How can a UX designer successfully interview for a top company? What questions are asked at interviews in startups. What needs to be done well to get hired Graphic Designer Interview

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

What is UX Design? Can you describe how the user experience design is created?

This is a general question and is best asked at the very beginning of the interview. It helps to find out if the candidate has an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat 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 that he is right.

What answer might a recruiter be happy with? Although this is a general question, it is best not to give general answers to it. A job applicant needs to find a specific definition that will show what kind of UX he is a specialist in. If a person who really understands UX design came to the interview, it will not be difficult for him to explain the principles of creating a user experience using the simplest examples. If a designer starts to shower with terms, then it makes sense to interrupt him and ask him to talk about UX in a way that even a ten-year-old can understand.

There must be some structure in the answers to the question of creating a user experience. Here's what a UX designer who shows up for an interview should talk about:

  • User audience research
  • Ease of use of the product
  • Information architecture
  • User interface design
  • Interactive design
  • Experience creation strategy

Helpful 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. Much of the work of a UX designer is about collecting and analyzing feedback, so this is worth emphasizing.

What's your design process? Describe the design techniques you use

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

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

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

  • Audience research. The methods that were used and why it was decided to use them
  • User portrait. What was the process of defining the "character". How many categories of potential users were identified during the research process
  • Custom 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 must know how to most effectively communicate his ideas to other professionals who work with him on a project.

For the UX designer himself, this is one of the most difficult questions. 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. The best way would be to talk about the ability to understand the motives behind the actions of each team member. Developers, product managers and designers will bring their own original ideas and if the applicant shows that he is able to listen to all of them, 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 creatively the designer thinks, whether he can make the right decision if he has several options at his disposal. This is a very difficult question to answer as it all depends on the context. When it comes to software, then you can talk about how to create a minimum viable product.

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

Helpful advice. The UX designer in this part of the interview should show that he has a good idea of \u200b\u200bwhat the user audience is and what goals the 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 with specific purpose, most often to make a profit, so when talking about value to users, you should 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 easy enough, it allows you to take a little break and talk about something pleasant. However, answering this question will help the interviewer learn a lot about a UX designer. Talking about their most best projects, he will demonstrate how creative he is and how he interacts with other team members.

Helpful advice. A UX designer talking about his successes shouldn't 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, one way or another related to the creation of a positive user experience.


Tell us about projects that have had UX issues

This is not the most pleasant question for a person who shows up for an interview and the interviewer should be asked 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.

Helpful advice. If a UX designer wants to get a job, he should never be told that he has never had a bad project. Errors and problems accompany any work and you need to take it calmly. The most important thing is how a designer handles difficulties. The ideal answer for the interviewer will be the following. honest example unsuccessful case, which explains 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 a designer envisions UX development. There is no doubt that new trends will constantly appear in this area and the designer must be ready for future challenges. What answers should I expect? 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 about simplifying the design and increasing its accessibility for all categories of users.

Helpful advice. If a UX designer can communicate convincingly about trends in interface design, as well as developments in the field of augmented and virtual reality, he will demonstrate what he really thinks about the future of UX.

Instead of a conclusion

It may seem unusual that this list does not include the ubiquitous “Why should we hire you” question? The point is, a UX designer may not have the answer. This is a new profession, in which there are no precise criteria for evaluating a specialist yet. A designer can tell a lot of interesting things about himself, but he can understand how valuable he is as a team member only when he starts working on a project.

Michael Owens, head of UX development at ChooseEnergy.com, discussed with the world's top designers how to choose from all the candidates for the self-help design position. We publish key aspects of the discussion.

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

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

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

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

Recruitment criteria

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

Communication skills for everyone

We returned time and again to the ability to speak, to demonstrate our achievements, but the director of design at MyFitnessPal Dave Young recalled that "presentation skills are important, but sometimes they can be misleading."

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

Erica Hall, founder of Mule Design studio:

“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 assess not only the quality of the solution and design skills, but also personal qualities - whether a person fits well into an interdisciplinary team or does he see himself as a lone wolf narrow specialization».

From Peter Chou, Vice President of Inkling.com:

"It will also be helpful to observe how the candidate presents the design to a group of viewers and to pay attention to the story of the progress."

Problem-solving skills for everyone

These skills were mentioned more often. Jeffrey Win, now in charge of Adobe's product development, once wrote that "good design is about solving problems." Most design team leaders are well aware of this, as shown by the participants' responses.

