer to understand whether the applicant will be able to accept the cultural code that exists in the company. Design is a team effort and a UX designer needs to know how to most effectively communicate their ideas to the other professionals who work with them on the project.

For the UX designer himself, this question is one of the most difficult. The fact is that each team member looks at the project from his own point of view, and the designer needs to be able to find the right approach to each specialist. It would be best to talk about the ability to understand the motives for the actions of each member of the team. Developers, product managers and designers will bring their own original ideas and if the applicant shows that he is able to listen to them all, the chances that he will get the job will increase significantly.

How to determine what functionality a product needs?

What does the interviewer need to find out? He needs to understand how creative the designer thinks, whether he can make the right decision if he has several options at his disposal. This is a very difficult question, since in this case everything depends on the context. If it's about software, then we can talk about how the minimum viable product is created.

In case the product already exists, the hiring specialist should focus on the basic principles of promotion. Before discussing specific functionality, you need to know how business goals and user needs fit together.

Useful advice. The UX designer in this part of the interview should show that he has a good idea of ​​what a user audience is and what goals users are pursuing. You should also dwell on the functions in detail and describe how important this or that functionality is and what user problems it solves. At the same time, we must not forget that any product is created for a specific purpose, most often for profit, so when talking about the value for users, one must not forget about business goals.

Tell us about the project you are most proud of

By asking this question, the interviewer can find out what are the strengths and weak sides job applicant. This part of the interview is quite easy, it allows you to take a break and talk about pleasant things. However, the answers to this question will help the interviewer learn a lot about the UX designer. Talking about your most best projects, he will demonstrate how he thinks creatively and how he interacts with other team members.

Useful advice. It’s best for a UX designer talking about their successes not to get carried away, as the interviewer asked this seemingly simple question for a reason. The fact is that he can get a lot of valuable information without asking anything directly. So it is better to describe successful cases truthfully and not exaggerate your own contribution to the project. Since there is no mention of UX in the question, in the course of the story, you can touch on various points that are somehow related to creating a positive user experience.


Tell us about projects that had UX issues

This is not the most pleasant question for a person who appears for an interview and the interviewer needs to ask it as tactfully as possible. The question is very important, as it allows you to understand whether the designer is able to critically evaluate his work. Most applicants will be evasive, but that's okay.

Useful advice. If a UX designer wants to get a job, they should by no means be told that they have never had unsuccessful projects. Mistakes and problems accompany any work and you need to take it easy. The most important thing is how the designer handles the challenges. The ideal response for the interviewer would be one that includes honest example an unsuccessful case, which tells why something went wrong and what was done to fix the error.

What trends do you think will dominate UX design?

This question allows you to understand how well the designer imagines the development of UX. Undoubtedly, new trends will constantly appear in this area and the designer must be ready for future challenges. What responses should be expected? At a minimum, the designer should talk about new prototyping tools that will help simplify the work of developers and other team members. Also, the applicant can mention the simplification of the design and increase its accessibility for all categories of users.

Useful advice. If a UX designer can speak persuasively about trends in interface design, as well as developments in areas such as augmented and virtual reality, he will demonstrate that he really thinks about the future of UX.

Instead of a conclusion

It may seem unusual that the ubiquitous question “Why should we hire you” does not appear on this list? The thing is, a UX designer might not have an answer for it. This is a new profession, in which there are no exact criteria for evaluating a specialist. A designer can tell a lot of interesting things about himself, but he can only understand how valuable he is as a team member by starting to work on a project.

Head of UX Development at ChooseEnergy.com Michael Owens discussed with the best designers in the world how to choose from all the candidates for the position of the most-most designer. We publish key aspects of the discussion.

Finding a good designer is hard. Very hard. Although almost every company needs them, there are no established ways to evaluate candidates. Many executives themselves have extensive design experience, but the same cannot be said about their managerial skills.

Recently, Remind lead designer Lindsey Mindler asked in her post how to build a team. She received excellent advice, including from very experienced design managers. She was told exactly who should be hired and where to find such specialists. The discussion was great, but left one question unresolved:

“Here we found a bunch of designers applying for the position. How can we choose the right one now?

Jonathan, a friend of mine, and I are part of a dim sum (Chinese snack) group run by John Maeda of the KPCB. Over time, our Sunday design team leader meetings began to move from Chinese restaurants to Slack. Of course, a virtual conversation will not replace a personal meeting, but this way you can involve many more specialists in the discussion. Once a week we host discussions about careers in design. Each such meeting is led by a new pair of professionals. A month ago, it was me and Jonathan Lieberman, chief designer of Operator.com, who were interested in discussing the methodology for hiring specialists in our field.

