How to succeed at design interviews
How to succeed at design interviews
I survived 10 years of interviews: Insider tips, proven strategies, and expert insights from leaders at Meta, Airbnb, and Mixpanel, on what really makes you stand out.
Hi, I’m Felix. Welcome to this month’s ✨ free edition ✨ of ADPList’s Newsletter. I reveal proven & untold insights on designing things people love and insider career advice from top experts. If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this month:
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I’m thrilled to bring you an important guest post by Meghan Logan. A staff product designer with 9+ years of experience. What’s even more impressive is that she does not have a fancy degree, never finished college, didn't go to graduate school, and hasn't worked at Google or fancy companies. She created this guide for designers of all levels, across all verticals to use (or not use) on their path. Offering almost 10 years of wisdom from 10 years of interviews, in hopes you ace yours a lot sooner than she did.
“Meghan Logan’s playbook is the GPS that helps you find the quickest and most efficient route to securing your dream job or promotion.”
Below, for the first time publicly, Meghan shares her most important formula with an insider’s guide from top leaders at Meta, Airbnb, and Mixpanel to help you navigate through every stage of the interview process. I’m excited to share it with you here, and I can’t wait to hear how it goes when you implement it.
🔖 You can download the FREE product design interview playbook below!
Follow Meghan for more on LinkedIn, ADPList, and website.
The Product Design Interview Playbook: Stand out from the crowd and ace your interview
As the tech industry grows, so does the demand for skilled product designers who can solve complex problems and create intuitive, user-centered designs. However, landing a role in this competitive field often comes down to one crucial moment: the interview. Many designers, even experienced ones, find it challenging to communicate their value and experience effectively during an interview. That’s where preparation, storytelling, and strategy come into play.
In this post, I’ll share some foundational insights from my Product Designer's Interview Playbook, a comprehensive guide to navigating the design interview process with confidence and clarity. Whether you're new to the field or a seasoned designer looking to refine your approach, these tips will help you showcase your unique strengths.
The Interview Cycle Explained
Each interview is broken into phases, with specific techniques you can apply at every step.
1. Recruiter Screen
This is an informal chat, but don’t take it lightly. Research the company’s values and align them with your personal motivations.
Example: “I see your company focuses on sustainability. That resonates with my background, as I’ve worked on a project optimizing the eco-friendliness of supply chains.”
2. Whiteboard Challenge
Not all companies use this, but many do.
The goal is to assess your product sense, critical thinking, and collaboration in real time. Talk through your process out loud. Think of it as a Scooby-Doo episode—unravel the mystery, but narrate everything!
Example: "When tasked to design a dashboard for busy managers, I started by identifying user pain points and worked backward to simplify navigation."
3. Portfolio Review
Arguably the most important part, where you present 1-3 case studies. Create individual decks for each case study rather than scrolling through your website. Design is about storytelling.
Example Deck Setup:
Problem Statement: What challenge were you solving?
Steps Taken: How did you go about solving the problem?
Resolution: What was the outcome, and how did users benefit?
Let’s dive into the proven formula for this playbook… ⬇️
1. The Importance of Preparation
One of the biggest mistakes designers make when preparing for interviews is not researching the company thoroughly. Design roles can vary greatly depending on the industry, the team size, and the company's design maturity. It's not just about knowing their product but understanding their design challenges, mission, and how your skill set can address their needs.
Great candidates are flexible and open to new processes, tools, and ideas, even ones they feel are outmoded.
— Ryan McMaster (WeMix Stickers)
Your presentation needs to be polished. I cannot stress this enough—make a presentation slide deck for your portfolio review.
— Alyssa Kjar (Mixpanel)
Key Tip: Don’t just prepare for your role—prepare for their goals. Tailor your portfolio to reflect how your design thinking aligns with the company’s vision. Highlight case studies where you've solved problems similar to the challenges the company is facing.
2. Craft a Compelling Story Around Your Work
The design portfolio is often where candidates stumble, particularly when it comes to structuring their case studies. A portfolio shouldn’t just be a collection of your best work—it should tell a story. Employers want to understand why you made certain decisions and how you approached the problem. This is where storytelling becomes crucial. You need to weave a narrative that connects the dots between the problem, your process, and the solution.
The biggest mistake designers can make is failing to tell a story. Case studies presented as steps make for a terribly boring and undifferentiated portfolio.
— Ryan Scott (Accelerate Design)
Evidence of trade-offs shows your understanding of real-world design constraints.
— David Lim (CultureAmp)
What I care about first is the candidate’s ability to tell a clear and compelling story—what was the problem? How did you approach it? What considerations did you make with your response?