Bob Baxley, Principal Designer at Pinterest, offers a curious trick. To see how the candidate parses the solution into its component parts and examines the conditions, it is enough to ask one question:

“I'm 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. Ability to fly or invisibility - which will you choose? "

For everyone - enthusiasm

When evaluating a candidate's key design skills, be sure to 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, the person will not give all his best. And it will have a bad effect on the whole team. "

Responsibility for everyone

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

Lindsey Mindler:

“It is useful from time to time to interrupt the presentation with questions that require thoughtful and detailed answers. This will make it possible 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:

"The client is often blamed for a poorly chosen solution, because they are unable to explain his point of view and the reasons that led to such a result."

When it comes to an experienced designer, it happens that there is no doubt about his professional skills, and recommendations become an important criterion for evaluation. They allow you to find out 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 professional position, there is usually no reason to doubt the required skills, so test items are not required. Then we go straight to the portfolio and recommendations.

When weighing the recommendations, it can be useful to ask the referee about his relationship with the candidate, about joint work experience, and also ask how he assesses 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 ensure continuous contact with development or production. Any team needs a leader, and if yours is big enough to need a manager, it makes sense to take the time to assess the candidate's leadership qualities.

Stefan Klotsek, head of UX development at Google:

“See 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 is he only able to lead others? "

Assessment methods

So, the criteria for evaluating the candidate are established. 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 assessment

When examining a portfolio, it is important to understand that a designer's ability is not fully characterized by results. But after seeing these results and listening to the story of how they were achieved, the employer can get an idea of \u200b\u200bhow the candidate sees the problems, how he organizes his work process and what to expect from him.

Stefan Klocek:

“We need to figure out: what was the role of the candidate in a particular job, what was the reason for 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 thinks that a designer needs a portfolio, even if he is not dealing with the visual side of the project. Those with a different opinion usually did not speak directly about it. Rather, they pointed to the shortcomings of certain types of portfolios. For example, many designers are engaged in various kinds 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 a single shot from a film. "

Recently, high-level portfolios have started to shift towards analyzing case studies rather than just a set of jobs. As a rule, in this case, it tells about the process, ways of solving the problem and what difficulties had to be faced.

Panel interview

This is usually a key stage in hiring, and often the decision is made based on its results. It is difficult to organize such an interview properly, and it is the most important task for a HR manager.

The composition of the panel also needs to be selected wisely. Some design managers advocate their own dashboard for each position for which a specialist is sought, others advocate a universal approach. Remember that consistency is important in this matter. Changing the composition of the panel from candidate to candidate is a bad idea.

Jonathan Lieberman:

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

At Choose Energy, I put together several panels for different types vacancies. Some members of our team belong to several panels, others only to 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 your panel interview. Stefan Klocek noticed that very often, when you go through several consecutive interviews, "you are asked the same questions or are driven around your portfolio over and over again."

Others cite candidate fatigue in subsequent interviews. In general, everyone agrees that 30 minutes for one interview is too little, 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 a hiring manager discuss with a candidate for an interview? This set differs slightly from company to company, but it can be summarized in 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 pretend that three years later we are in this room again, and you say that you are leaving. You quit, come home and write a list of 3-5 points to describe your experience in this job for your LinkedIn profile - what you did and what you learned. What will this 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 will learn from working at Company X?"

It is difficult to tell from interviews if a candidate works well with other people. Something can be learned from the descriptions of previous experience of working together and resolving conflicts. During panel interviews, many arrange sessions with several candidates - just in order to find out more about these qualities of the candidate.

Bob Baxley:

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

  • Design thinking

It can be helpful to ask questions about complex aspects of 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 tasks during the interview to assess their design thinking and at the same time understand how a person works in a stressful situation.

Peter Chow:

“The assignment is a proposal to come up with a new product from scratch, on a board. The task has no relation to the work of our company. I give them a description of the customer / customer and play his role if questions arise. It is convenient to use the same problem with different candidates - a basis for comparison appears. I asked all of our interviewers to come up with their own questions - with the same purpose. I try to make it a fun exercise, I like to see people passionate about the task. "

Head of UX Development CloudPhysics Uday Gajendar:

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

Test tasks

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

Dave Young:

"It's interesting to see how people dig into the problem, get an idea of \u200b\u200bconstraints, business objectives, criteria for success, context, user scenarios, and 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 company.

Stefan Klocek:

"A talented specialist with good portfolio in the current state of the market, the need to do test».

Erica Hall:

“We never use design quizzes. 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 man told me how he got automatic mailing with the wording „Please complete our test task. If we are satisfied with the result, we will review your portfolio. ” This sounds insulting. It also happens that you are asked to work on a company's own product. In general, tests are optional, but if they are needed to select a candidate, give preference to those that are not relevant 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 candidate's opinion of your company depends on the decision you make. Some employers think that this is good, because it weeds out insufficiently motivated candidates, others - that this way you can miss out on 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.