Employment criteria

The evaluation of a design candidate is based on a number of criteria. It seems that they fall into two main categories: criteria for everyone in general and separately for managers.

For everyone - communication skills

We've come back to speaking time and time again, but MyFitnessPal Design Director Dave Young reminded us that "presentation skills are important, but can sometimes be misleading."

This is important because it is an indicator of how a person communicates, but memorized speech should not be confused with live communication. To find out if the candidate is capable of improvisation, he can be interrupted by questions. The ability to present the results of your work well is important for joint work within the organization.

Erika Hall, founder of Mule Design, says:

“You need to look at how the candidate presents the work, how he poses the problem, how he sees his role in the project. This allows you to evaluate not only the quality of the solution and design skills, but also personal qualities - whether a person will fit well into an interdisciplinary team or does he see himself as a lone wolf narrow specialization».

Response from Peter Chow, Vice President of Inkling.com:

“Also, it will be helpful to watch the candidate present the design to a group of viewers and pay attention to the progress story.”

For everyone - the ability to solve problems

These skills were mentioned even more often. Jeffrey Veen, now in charge of product development at Adobe, once wrote that "good design is problem solving." Most design team leaders are quite aware of this, as participants' responses show.

Bob Baxley, lead designer at Pinterest, offers an interesting twist. To see how the candidate breaks down the solution into its component parts and examines the conditions, it is enough to ask one question:

“I am ready to give you one of two superpowers. It will stay with you for the rest of your life, and no one else in the world will have it. The ability to fly or invisibility - what will you choose?

For everyone - enthusiasm

When evaluating a candidate's key design skills, make sure they really want to get the job. The effectiveness of a specialist is his interest plus professional skills.

Jonathan Lieberman:

“I don’t want to hire a person who came for a salary. I would like the candidate to be interested in solving the problems we are working on. If there is no enthusiasm, a person will not give all the best. And it will have a bad effect on the whole team.”

Everyone is responsible

One of the qualities that can be very difficult to assess in an interview is the ability to take responsibility, including in a team environment. It is worth paying attention to how the candidate describes his personal contribution to the projects in which he took part.

Lindsey Mindler:

“It is useful to interrupt the presentation from time to time with questions that require thoughtful and detailed answers. This will allow you to understand whether the candidate is missing some details simply because they seem obvious to him, or avoids talking about some part of the project that he does not understand enough.

Bob Baxley:

“Often, the client is blamed for the wrong decision, being unable to explain his point of view and the reasons that led to this result.”

When it comes to an experienced designer, it happens that there are no doubts about his professional skills, and recommendations become an important evaluation criterion. They allow you to learn other points of view on the work of the applicant, in addition to his own.

Apple designer Johnny Manzari:

“When it comes to a candidate for a senior specialist position, there is usually no reason to doubt the required skills, so tests are not required. Then we immediately move on to the portfolio and references.

When weighing references, it can be helpful to ask the referee about their relationship with the candidate, about their shared work experience, and also ask how they evaluate the prospect of working with this employee in the future.

For managers - guidance

When hiring a design team manager, it is very important to hire someone who will be able to lead and maintain continuous contact with development or production. Every team needs a leader, and if yours is large enough to require a manager, it makes sense to spend time evaluating the candidate's leadership qualities.

Head of UX Development at Google Stefan Klotzek:

“Look how it works. If this is a manager, pay attention to how he leads the creation of the design: what questions does he ask, what does he focus on, does he know the business or can he only manage others?

Assessment Methods

So, the criteria for evaluating the candidate are set. What are the mechanisms? During the discussion, we identified three main methods: portfolio analysis, panel interviews (when the applicant is interviewed by several specialists at once) and test tasks.

Portfolio evaluation

When reviewing a portfolio, it is important to understand that a designer's ability is not fully characterized by results. But after seeing these results and hearing how they were achieved, the employer can get an idea of ​​how the candidate sees the problems, how he organizes his workflow, and what can be expected from him.

Stefan Klotzek:

“We need to figure out: what was the role of the candidate in a particular work, what justified this or that decision, what had to be sacrificed, what did the project teach, what would the designer have done differently over time?”

Almost everyone believes that a designer needs a portfolio, even if they are not involved in the visual side of the project. Those who hold a different opinion, as a rule, did not speak about it directly. Rather, they pointed to the shortcomings of certain types of portfolios. For example, many designers are engaged in all sorts of interactivity, and then a portfolio consisting of screenshots is obviously not enough. It is best to ask the candidate to show live, working projects.

