Questions

Question 1

Show me a design example where you set out to solve a business problem.

Answer 1

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:

1. Documented the problem in a Jira story
2. 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).
3. Paper-prototyping sessions with high fidelity mocks
4. Beta-testing- discovered some IA issues

Question 2

How do you balance design aesthetic with revenue-generating activities on a website?

Answer 2

It’s important that a candidate understands and appreciates the economic impact of their role.

Question 3

Do you specialize in wireframing and functionality design, or graphic design? Which do you prefer?

Answer 3

Depending on the needs of your business, it’s critical to determine a candidate’s focus when it comes to practical skills.

Question 4

What are the basic philosophies or principles that inform your designs?

Answer 4

Strong applicants will have a philosophic point of view that guides their approach

Question 5

What questions do you need answered before you start designing an experience?

Answer 5

UX is a problem-solving discipline that requires the ability to actively listen. A candidate should know what questions to ask

Question 6

How do you balance the goals of the end user with those of the business?

Answer 6

Good designers balance the needs of the user with the goals of the business. Good UX design should achieve both

Question 7

How do you stay current on UX innovations?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Who is someone that you admire in the UX field?

Answer 8

Credible designers will be able to site notable figures as inspiration for their careers and work.

Question 9

How do you think the discipline of UX design evolving?

Answer 9

A qualified candidate will be able to articulate how UX design has changed and where it’s going.

Question 10

What are some of the UX designs that inspire you?

Answer 10

Strong applicants will be prepared to share inspirational UX examples.

Question 11

How do you define UX/design?

Answer 11

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).

Question 12

What is your design process?

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

What are some apps or websites that you love?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

How do you work with engineers/Product Managers/other designers?

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Who in the industry do you follow and read?

Answer 15

Meng To, Steve Krug, Max Snitzer, Joshua Porter

Question 16

What is the most interesting project you have worked on?

Answer 16

Dan’s Beer List or the Polls feature

Question 17

Do you prefer to work alone or with a team?

Answer 17

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).

Question 18

Tell me about an assignment that was too difficult. How did you handle the situation?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Why do you want to work at [company x]?

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Why should I hire you?

Answer 20

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.