Workshop: UX Mock Interview Prep (August 2023)

[Aparna1Gopal]

Dependencies

• Review Issue Workshop: UX Mock Interview Prep #464

Overview

• This is a workshop conducted during the weekly UI/UX Community of Practice meeting.
• Goal of the workshop is to provide practice & feedback on answering/responding to UX Job Interview questions. By the peer mentors in the community.

Action Items

• Identify all available resources pertaining to this issue within the UI/UX CoP Google Drive
• Collate all available UX Interview questions in this Issue, as a Comment
• Share Interview questions with the community prior to the Workshop
• Share this Issue with the community during the Workshop
• Utilize the collated questions to conduct round table mock-interviews, provide peer feedback
• Note any additional resources shared during the workshop, in this issue. Encourage community members to do the same
• Update resources in the Google Drive, if required
• Update Wiki
• Update Slack Message call-outs
• Review with Co-Leads & close issue

Resources/Instructions

Google Drive: Interview Workshop Resources
UX Interview Questions Repository
Common UX Research Job Interview Questions & How to Answer Them

[Aparna1Gopal]

UX JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Good luck 🤞

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Behavioral Questions, Asked by multiple companies

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why do you want to work for us?
• Note: Prepare answers that speak both about the company and the team (if you already know which team you’re applying for)
• What UX research methods have you used in the past?
• What are your salary expectations?
• What is a project you are proud of?
• Tell me about a time when you were creative.
• Tell me about a time when you worked with a difficult person and how you handled it
• Tell me about a time you messed up or failed
• What are you looking for in your next role?
• What would you do if your stakeholder came to you and asked to do research? What’s your process?
• What is the nicest work compliment that you’ve ever received?
• When have you received criticism or negative feedback? How did you handle it?
• Do you have any questions for me?
• Asked at least once:
• Why are you leaving the current company/role?
• Note: This may be important if it’s the first job out of academia
• Tell me about what type of research you have done in the past.
• Note: Discuss all UXR methods used and at which stage
• Walk me through UX research you have done in the past, Note: This is a mini version of a portfolio presentation
• What is a project you are not confident with?
• What are your strengths or weaknesses?
• Tell me about a time when you saved the day/solved a big problem, overcame an obstacle
• Tell me about a time you are proud of, you achieved something great
• Tell me about a time you exhibited leadership
• Tell me about a time where you had to work as a team
• How would you convince stakeholders who have completely different backgrounds from your users so they don’t understand cultural subtleties?
• Imagine that two different people from different teams approached you and wanted a deliverable from you but you only had time to work on one thing. How would you approach this situation?

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Background questions

• Why are you interested in user research?
• How much do you know about our company?
• How did you learn about UX research?
• What aspect of your education prepared you for this role?
• What is your research process?
• Which tools do you use?
• What has been your greatest accomplishment to date?
• How do you expand your knowledge about the industry?

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Decision-driven research questions

• How do you choose the best research method to inform your decisions?
• When shouldn’t you do research to support a decision?
• Can you tell me about a time you had to get buy-in for a project or an idea?
• Can you tell me about a time when your research was used to inform a decision?
• What is your approach to sharing insights with stakeholders?
• How do you know when your research has made an impact?

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Process and technical knowledge questions

• How would you design a study for___?
• What kind of research methods have you applied in the past?
• What is your favorite method? What are its pros and cons?
• When do you choose qualitative, quantitative, or mixed research methods?
• How do you know you’re asking the right questions for a research project?
• How do you account for bias?
• If you could only ask one survey question, what question would you ask to evaluate how people feel about a product's entire experience?
• How do you approach analyzing and drawing conclusions from a large amount of data?
• When do you know when your research is ‘done?’
• Pick a favorite app. Tell us how you’d evaluate it?

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Adaptability questions

• How do you continue your professional development?
• What’s the most challenging part about UXR?
• What type of environment do you thrive in?
• How do you manage multiple projects with competing deadlines?
• Describe a time when your research didn’t go as planned. What did you do?
• What’s an example of a difficult decision you’ve had to make as a researcher? How did you go about making that decision?
• What do you do if both of the design options given to you for usability testing failed?
• If you were short on time and budget, which research method would you choose?

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Collaboration questions

• Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate with stakeholders on a project.
• Which other roles and teams do you interact with on a daily basis?
• How do you handle it when stakeholders are skeptical of the value of your research?
• How would you sell the value of UX research to a Product Manager versus an Engineer?
• How would you motivate a team to think creatively about a problem they were stuck on?
• What do you do when you disagree with a stakeholder about how a particular feature should be designed?
• How do you tailor your findings for different audiences?

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DEI related behavior-based interview questions

• Tell me about what you’ve done to create an inclusive culture in the past.
• Tell me about a time you went out of your way or had to be creative about including others.
• Tell me about a time when you witnessed exclusionary behaviour and how you handled that situation.
• How do you model inclusion in your leadership or management style?
• How do you demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at work?

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Other UX Questions, Asked by multiple companies

• We have a subscription growth issue. How would you go about researching it?
• Have you ever received a negative feedback, how have you handled that?
• Describe a recent research study you did that resulted in a large amount of data. How did you analyze the data, and how did you come up with insights and recommendations to improve the team?
• We have a subscription growth issue. How would you go about researching it?
• How do you deal with circumstances in which individuals are doubtful of the value of your research, for example, when they challenge your sample size?
• Walk me through this: How do you design a research study for a new or concept product that focus group participants may not fully understand?
• Describe the type of research methods you prefer to use. What would you consider to be your main methods of expertise?

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Common questions, for UI/UX Designers

Company Research Part: One of the most important parts you need to prepare to show you actually have researched the firm you're applying for:

• What do you know about our firm?
• Do you know who is the CEO?
• Did you go through our website and social media? What stood out for you in terms of design?
• If you have to comment on the UI/UX part of our website, what would it be? How can you improve it?
• What do you think we do?
• How do you think your vision matches with that of our firm?
• If you get selected, any creative idea you would implement?

UX/UI Research Part: Your in-depth knowledge of UX/UI and your willingness to learn:

• Difference between UX & UI?
• Any website whose UX you like and why?
• How do you do your research for your projects?
• Your level of understanding of various design tools?
• Any hypothetical situation where you need to design something and you might be asked to share your process and reasoning for the same.
• Why UX/UI?
• What is your design thinking process?
• Do you know about various principles of design for instance- proximity, and similarity?
• What is a design system?
• Interviewers might ask you to select one project from your portfolio and walk through it. Prepare all the points to validate your points.
• How do you find design inspiration?
• Knowledge of Accessibility?
• Knowledge of color theory?
• Define one of the terms of UX as per your understanding.
• Are you caught up with the latest trends in design? Name some.

Your Question Part:
You should prepare questions and ask at least 2-3 questions at the end. It shows you're curious to learn about the firm or about our UX process. Clarify any doubts you have related to the role.

Questions provided by Nitya Bardhan

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Other UX Interview Questions

UX Community Of Practice - Interview Questions

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**Common Interview Questions (Skills + Product)

**Common Interview Questions (Behavioral)

Common Interview Questions: Simone Wolfe Taylor Talk, Slides 6-7

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[Aparna1Gopal]

Slack Announcement for Workshop

[Aparna1Gopal]

Notes

• Conducted this Workshop on August 30,2023. Updated Wiki.
• Issue being closed