Erica Hall:

“When it comes to creating interactive products and services, a typical portfolio is almost meaningless. It's like giving an Oscar for some scenes from a movie."

Recently, high-level portfolios have begun to shift towards case studies rather than just a selection of works. As a rule, in this case, it tells about the process, ways to solve the problem and what difficulties they had to face.

Panel interview

This is usually a key stage of hiring, and often it is at the end of which a decision is made. It is quite difficult to organize such an interview properly, and this is the most important task for the HR manager.

The composition of the panel also needs to be selected wisely. Some design managers advocate their own panel for each job they are looking for, others advocate a one-size-fits-all approach. Remember that consistency is important in this business. Changing the composition of the panel from candidate to candidate is a bad idea.

Jonathan Lieberman:

"I collect the same composition of the panel for each open vacancy. I need everyone who is evaluating a candidate to be thoughtful and consistent. For designers who do not participate in the panel (and our team has grown to 10 people), there is a “bench” - they take the candidate to lunch. In this way, they also meet with him and feel like a part of the process, although they are not directly present at the interview.

In Choose Energy, I have compiled several panels for different types vacancies. Some members of our team are included in several panels, others only in one. It is important to ensure that people who are directly involved in the assessment of the candidate can make a tangible contribution to this assessment. Collaboration is not only about creating a product, but also about the hiring process.

However, be careful not to overdo it during the panel interview. Stefan Klotzek noted that very often when you go through several successive interviews, “you are asked the same questions or you are chased through the portfolio over and over again.”

Others cite candidate fatigue in subsequent interviews. In general, everyone agrees that 30 minutes for one interview is too short, and an hour is too long. My final face-to-face interview panel is four hours long, broken down into four 45-minute interviews.

So, what does the hiring manager discuss with the interview candidate? In different companies, this set is somewhat different, but it can be reduced to four important aspects:

  • Career prospects

Most often, interviews are asked about long-term career goals and goals for the specific position for which the candidate is applying.

Bob Baxley:

“Let’s imagine that after three years we are back in this room and you say you are leaving. You quit, come home and write a 3-5 item list to describe your experience in this job for your LinkedIn profile - what you did and what you learned. What will that list be?

Dave Young:

“What would you like to see on your fitness tracker profile in two years?”

Jonathan Lieberman:

"What are the top three lessons you'll learn from working at Company X?"

From the interview it is difficult to understand whether the candidate works well with other people. Something can be learned from descriptions of previous experience of working together and resolving conflicts. Many during the panel interview arrange sessions with several applicants - just in order to learn more about these qualities of the candidate.

Bob Baxley:

“At a previous job, we chose an interesting site or application that none of us had dealt with before, and together with the candidate we discussed and criticized this project. This good way understand the culture, interaction chemistry, and group dynamics without endless tests.”

  • design thinking

It can be helpful to ask questions about complex aspects of a design. This way you can evaluate the candidate's approach to the problem - especially if the question concerns the tasks that he will have to solve in this position. Some interviewers like to give the candidate small assignments during the interview to evaluate their design thinking and at the same time understand how a person works in a stressful situation.

Peter Chow:

“The task is a proposal to come up with a new product from scratch, on the board. The task has nothing to do with the work of our company. I give them a description of the consumer/customer and play their role if questions arise. It is convenient to use the same task with different candidates - there is a basis for comparison. I asked all of our interviewers to come up with their own questions for the same purpose. I try to make it an enjoyable exercise, I love seeing people passionate about the task."

CloudPhysics Head of UX Development Uday Gajendar:

“Here, too, it is important to interrupt the work with questions, including those that imply rather detailed answers. When discussing the results, I often set aside natural limitations and difficult situations to see how a person reacts and adapts in real time, which is very important in a startup.”

Test tasks

As already mentioned, many participants like to give design tasks during the panel interview, but it is worth noting that the very concept of test tasks has become the subject of heated debate.

Dave Young:

"It's interesting to see how people dig into the problem, understand the constraints, business objectives, success criteria, context, user scenarios, begin to understand the user."

Jonathan Lieberman:

"This is good material, on which not only the interviewer can evaluate the candidate, but also the candidate - the team in which he will work."

On the other hand, some believe that such tests may be harmful or inappropriate. corporate culture their companies.

Stefan Klotzek:

"A talented specialist with good portfolio given the current state of the market, it may be discouraging to make test».

Erica Hall:

“We never use design tests. This is not compatible with the style of our work, in which the solution of the problem is preceded by deep research.

