Product designer interview questions
A list of questions to nail product designer job interviews

Design is about people
Most of the time we designers create products for user by collaborating with other colleagues in a team. Being able to get along with team members and people in general is just as important as having a great portfolio with full of super shiny case studies. Your first (and sometimes your only) chance to convince your future boss that you are a good fit for the company in the long run is the job interview process.
How can we become masters of job interviews?
It’s about preparation and milage.
The last few years I’ve got the chance to conduct interviews and also as an interviewee answer a lot of questions. Here I gathered the most useful ones I noted during my personal interviews and extended with some others I’ve found on the internet.
This list is far from complete, and it never has to be. We don’t have to cover every detail and it’s ok not knowing the answer to every question. Consider the list below more like a brain exercise, think about these topics in the context of the particular company you applied to and you can easily avoid some mistakes during the personal conversations.
Product designer interview topics and questions:
Basic interview questions
- Why do you want to change your job?
- Why do you want to join our company?
- When can you start?
- How do you see yourself in five years?
- Why should I hire you? (i was asked)
- How do you work with others?
Design expertise questions
- Is there a book, or an article, the views of which you do not agree with?
- Tell me about a project you’re proud of.
- Please describe what your design process is?
- What is the most difficult task you have encountered when doing design?
- Which is your favourite part about UI design?
- Can you describe an app that meets your ideal UI design?
- What are your core areas of UI design expertise?
- Where do you go for inspiration?(i was asked) Do you follow any designers?
- How do you keep yourself updated with the latest design trends?
- Which company do you think does the best branding?
- How do you define deep delight?
- What’s your favourite product or app and why?
Behavioural questions
- Have you faced any problems while working with developers? How do you solve it?
- Do you like working with other designers?
- How do you stay organized or keep up with deadlines?
- What do you think about having conflicts during the design process?
- What are the principles of good collaboration?
Interview your boss questions (questions to ask your future manager)
- How is the organisation/design team structured?
- What would a typical day look like?
- What do look for in an ideal designer?
Product manager questions
- What do you think is the disadvantage of our product? How do you think should it be improved?
- What do you do when you disagree with the product manager?
User researcher questions
- Imagine you have 3 different UIs and you want to know which one is best. What would you do?
- What are the weaknesses of personas? How do you overcome those weaknesses?
- How do you handle it when people are sceptical of the value of usability research?
- What’s the difference between a Persona and a Market Segment?
- What is your best skill as a UX designer and what advice would you give to someone who is trying to learn this skill?
- How would you communicate your findings to different stakeholders?
- Someone on the team has a strong opinion about how a certain feature should be designed, but you disagree that it is a good user experience. How do you approach the situation?
Engineer questions
- Can you code?
- How do you hand over your designs to the developers?
- How do you ensure your design is aligned with engineers?
- When is the right time to involve engineers in the product design process?
CEO/Founder/ VP of product questions
- How do you know when a project is “done”?
- Why do you want to work for us?
Recruiter/ HR questions
- What is your ultimate career goal?
- What do you like about your current position?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
- What is your dream product/project? Why?
- Describe the ideal work environment you would be inspired of.
- What is the most challenging for you when it comes to working in a team?
Whiteboard / design challenges
Assessing your level (Junior/Mid/Senior/Lead)
- How would you describe the seniority levels in design?
- What do you consider as the most important skill as a senior / mid-level / junior designer?
- How can a senior one help junior designers to grow?
+ Some extra tips
Portfolio presentation tips/learnings
- Always have an online version of the portfolio
- If you can showcase only one project, explain the ideal process and the actual one applied to it as well
- Be prepared for situations with no internet connection
Offer negotiation advices
- “If you can get me X, I’ll accept the offer right away.”
- Have everything in writing
- Always keep the door open. Don’t let others force you to make decisions early
- Information is power. To protect your power in the negotiation, you must protect information as much as possible
- Staying positive. Excitement is one of your most valuable assets in a negotiation
- Don’t be the decision-maker. Say you’ll discuss the decision with your family/friends/mom/gf
- If we have our first offer, send a follow-up e-mail confirming all of the details you discussed with your recruiter so you have a paper trail.
- Have alternatives
Interviewing advice
- Have a pre-interview ritual to get into the “zone”
- Know who’s the interviewer
- Collect as much information before the interview as you can
- Always take notes during the interview or after it
Portfolios I like
- https://www.lizvwells.com/
- https://isapinheiro.com/
- http://naimsheriff.com/
- http://www.husamelfaki.net/
- https://jasonyuan.design/
Creating a portfolio advice
- Tell stories
- Visitors are more interested in the journey than the destination (end products are nice but showing the process is more important)
- Add a personal touch to it, how you felt about the projects
- NDA workarounds: side projects, blurring the logo, show the process, abstraction
Feedback is part of the game
Taking notes right after the interviews is very useful, it helps you showing later on the next interview that you remember the details (especially if you have more interviews at different companies in a short period of time) and of course it’s a valuable source of information when it comes to negotiating a deal at the end of the process.
I also recommend you to evaluate each job interview by collecting questions and creating your own list. This approach sounds a little bit like a user research methodology but hey, we are designers at the end of the day…
Good luck and don’t forget to have fun! :)