Skip to main content

Getting Started

Before you start preparing for interviews, you should have a portfolio with projects and case study reports to submit with your application. If you don't have a portfolio, start now. Most companies require a portfolio to be submitted with your application to be considered for the role.

Some resources to get you started on your portfolio.

Understanding the interview process​

While there's no standardized interview process, UX design like most tech roles typically involves a multi-stage interviewing process. These generally start with a phone or virtual screening call where they'll assess your basic fundamental knowledge, followed by technical and behavioral interviews. You will be expected to talk about your past design projects.

Example Process:

  • Phone/Zoom Screening call
  • Technical Interview
  • Behavioral Interview
    • App Review
    • Whiteboard/Design Challenges
  • Design Presentations
  • Offer

Additionally, some companies will ask you to whiteboard through mock design exercises, perform an app review, and present your findings. In any case, your recruiter will work to guide you through this process. If you are selected to move forward, you will eventually meet with a hiring manager to determine whether your values and personality align with the company's values and culture. Throughout this process, the interviewers will assess you with a competency matrix such as this. Here's another example.

The entire duration varies from company to company.

How to use this guide​

Follow along and try to answer the questions on your own. I have provided brief, concise answers to questions and listed any references used to answer them. I highly recommend reading the references as they are great resources that go into a lot more detail than I can here. If you are short on time, I indicated what I think are the most important questions with an "*" in the table of contents.

  • Technical Questions - Use this to review or fill gaps in your knowledge.
  • Behavioral Questions - Prepare answers for commonly asked scenarios using the STAR method.
  • Whiteboard & Design Challenges - Learn strategies to get comfortable creating flows within a time limit.
  • Presentations - Learn how to effectively present your projects.

How questions were selected​

Questions come from a variety of different sources. Most questions were obtained through scrapping UX interview questions on Glassdoor. Some were sourced from my friends who are also in UX, online articles, and forums. Some were created by me.

There's no definitive list of what questions will be asked during interviews. Each interviewer selects their own questions depending on the position and what they're looking for. With adequate preparation, however, none of the questions should catch you off-guard.