Design (UX/UI) Interview: Mastering Design Exercises

Design exercises are a pivotal part of many designer interview processes. They challenge candidates to solve real-world problems or create new concepts under time constraints. For designers, it's tempting to dive straight into sketching or prototyping—but this can lead to misaligned solutions. The key to excelling in these exercises is following a structured process, ensuring you understand the problem, audience, and goals before producing any visuals.

Clarify Everything - You Need To Understand the Ask

Before you begin, make sure you clearly understand the scope and expectations. Misaligned deliverables can lead to failure, even with excellent work. Confirm the following:

• Deliverables: Sketches, prototypes, or presentations?
• Fidelity: Wireframes or high-fidelity designs?
• Presentation: Will you present the solution?
• Method: Phone, video call, email, or in-person?

Your interviewers want you to succeed, so don’t hesitate to ask for clarification. Knowing the format and goals upfront ensures you’re on the right track.

Ask A Lot Of Questions and Make A Few Assumptions

Great designers don’t just take tasks at face value; they probe deeper. Clarify:

• Purpose: Why does this product need to exist?
• Audience: Who are we building for?
• Needs: What are their pain points and goals?

If your interviewer doesn’t have all the answers, don’t panic. Instead, make educated assumptions. For example, if designing for golf tee-time reservations, you might assume a 15% no-show rate, which informs the need for features addressing lost revenue. Assumptions demonstrate your ability to operate with incomplete data—a vital skill in design.

Step 1: WHO - Define the Audience

Understanding your audience is critical to designing a product they’ll actually use. Start by identifying key user groups with different motivations. For example the Apple Music product has listeners (B2C), artists (B2B2C), and business owners (B2B).

Once identified, describe their characteristics:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Occupation

Segmenting your audience helps you craft solutions tailored to different user needs.

Step 2: WHY - Define the Goal

Erika Hall defines design as "the gap between what currently exists and what you’re aiming for." Start your presentation by addressing:

• Why is this product or feature important?
• What problem does it solve?
• How does it benefit users?
• What business opportunity does it create?

For improvements to existing products, align your solution with the company’s overarching vision and business goals.

Step 3: WHEN & WHERE - Context and Needs

After identifying your audience, analyze the context in which they face the problem:

• Where: Their physical or digital environment.
• When: Trigger events and available time.
• Needs: High-level motivations and specific tasks they aim to complete.

Writing user stories can be a helpful tool here: As a [role], I want [goal] so that [benefit/value].

Step 4: WHAT - Prioritize Your Solution

With potential ideas in hand, evaluate them based on:

1. Reach: How many users will it impact?
2. Value: How well does it meet user needs?
3. Revenue: Does it support business goals?
4. Effort: Is it feasible to implement?

Use an effort/impact matrix to visualize priorities. For interview exercises, choose a solution that balances feasibility with sophistication, showcasing your design talent.

Step 7: Define Success (HOW)

End by defining success metrics for your solution:

• Task Success Rate: Percentage of correctly completed tasks.
• Engagement: Frequency of user interactions.
• Retention: Repeat desirable actions.
• Revenue: Financial impact.
• NPS: Customer satisfaction and likelihood to recommend.

For extra points, suggest experiments or MVPs to validate your solution.

GenAI Bonus Tip

I frequently suggest using storyboards to clearly illustrate what success will look like for users in the context of their daily routines. Generative AI has proven to be excellent for creating thumbnails that represent each phase of the customer journey. Start by refining the prompt or modifiers to establish the desired style, then tailor the prompt to capture the specifics of each journey phase. Here's an example using Adobe Firefly:

Time Management

Here’s a recommended time breakdown for a one-hour exercise:

• Understand the task (5 min or less)
• Define the goal (5 min or less)
• Analyze context and needs (5 min or less)
• List ideas (10 min or less)
• Prioritize and choose (3 min or less)
• Solve and refine (25 min or less)
• Define success (5 min or less)
• Review and finalize (5 min or less)

Conclusion

A structured approach ensures you produce thoughtful, user-focused solutions while demonstrating your process to interviewers. Design exercises are less about the final product and more about showcasing your critical thinking, communication, and ability to navigate ambiguity.

PS - You're going to kill it!

References

1. The Five W’s of UX
2. Crack The Code: Essential Tips For Nailing The Whiteboard Design Challenge In UX
3. How to Tackle a Design Interview Challenge