Hi there!
If you’re a complete beginner or at an intermediate level in UI/UX Design and preparing for your interviews, I’ve got your back. You just need to prepare these questions and follow the tips and tricks mentioned below in the article.
Let’s get started!
First things first, there are three C’s that are the most important aspects of UI/UX Interviews. C- communication, C- confidence, C- creativity.
Now let’s begin with these factors. For any interview you’re preparing, the first thing is the communication. Better communication always gives a push in your recruitment process. Also when we talk about UI/UX, designers need to communicate a lot. Either with clients or with the development team sometimes with both. They also need to represent the product to the entire team at every step. So when the company starts its recruitment, the very first thing they need is better communication. If you’re able to explain your ideas, and your design process to them and have clarity in your views, you’ll definitely stand out among others.
The second and crucial part of your identity, the confidence. Your body language, the way you speak, and your gestures show a lot about you. This is all related to confidence. A confident person is visible even in the dark. It depends on your thought process, how you prepared for the interview, how you’ve learned the design and the rest of the things, and how you work in your everyday life. Every tiny detail represents you and your personality. Your positive attitude, problem-solving abilities, handling of pressure well, and acceptance of negative feedback all are directly proportional to your confidence and your attitude towards the work.
The third and the most essential and exclusive part of the design process, the creativity. The major time you’re spending while designing is polishing your mind and finding unique and innovative ideas for the applications. A creative mind can find a solution in the chaos also. Coming up with a different idea every time boosts your confidence and also your money. The more you spend time learning and brainstorming the more your mind will produce innovative solutions. Wanna know how you can exactly do it? Read about others’ (specialists) design thinking, and learn with every nitty-gritty detail. Stay up-to-date with market trends and follow documentation. Swear I’m telling you, reading documentation helps a lot, you can’t even think of. Try to learn every single day, because UI/UX isn’t like you finished a tutorial and now you’re good to go. No, it doesn’t work like that. You need to wake up to raise the bar. Some people are born with a creative mind, but there are ways to set your mind in a way that generates unique ideas.
Okay, this is a lot of information for you to digest in a day. Let’s start with the interview preparation.
Question 1: Tell me about yourself.
I’ve attended so many interviews for development and design as well. The first question they ask is to know more about us. So generally, they ask ‘Tell me about yourself’. Let me tell you, they’ve already gone through your CV/resume they just want to make sure that you get comfortable with this, and they ease you out by asking this because everybody can tell about themselves (even a little).
The best way to answer TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF is not to rush, start with a pleasant smile and confidence. Start with your education, and your background and move to your previous experience if there’s no, you can start telling what you did in college. Then move towards your work, your projects, and why you’re a fit for their company. Most people talk about their hobbies also, you can add it too but remember your hobbies should be related to this job. I mean, for example, dancing or singing isn’t required for the job but if you have hobbies like article writing or reading or graphics designing or editing, these are relatable for your job. Got my point right! End your answer with how you’re a great fit for this role and mention the job role also. Always remember to sum up this answer within 2 minutes. Don’t hesitate and speak clearly because this is to make you feel comfortable.
Question 2: What is UI/UX Design or state differences between UI and UX?
UI(User Interface) Design is primarily concerned with the visual elements of a product or system that users interact with. This includes everything the user can interact with like buttons, icons, images, and other graphical elements. Whatever users see on the interface and deal with is all about User Interface. UI designers are mainly concerned with a visually appealing and aesthetic interface that gives a clear idea about the whole product and usage. UI designers basically work to give a look and feel to the application. UI design has aspects like layouts, color schemes, typography, and all the visual elements on the interface.
On the other hand, UX(User Experience) contains a broader scope in the design field. It is not just about dealing with the aesthetics of the interface but also focusing on the overall experience of the application/product. When the user interacts with the product, the UX designer is concerned with the whole journey of the user. Aspects like integrating products, branding, usability, navigation between pages, and functioning are handled by the UX designer.
The goal of a UX designer is to create a meaningful and seamlessly enjoyable product for the user. They need to fulfill the requirements for user satisfaction while following the market trends.
Tip: You know that the recruiter knows the answer already, but try to explain in a way that you’re teaching them from scratch. Don’t answer it for formality. Explain everything you know until they are satisfied with your reply.
Question 3: What is your design process?
The most asked question in UI/UX interviews I’ve ever seen. The tip is to be honest with your answer. Everybody has a different design approach, but some follow a standard approach(which is also good). You need to tell how you see a problem and what is the thought that comes in your mind. Start this answer by giving an idea of user research, and your brainstorming process, and further move towards the tool and specifications. Tell them how you create Lofi and Hifi designs and how you visually approach the problems and believe with constant communication and feedback. Tell a step-by-step approach and you can add that you explore your design process by creating mood boards and personal projects that help you to stay in market trends. You can also add an example of your recent project and how you approached it.
Tip: Because you’ve mentioned your recent project they can ask about it more. Always be prepared to explain your project. It shows your interest and originality.
Question 4: What is your favorite digital product and why?
Actually, the motive behind asking this is different than the question. Recruiters really don’t have an interest in your personal choices, they are interested in your views on why you like this product from a design point of view. Let me give you an example, suppose you said you like Netflix. You won’t answer in a way that because Netflix has great web series and movie collection and you like streaming and all. No, this is not what they want to hear, the right way to answer this is I like Netflix because of its user-friendly interface. Netflix’s target audience is large and there’s a large age gap also, but because they’re providing a simple but effective interface everybody can use it. Also tell about your user experience with it, and what specifications you like the most about it. Netflix has a dark color theme and people like to watch movies and shows with dark themes only because it gives them a theatre feel. Tell about the great functionality and smooth transitions between layers and pages.
Tip: Frame your answer in a way that showcases your interest in the product from a design point of view.
Question 5: Present your design portfolio and also show your favorite project.
Showcasing your design portfolio is an art. I’ve built a portfolio website that has all my projects, my side projects, and a brief about me. When I got interviewed I showed them the website, they found it quite interesting because having a single page rather than showing your all projects one by one is better. A better way to showcase your portfolio is you start explaining start with your best projects and don’t take too long to find what should show. Every second is countable in interviews, prepare about your best projects and why you like them, the design process, and everything in advance so you’ve fluency. It shows recruiters that you’re confident and excited about your work and portfolio.
Also don’t over-explain everything. Talk about less but important features. Let them navigate through your portfolio. Prepare answers like why you designed such a project, what difficulties you faced, how you handled negative feedback, and overcome the problems. Also being honest about your projects is very much necessary, don’t always show that you never find any difficulties or you’re very good at designing, tell your weaknesses and problems you faced and your analytical thinking to solve’em.
While talking about your favorite project, mention a few points like problem statement, goals, market trends, and target audience. Ask for their reviews also.
Tip: Constant communication is the best way to know the company and the needs and necessities of the person they want to hire.
Question 6: Which design tool you used the most and why?
Every design tool has its own specifications, but using any of them totally depends on person to person. I mostly use Figma, because of its community easygoing interface, and collaborative environment. Figma provides a lot of independence to the designer also you can work with team members simultaneously. Access provides community, design kits to help a beginner as well as an experienced designer in all possible ways.
Other options are also there like Adobe XD, Sketch, and Photoshop with their different jobs. The thing is whatever tool you use, prepare for why is this better than others, and what you like the most about it. No matter what tool you are using for designing your design process is important. This question is just to know your designing skills better, so answer it accordingly.
So, these are a few questions, if you want my full-fledged interview experiences with answers, or if I missed any important questions to discuss in this document, you can comment below.
Thank you for patiently reading it out. Wish you the best for your interviews.