Mike Davidson:

"One person told me how he got automatic mailing with the wording “Please complete our test task. If we are satisfied with the result, we will consider your portfolio.” This sounds embarrassing. It also happens that you are asked to work on the company's own product. In general, tests are not required, but if they are required to select a candidate, give preference to those that are not related to your product. However, we don't use them on Twitter."

- Do I need to give a test task?

It is worth remembering that the opinion of the candidate about your company depends on what decision you make. Some employers think that this is good, because it screens out insufficiently motivated candidates, others think that this way you can miss an excellent specialist. As I noted during the discussion, although there are candidates who really want to get into your company, most often, all other things being equal, they will take the path of least resistance.

Designer at BetterWorks Randall Hom:

"It's a way of asking, 'Do you really want to work here?'"

Fitbit designer Analiya Ibargoen:

“Once I really liked the vacancy, and I was afraid that if I didn’t do the test task, I wouldn’t seem interested enough, but at some point I doubted their working methods, and I didn’t have time, so I decided not to do it at all ".

- What should be the test task?

If you still think that a test task is necessary, you need to decide what it will be. There are many good creativity assignments on the Internet, but very few for testing design skills such as design skills. The work of a designer can include a very wide range of tasks. So first you need to decide what kind of TK you need.

Some believe that the TOR should be as close as possible to real work, and even make tasks based on their own cases.

Uday Gajendar:

“We choose one of our own cases because we are looking for a person to solve real problems, and not some fantasies and tasks of other markets. In addition, it is also useful for the candidate to understand what he will face, so why mislead him.

Jonathan Lieberman:

“I love it when a test is a continuation of something you've already worked on. This allows the candidate to take their mind off their ideas and come up with a better solution, and also gives them the opportunity to “recover” if they become nervous in the process.”

However, not everyone agrees with this. Some designers believe that a test item associated with the hiring company can be construed as a "free job" and that even if the candidate is not hired, their ideas, wittingly or unwittingly, can be used by the interviewer. To eliminate this aspect, many (including myself) adhere to the rule that the test item should not be related to future work candidate.

Lindsey Mindler:

“We give the candidate a board, a marker, and a problem that is not related to our tasks and yet has more than one solution.”

Bob Baxley:

“At our previous jobs, we used to have collaborative sessions where we chose an interesting site or app that none of us had worked on.”

Johnny Manzari:

“When compiling test items, we follow two rules. First, it must be small and well-defined so that it can be done in a few hours. Secondly, it should not be associated with our intellectual property - I would not want people to think that we are trying to get the result of their work for free.

- What does the test task check?

The answer will depend on the job for which it is intended. When hiring a visual designer, you can outline an imaginary product and ask for a sketch. When it comes to interaction design, it might be worth coming up with an online store with a known bad conversion rate and asking them to improve it. Information designer - to provide tables with data and formulate abstracts that need to be accompanied by a visual representation.

Let the format of the assignment match the daily responsibilities of the position for which the vacancy is open, but also try to understand the boundaries of what is possible for the candidate at the same time. It shouldn't be an easy task. It is better to make sure that there is not enough time for it, and after several scheduling mistakes, it would be impossible to complete the task on time. And a completely unfinished task, and completed much ahead of schedule, can tell a lot about the applicant; it is also worth paying attention to which part of the task the designer preferred to solve in a limited time.

- What should be the evaluation criteria?

A design manager will have to hire employees more than once, and even to select one person, you need to look at many candidates. Advice from many managers was to use standard criteria for all, so that applicants could be adequately compared.

Peter Chow:

“The same task for all candidates allows you to compare the course of their thoughts and approach to the problem. I found it useful to ask everyone the same questions and see how the answers differ. Sometimes, over time, I analyze how well designers cope with difficulties, and usually it turns out that I was able to accurately assess their abilities.

Jonathan Lieberman:

“Standard evaluation criteria are extremely important as they help establish a single point of reference.”

The need for standard criteria was pointed out by many of the participants in the discussion. This approach allows you to compare candidates, and also helps to predict their performance in the workplace. You can give applicants a test task or just ask questions, but let them be the same questions, let the process be the same for all candidates - in this case, it will be easier to make an informed decision.

Kern Type, the kerning game

What checks: the makings of a type designer


Interface designer Mark McKay has created a game that we wouldn't recommend for overly irritable people. The task is to align the inter-letter space, as close as possible to the original. Later, you can compare your version with the ideal one and calculate how accurately you coped with the task on a 100-point scale.

