Gearing up for a Design Interview
Landing a design job can be a challenging feat, but with the right preparation, you can increase your chances of success. Here are some key strategies to help you stand out as a well-prepared candidate.
Personalize Your Design Portfolio
To make a lasting impression, tailor your design portfolio to reflect your unique style and strengths. Choose a layout that highlights your best work with a cohesive visual theme, using branded elements and a colour palette that complements your designs. Make the navigation intuitive so viewers easily find key sections like portfolio pieces and contact details.
Research the Company and Its Product
Understanding the company's product offerings, design style, company values, and recent news is crucial. Get to know their target users and business goals. This helps you align your portfolio and interview answers to their needs and culture, demonstrating genuine interest and fit.
Engaging hands-on with the product enables you to give informed feedback and suggestions during the interview. This practical insight can set you apart from other applicants.
Conduct User Research
Gather data on users’ behaviors, needs, and frustrations through methods like surveys, interviews, or usability testing. Use this research to inform design decisions that balance user needs with business objectives. Be prepared to discuss how you apply research findings to improve user experience.
Prepare End-of-Interview Questions
Focus on topics that show your interest in the role and company. Questions like, "What are the biggest design challenges the team currently faces?" or "What are the next big product goals or design trends the company is focusing on?" demonstrate proactive engagement and help you assess if the position matches your career goals.
Identify a "Quick Win"
Identifying a potential "quick win" in a new role can show potential impact. This could be a design improvement, a new feature, or a process optimisation that you believe would benefit the team.
Don't Forget to Research Company Culture
Reach out to contacts within the company through LinkedIn to gather information about the company culture, project success factors, designer perception, and the prospective boss's preferences. Questions about the company culture, handling of failure and success, and interviewer's perception of the role are appropriate.
Use Notes During the Interview
Using notes during an interview is not considered uncool. They can help you stay focused and ensure you cover all the points you want to discuss.
In summary, customizing your design portfolio, thoroughly researching the company and its product, applying user research insights, and preparing strategic questions ensures you present as a well-prepared candidate aligned with both user and business needs. Finding regular users of a product can provide valuable insights during an interview, and identifying pain points and positive aspects of the product can demonstrate understanding and potential improvements.
- Incorporating elements of user research and education-and-self-development, demonstrate your ability to gather data on users’ behaviors, needs, and frustrations through methods like surveys, interviews, or usability testing, and be prepared to discuss how you apply these findings to improve UI design.
- Explore the company's education-and-self-development opportunities and career-development potential by engaging with contacts within the company and asking questions about the company culture, handling of failure and success, and interviewer's perception of the role, as this information can help guide your decisions about whether the position matches your lifestyle and long-term career goals.
