How to Ace UX Design Interview | Recap
I had a great chance to attend a partnered session by adplist.org and Designers & Coffee discussing “How to Ace UX Design Interview” on Instagram Live last Thursday. 🤩
Thank you to the speakers: Deanna (Design Manager at Lively), Jacalin (Head of Design at Hotelr), and Pablo (Senior UX Product Designer at Shopify), who provided tips and insights into ace UX Design interviews. Also, thank you Dorsa (Product Designer at Yelp) for hosting.
If you want to watch the replay, the link is here
❤️ Here is the recap.
“Could you share your experience with interviews in the past?”
Deanna: Interviewing at a large company versus a startup is very different, just because larger companies are more well-established. But startups are more varied. They have different needs, depending on their size and goals. So how you fit into a team just kind of depends, and it’s up to you to try to figure that out from the beginning.
But overall, it should be a fun time for you to talk about your work and yourself and your skills.
Jacalin: An interview as a fun conversation. By interviewing people, they get a tech tactic. Usually, the interviewer should be aware of being on time. They will observe how the interviewee utilizes their time.
They will see how interviewees manage their own time during the interview to see if this person comes in with a plan on how they want to tell their story.
For example, if they asked you to present one case study, you would need to know exactly how to break it down and observe how long it takes to share it. So please do not take 25 minutes to share one case study because they don’t have time for feedback.
They will measure how you manage time and also your communication, interpersonal skills, and storytelling.
Pablo: Approach the interviews like a roleplay. Try to understand the process; how you got through your solution, what’s the goal of this? What is the problem you’re trying to solve? You can tell a lot about people by how they think about their problem space.
The design is not necessarily the most important thing also. It’s about who you are and what you want. Sometimes people are hired when they don’t even have portfolios or design backgrounds. It’s about what they bring up to what they bring to the table.
Also, confidence is vital. It’s your time; you control the direction of the conversation.
If you don’t want to talk about user research because you’re not comfortable with it, don’t talk about user research. But if you do, people will ask you questions around it.
I’ve seen it happen a lot of times where someone is trying to impress too much and they bring up things that they’re not necessarily experts at.
Dorsa: When I got started in my career, I was really into the details of a portfolio showcasing like a passion project. But that was only the first job that I landed. After that, I never used my portfolio.
I like to present more of my recent work that focuses on my process and practices storytelling.
After so many interviews, I felt comfortable and learned what questions might be asked and what I need to focus on.
It doesn’t need to focus on the polished UI design but on the rationale and how you got to those outcomes.
“How to win the whiteboard challenge?”
This is standard in most interviews. There are an intro call, behavioral questions, portfolio presentation or portfolio review, on-site interview, practical challenge, or whiteboarding session.
Jacalin: The whiteboarding challenge is so much more valuable than take-home exercise. Take-home exercise is great, but with a whiteboard challenge, you get to observe how they solve problems as a team because you don’t just leave them alone.
I really am always looking for what kind of question they’re asking while taking on the challenge.
Are they the type of person who just works alone in their own zone? Or are they questioning the brief? Do they know how to solve the problem?
It helps me think about how they fit into my team.
Two questions that I really love to ask during interviews:
1.What kind of value do you want the company to provide for you?
2.Name one app that you love and tell me how you would make it better?
It surprises me that many designers can’t answer these questions 🙀. As a designer, we must constantly reflect on what we need to get to your next goal. But, unfortunately, you don’t know the answer. Because you haven’t thought about your next goal, you’re probably just focusing on trying to get a job.
Pablo: Whiteboard is a really interesting thing. What do you look for in a whiteboard challenge? It is about collaboration.
Do they understand the problem space? Do they communicate with the people in the room with them? Do they share knowledge? Are they able to understand what the user is most important? Are they asking questions? Are they able to take the time to say this is not clear?
I’ve seen people not even come up with a solution. But they were so involved in trying to understand the problem, collaborating, asking the right question that I could see myself in a room with them.
It’s the chemistry between the people. I love the whiteboard challenge. It’s such an interesting way to see how people think, and it’s such a great way to learn.
💎 Key takeaways:
- Be on time and be your own timekeeper
- Be confident
- Don’t jump into the solutions but ask the right questions
- Interact with people in the room because it’s a team effort
- Practice storytelling skill
So, How was your interview experience? Comment in the thread below to share more ideas and thoughts. 👇
Connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to keep the conversation going.