Real or Photoshop

What checks: ability to distinguish processed photos


For the 25th anniversary of Photoshop, Adobe offered to look at 25 photos and determine whether they were processed in the program or not. Thus, the creators of the test demonstrated how much Photoshop has influenced our perception of the world, attitude towards creativity and reliability.

How Well Do You Know Your Logos

What checks: knowledge of logos


Interactive test of Time magazine - not only for a trained eye, but also for the ability to draw. The player needs to reproduce as closely as possible 10 famous logos, among which are Apple, McDonalds, Chanel and Toyota.

COLOR

What checks: sense of color


If you do not have vision problems, then you will surely distinguish green from red. But can you find the right green among 10 almost identical shades of green? As the creator of the KOLOR test, Jorge Moreno, found out, this is much more difficult than it seems at first glance.

pixactly

What checks: sense of space


Pixactly almost surpasses Kern Type in terms of complexity and checks how well you correlate the given pixel parameters with the real space on the screen - 30 pixels can be three times smaller than it initially seemed.

The Bezier Game

What checks: mastery of Photoshop


The Bezier Game tests your knowledge of the pen tool (The Pen Tool) in Photoshop and offers to select a given shape, having in stock limited quantity points. Simplicity is deceptive: from level to level, the figures become much more difficult. A rare example of a test that provides almost immediate benefit (and which can, for example, be recommended as a work assignment).

Shoot The Serif

What checks: care for fonts


The simplest test in the selection turns out to be insidious. It seems that even people who are far from working with fonts are able to distinguish between serif and sans-serif fonts - but when there are more letters, and fonts are becoming less familiar, it is very easy to make a mistake.

A designer is a person with a developed sense of taste, style, beauty, knowledge of the basics of marketing, consumer psychology, knowledge of various graphic editors and leaving his ideas on paper.

Since now a designer can specialize in completely different areas (graphics, landscape, interior, printing, etc.), the requirements for them at interviews can be completely different.

The basics that define a good designer are here to stay, and we can still give you some tips on how to pass a designer interview.

Even if you consider yourself an impeccable specialist, you should not go to an interview at random. Better buy yourself presentable clothes and try to look your best. Think about what good things you can say about a specialist.

The second part successful interview designer is the presence of a portfolio. You yourself understand that in your industry, it is better for the employer to show the fruits of your skills than to talk about them.

Select best work, compose a competent portfolio and confidently hand it to the recruiting manager.

Interview Questions

You may be asked the most standard questions, such as: “Why did you leave your last job?” or “What are your goals for the next 2 years?”.

But it is more important for the employer to know about your skills, so they may ask:

  • What software do you own?
  • What is your most successful and unsuccessful project (you shouldn’t focus on the unsuccessful one - it’s better to say that everyone was good, but one just exceeded expectations)?
  • Do you know color theory, etc.
  • Did you work alone or in a team?
  • What was the task?
  • How much time has been spent?
  • Are you a loner or do you like to work in a team?
  • What mode of operation is convenient for you?

You can ask your employer the following questions:

  • How is the recycling going?
  • How many designers are on the team?
  • What prospects await me?

If you pass the first stage of the interview, you may be asked to complete a test task. For example, a UI/UX designer might be asked to make the site's top menu clear, simple, and attractive.

Designers usually come to the interview with their work.

Portfolio questions can include:

  • Did you work alone or in a team?
  • What was the task?
  • How much time has been spent?
  • What do you think is the best job?
  • What do you see as disadvantages?

Block 2. Questions to assess overall understanding of the process

There are designers who just “draw pictures”, and there are those who have a deeper understanding of the product and user needs.

To understand what type of candidate a candidate is, at an interview you can ask:

1. Tell us how the design process should ideally go from start to finish.

If the candidate immediately starts telling how he opens Photoshop, then this is just a “drawer” of pictures.

If the candidate starts with what is needed:

  • understand the purpose for which the design is being done
  • poll users
  • identify work scenarios
  • Etc.

In this case, you have a more serious specialist.

2. Another question that allows you to assess the general understanding can be this: who has a better design - apple or samsung?

You have to watch how the candidate thinks. In particular, you need to pay attention to what “chips” the designer highlights, what he focuses on.

This will mean that these are the aspects that are important to him in design.

Advice: in the case of hiring a designer, it is also very important to call the previous employer and find out if there are any “pitfalls”.

Block 3. General standard questions

Questions such as:

  • Are you a loner or do you like to work in a team?
  • What is your preferred mode of operation?

Since designers are creative people, a flexible schedule will be important for them.

  • What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What else are you interested in besides design?
  • Etc

 

It might be useful to read: