Show me a design example where you set out to solve a business problem.
Business problem:
Teachers wanted a blog feature where their students could right about class related topics in a more free and informal way.
I achieved this by doing the following:
- Documented the problem in a Jira story
- Worked with a design team to divvy up research tasks (Customer support to answer questions we had for teachers and students, competitve analysis on existing blog sites, colaboratvie design sessions and mock creations).
- Paper-prototyping sessions with high fidelity mocks
- Beta-testing- discovered some IA issues
How do you balance design aesthetic with revenue-generating activities on a website?
It’s important that a candidate understands and appreciates the economic impact of their role.
Do you specialize in wireframing and functionality design, or graphic design? Which do you prefer?
Depending on the needs of your business, it’s critical to determine a candidate’s focus when it comes to practical skills.
What are the basic philosophies or principles that inform your designs?
Strong applicants will have a philosophic point of view that guides their approach
What questions do you need answered before you start designing an experience?
UX is a problem-solving discipline that requires the ability to actively listen. A candidate should know what questions to ask
How do you balance the goals of the end user with those of the business?
Good designers balance the needs of the user with the goals of the business. Good UX design should achieve both
How do you stay current on UX innovations?
Read UX books:
- Don’t Make Me Think*- Steve Krug
- Design + Code*- Meng To
- Visual Design: Ninety-five things you need to know*- Jim Krause
- Hooked*- Nir Eyal
A Book Apart- Mobile First, Designing for Emotion, Typography, etc.
UXPA meetups, Dribbble, SketchAppResources
Who is someone that you admire in the UX field?
Credible designers will be able to site notable figures as inspiration for their careers and work.
How do you think the discipline of UX design evolving?
A qualified candidate will be able to articulate how UX design has changed and where it’s going.
What are some of the UX designs that inspire you?
Strong applicants will be prepared to share inspirational UX examples.
How do you define UX/design?
Designing a user’s (human, persona) experience (interactions, flows, feelings) through a system (broad: the product, specific: a feature or exact flow), making it as simple (usability, not thinking) as possible, while also considering their needs (what they are trying to achieve and emotions (feelings toward product, interactions).
What is your design process?
The process can vary from project to project but usually entails defining the business requirements, planning the research needed, executing that research, analyzing it designing, prototyping, testing, sending the polished product to engineering and then hopefully measuring its effectiveness through analytics. And if necessary repeating the process over again.
What are some apps or websites that you love?
Monument Valley, The Nike Running App, Meetup.com (and it’s app), Fantastical for mac and iOS. Websites: Seven Deadly Digital sins, guggenheim site for
How do you work with engineers/Product Managers/other designers?
Engineers: Think of Jake. You have been an engineer. PMs: Make sure we are in sync. Good communication about deadlines Designers: Love sharing insights and tools. They help my own personal growth.
Who in the industry do you follow and read?
Meng To, Steve Krug, Max Snitzer, Joshua Porter
What is the most interesting project you have worked on?
Dan’s Beer List or the Polls feature
Do you prefer to work alone or with a team?
There’s things I like about both. I tend to like teams when things are still undecided or uncertain and by myself when I have a clear set of objects to complete (like turning whiteboard pictures into production-ready mocks).
Tell me about an assignment that was too difficult. How did you handle the situation?
Peer Review feature- 1. The assumptions that were made from user focus groups about anonymity and 2. the disconnect with engineering about how we forgot to show users to teachers.
Why do you want to work at [company x]?
You guys are the leader and pioneer of cloud computing. You aren’t just a tech giant you also help build them. I also actually use your s3 storage and have had great experiences with you UI and customer support.
Why should I hire you?
I’m eager and hungry to learn. I can bring a lot of enthusiasm to your team and am willing to put in the extra work to get things done right. I also feel my engineering background is a good fit for AWS because most of your target users are engineers.