BetterWorks Designer Randall Home:

"This is a way to ask: 'Do you really want to work here?" "

Fitbit designer Analia Ibargoen:

“Once I really liked a vacancy, and I was afraid that if I didn’t do the test, I would seem not 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 the test task is necessary, you need to decide what it will be. There are many good creativity challenges on the internet, but very few to test design skills like design skills. A designer's job can include a very wide range of tasks. So first you need to decide what kind of TK you need.

Some people believe that technical assignment should be as close to real work as possible, and even draw up tasks based on their own cases.

Remove Gajendar:

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

Jonathan Lieberman:

“I love it when the test item continues with something that you've already worked on. This allows the candidate to get distracted from their ideas and come to a better solution, and also gives the opportunity to 'recover' if he gets nervous in the process. "

However, not everyone agrees. Some designers believe that a test assignment associated with a hiring company could be construed as “free work,” and even if the candidate is not hired, his ideas, willingly or not, could be used by the interviewer. To rule out this aspect, many (myself included) adhere to the rule that a test item should not be associated with future work candidate.

Lindsey Mindler:

"We give the candidate a board, a marker, and a problem that is irrelevant to our task and has more than one solution."

Bob Baxley:

“In our previous job, we had collaborative sessions where we picked an interesting site or app that none of us had worked with.”

Johnny Manzari:

“When writing 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 related to our intellectual property - we 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 design specialist, you might outline an imaginary product and ask for a sketch. When it comes to engagement design, it might be worth coming up with an online store with a bad conversion rate and asking to improve it. Information designer - provide tables with data and formulate theses that need to be accompanied by visual presentation.

Let the assignment format correspond to the daily responsibilities in 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 doesn't have to be an easy task. It is better to make sure that there is not enough time for it and after several planning mistakes it was impossible to complete the task on time. Both a completely incomplete task and a completed one 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, there are many candidates to go through. Many managers advised them to use standard criteria for all so that applicants could be adequately compared.

Peter Chow:

“The same task for all candidates allows us to compare their train of thought and approach to the problem. I found it helpful to ask everyone the same questions and see how the answers differ. Sometimes, as time goes by, I analyze how well the designers are dealing with difficulties, and usually it turns out that I was able to fairly accurately assess their abilities. "

Jonathan Lieberman:

“Standardized criteria for assessing are extremely important as they help to establish a single point of reference.”

The need for standard criteria was highlighted by many of the panellists. This approach allows candidates to be compared and also helps 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: typography makings


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 closely 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: the ability to distinguish processed photographs


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 Photoshop influenced our perception of the world, attitude towards creativity and reliability.

How Well Do You Know Your Logos

What checks: knowledge of logos


Time magazine's interactive test - not only on the trained eye, but also on the ability to draw. The player needs to reproduce 10 well-known logos as closely as possible, including Apple, McDonalds, Chanel and Toyota.

KOLOR

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 nearly 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 the level of difficulty and checks how well you correlate the given pixel parameters with the real space on the screen - 30 pixels can be three times less than it seemed initially.

The bezier game

What checks: ownership of "Photoshop"


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

Shoot The Serif

What checks: attentiveness to fonts


The simplest test in the selection turns out to be tricky. It seems that even people who are far from working with fonts are able to distinguish between serif and sans serif typeface - 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 leave his ideas on paper.

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

The basics that define a good designer are inevitable, and we can still give you some tips for getting through a designer interview.

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

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

Please select best works, create 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 should not emphasize the unsuccessful one - better tell me 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?
  • Was it a lot of time?
  • Are you a loner or do you like to work in a team?
  • Which operating mode is convenient for you?

You can ask the employer the following questions:

  • How are things going with processing?
  • How many designers are on the team?
  • What are the prospects for 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 may be asked to make the top menu of a website clear, simple, and attractive.

Designers tend to come to interviews with their work.

You can ask the following questions about the portfolio:

  • Did you work alone or in a team?
  • What was the task?
  • Was it a lot of time?
  • What do you think is the best job?
  • What do you see as disadvantages?

Block 2. Questions to assess the overall understanding of the process

There are designers who just "draw pictures", and there are those who understand more deeply about the product and the needs of users.

To understand what type of candidate the candidate is, during the interview you can ask:

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

If the candidate starts immediately telling how he opens Photoshop, then this is just a "painter" of pictures.

If the candidate starts with what is needed:

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

In this case, before you is a more serious specialist.

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

You need to watch how the candidate reflects. 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".

Box 3. General standard questions

Questions such as:

  • Are you a loner or do you like to work in a team?
  • What operating mode is convenient for you?

Since designers are creative people, flexible hours will be important for them

  • Where do you see your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What else are your hobbies besides design?
  • And so on

 

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