— Alan Wexelblat (Player-coach leader in UX/Design)
Key Tip: When crafting your case study, think of it as a story with a clear beginning (the problem), middle (your process), and end (the solution). Focus on your design decisions and how they directly impacted the project’s success. Be transparent about challenges and pivots along the way—they highlight your adaptability and problem-solving skills.
3. Communicate Design Decisions with Confidence
During interviews, it’s not enough to showcase what you designed; you must communicate why you designed it that way. Hiring managers are looking for candidates who can clearly explain their thought process, user research findings, and the rationale behind design choices. It’s about demonstrating your ability to think critically and solve problems through design.
I’m looking for their ability to think critically about design problems and come up with innovative solutions.
— Carl Wheatly (Meta)
Hiring managers aren’t expecting perfection. They understand that nothing goes exactly as planned, so be ready to talk about what didn’t go well.
— David Lim (CultureAmp)
Taking risks often leads to a conversation about risk. ‘Tell me about a time when you took a design risk. What was that risk? What led you to take it
— Alan Wexelblat (UX/Design leader)
Key Tip: Practice articulating your design decisions as if you were explaining them to a non-designer. The clearer you can be, the more you’ll demonstrate your ability to communicate across teams—a critical skill for any product designer.
4. Emphasizing Collaboration and Feedback
Product design is rarely a solo effort. Hiring managers want to know how you collaborate with cross-functional teams—developers, product managers, stakeholders, and even users. Additionally, they want to see how you handle feedback and iteration. Are you someone who can pivot based on feedback? Can you accept critique and refine your work?
Strong candidates work well with cross-functional teams and take feedback constructively.
— Carl Wheatly (Meta)
Ask teammates what they’re looking for in a coworker and talk to them about how you fit their needs.
— Alyssa Kjar (Mixpanel)
If designers ask specific questions about process, industry, and personas in a proactive way, that’s a great sign that they’re creative problem solvers
— Ryan McMaster (WeMix Stickers)
Key Tip: In your portfolio and during the interview, be sure to emphasize how you’ve worked with teams and integrated feedback to improve your designs. Show that you're flexible, open to iteration, and comfortable working in fast-paced environments.
5. Overcoming Common Interview Pitfalls
One common pitfall designers face is focusing too much on aesthetics or personal preferences rather than user needs and business goals. Remember, product design is as much about solving user problems as it is about meeting business objectives. Companies are looking for designers who can balance both.
The allure of many ideas can emit such a blinding halo of light that we can become relatively unreceptive to further clues about the actual problem.
— Lisa Baird (Neol)
So few designers tell a story during their interviews that it’s an instant leg-up if you do. Focus less on process and more on the why and outcomes.
— Ryan Scott (Accelerate Design)
Key Tip: Always bring your design decisions back to the user and the business. Show how your designs not only improve user experience but also drive results, such as increased engagement, conversion rates, or efficiency.
In summary
Prepare thoroughly: Research the company, tailor your portfolio, and practice your presentation.
Tell a compelling story: Focus on the "why" behind your design decisions, not just the steps.
Communicate with confidence: Be clear about your process and the trade-offs you made.
Showcase collaboration: Highlight your teamwork and how you handle feedback.
Own your challenges: Discuss failures and what you learned from them to show growth.
Download the FULL FREE Product Designer’s Interview Playbook
This is just a glimpse into the strategies and insights covered in the Product Designer’s Interview Playbook. In the full guide, I dive deeper into:
Crafting portfolio case studies that resonate with hiring managers
Navigating design challenges and problem-solving in real time
Mastering the whiteboard or live design challenge during interviews
Presenting yourself as the best candidate, from application to offer
If you’re serious about landing your next design role or leveling up your interview skills, download the complete guide and gain access to more actionable strategies and tools.
Download the playbook ➡️ https://bit.ly/designinterviewplaybook
Join Meghan’s Product Design Interview Course ➡️ https://maven.com/meghan-logan/case-study-transformation
Grab 30 minutes to talk design ➡️ https://adplist.org/mentors/meghan-logan
Thank you, Meghan! You can follow Meghan for more on LinkedIn, ADPList and website. That’s all for this week. Have a productive and fulfilling week! 🙏
Want to meet and be mentored by top design leaders from Uber, Airbnb, Duolingo, and Meta? Join ADPList today as a member for free!
I'll keep creating great stuff if you keep reading. I read every reply if you care to reply :). You might get an answer back.
Until next week.
Felix Lee
I appreciate this, but design process isn’t always linear. Sometimes working at startups you don’t have everything define so the design process is a lot like navigating through ambiguity. I’m a little bored of seeing this same format when it comes to “case study” or portfolio presentation. I think we need to normalize showing the various iterations, the messy art boards, and the not so complex problems too. Everyone can sharpen their technical skills over time. The most important question to have answered during an interview is “will we work well together?”. In that case I would work backwards and figure out another way to interview the candidate to have this question answered.