Marketing Director
As experienced recruiters in the fields of product design and UX, we frequently receive requests for recommendations on the top interview questions to ask when evaluating a candidate’s user experience skills.
The first thing to do is to understand what we really mean by User Experience. What is user experience? It is crucial to clarify the meaning and scope of user experience before creating a set of interview questions. Furthermore, it is imperative to identify the necessary skills and expertise you require from a candidate, and then craft interview questions that can effectively evaluate those competencies.
This list of interview questions are appropriate for the recruitment process of a:
How do I attract a great user experience candidate?
When searching for a quality candidate for a user experience role, it’s important to keep in mind that the interview process is a two-way street. Candidates who are experienced and accomplished will be evaluating your company as much as you are evaluating them. This includes everything from the salary and benefits package to the cultural fit and the reputation of the brand.
It’s not uncommon for candidates of this calibre to be considering multiple opportunities at the same time. This means that you’ll need to be competitive with other potential employers to attract the best candidates. To do this, it’s essential to have a well-defined “employer brand” that showcases your recruitment strategy and your approach to retaining employees.
Having a strong employer brand can often make the difference in securing a senior-level candidate. Candidates will want to know that you have a solid plan for recruiting the right people for the right roles, and that you’re committed to keeping them engaged and motivated. By putting effort into building a positive and compelling employer brand, you’ll be better equipped to attract top-tier user experience talent and make a successful hire.
User Experience interview questions
General User Experience interview questions
- How did you first become interested in user experience design?
- Can you talk me through your UX experience to date?
- Talk me through your portfolio?
- What’s your design process?
- How do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and tools in UX design?
- Tell me about some of your favourite examples of good UX?
- What other business areas do you have experience in?
- Where do you go for your UX design inspiration?
- What UX related publications do you read?
- What makes you passionate about UX design? Are you a lifelong learner?
- Describe the value of UX design?
- How does UX differ from other design disciplines, such as UI design?
Business related User Experience interview questions
- What is your UX vision for this brand?
- How would you improve the UX of our product?
- What is the first task you would undertake within the UX team?
- What UX improvements do you see across our portfolio?
- What does great product design and UX look like to you?
- How do you measure UX success?
- What are the latest UX trends?
- What part of the UX is your favourite and why?
- What part of the design process is your least favourite and why?
- What UX project you are the most proud of and why?
User Experience task related interview questions
- What’s your thought process when solving problems?
- How do you validate your UX decisions?
- What analytics tools and key performance indicators (KPIs) do you use to evaluate the user experience?
- What product do you think has a broken user journey, and why?
- If you could go back and redesign the user experience of one of your previous products, what product would this be? What changes would you make?
- What are your go-to UX tools?
- How do you know when you have not got the user experience and user journey right?
- When do you think user experience should be considered in designing a product?
- What is the most important aspect of the user experience and why?
- How do you put yourself in the mind of a user?
Stakeholder manager / relationships / leadership
- How do you balance being a hands-on leader with delegating responsibility to others?
- How do you balance short-term goals with long-term strategy in your leadership approach?
- What are some key values that guide your leadership approach?
- Can you give an example of a time when you had to adapt your leadership style to meet the needs of a particular team or situation?
- How do you encourage innovation and creativity within your team?
- What best practise methods will you introduce into the team, and why?
- Tell me about a time where you did not agree with the product direction? What was the outcome?
- How do you approach risk-taking and decision-making in your role as a leader?
- How do you ensure your product design team works collaboratively across functions – including engineering, and product management teams?
- How do you hand over your designs to developers?
- Tell me about a bad user experience you’ve had. How would you fix it?
Failure / self criticism / self awareness
- How do you define failure, and what are some common causes of failure?
- Can you talk about a time when you turned a failure into a success? What did you do differently, and how did you approach the situation?
- What is your process for reviewing and addressing negative feedback?
- How do you balance negative feedback with positive feedback in your approach to self-improvement?
- How do you think companies and organizations can create a culture that encourages risk-taking and experimentation, while still avoiding bad ideas that could harm the business?
Product design interview questions: summary
We have compiled a short guide for further reading: 5 questions to assess a candidates cultural fit
Intelligent People are a specialist product design & UX recruitment agency. If you need any more help with how to conduct a User Experience interview or would like to further discuss User Experience interview questions, contact us today.
