Designer Interview Questions

The job interview today has almost devolved into a game of chess between its participants. On the one hand, you have a Hiring Director looking to match a candidate with a role using a methodology culled from countless books about how to hire the perfect hire. On the other, you have a nervous candidate sweating inside a tight collar wanting only to give the right answers to a series of questions that may or may not have right answers in the first place. Given all the tensions and pseudoscience involved, you, as a design job candidate, have no choice but to prepare for your interview as though it were a final exam. This article will go into some of the interview questions a Designer is likely to face and maybe take some of the edge off what is, most of the time, not a pleasant process.

What to Expect in a Designer Interview

Most Designer interviews consist of the time-honored configuration of an interviewer, an interviewee, and a desk between them. You’re likely to be asked a series of questions that may sound benign (the ever-popular pseudo-bromide “tell me something about yourself,” for instance) but which have other purposes beneath their surfaces (the “correct” answer to “tell me something about yourself” is not “I enjoy kayaking and my favorite flavor of ice cream is chunky monkey.”) Remember that, although interviewers may seem like adversaries poised to pounce from their side of the desk, they’re only doing a job, and that job is to find the best person for the role they have to fill. They bear you no animus a priori, and if you’ve been called in for an interview, you will most likely have a fair shot at the job. Your assignment for the time being is to get the interviewer to like you, and such things as the judicious application of natural charm and a knack for schmoozing can work to your advantage. They will only get you so far, however. You’re still going to have to answer a litany of questions and show through your answers that you’re the best candidate for the available position.

When you do the mandatory and extensive due diligence about the company with which you’re interviewing, be sure to try and determine what its dress culture is. You want to wear something as close to the right thing as possible for your interview. Of course, when in doubt, over- rather than underdress. Be neat and wrinkle-free. Men should get a haircut and a shoeshine. Women should get a manicure, and not the nail art kind. As you’re going to be up for a creative role, a sprinkling of “style” over your outfit can work to your advantage but don’t get carried away with it. You want to look “professional” (there’s a term that’s no help at all), responsible, and, most importantly, as though you can fit into the office landscape. And, whatever you wear, make sure it fits and is comfortable to sit in during the interview. Don’t show up squeezed into your bar mitzvah suit. And, given the sensitivities people have (or profess to have) to fragrance, don’t wear perfume or cologne.

Although COVID has changed the protocols for shaking hands forever, a lot of interviewers will still begin the interview with a handshake. So go in expecting to shake hands, but be ready not to, depending on the interviewer’s preferences. If you do shake hands, for pity’s sake do it right. That means a firm grip, a quick up-and-down motion, and giving the interviewer their hand back while, most of all, making determined and positive eye contact. Although you shouldn’t start a staring contest, looking the interviewer straight in the eye is the first way not to let them see you sweat. If you can remember to say “pleased to meet you, Mr./Ms. Smith” in the process, so much the better.

Top Interview Questions for Designers

You can’t report for an interview expecting a pleasant conversation that’s mostly about you. In today’s job-seeking world, you’re going to be expected to be prepared. Very prepared. A lot of the questions you’ll be asked are the same wherever you’re interviewing, and you’ll find lists of them on Indeed and other job-seeking sites. You should go over these lists of questions and consider exactly how you’d answer them in an interview situation. Yes, some interviewers will intentionally drop in a question that’s wholly off the beaten path and leave you no choice but to be spontaneous, but basically, you can prepare for most of the questions you could conceivably be asked.

Mock interviews are a good idea. You can get help from a job counselor with this; otherwise, have a friend or family member put you through your paces. You should take advantage of the mirror as well. For some questions (such as “tell me something about yourself”), you might as well have your answer all but memorized since you can be pretty certain you’ll be asked it. Although you want to seem at least slightly spontaneous, there’s very little room for improvising in the heat of the moment. That’s not to say you should be on auto-pilot throughout the interview, but the fewer variables you have left, the better off you’re going to be.

Here are some questions you’re likely to get asked in an interview. Some of them apply to all design fields, and some of them are more specific to one type of design career or other. The questions are followed by their “secret meanings” and some suggestions for answering them.

Tell me something about yourself

This question is the interview ice-breaker par excellence, and one wonders why interviewers didn’t tire of asking it fifty years ago. Nowadays, however, it’s more than just a simple way of starting the conversation by getting you to reveal some harmless information about yourself. The interviewer is looking for something beyond bland facts while you get comfortable in your chair and prepare for the first “real” question.

No matter how you may be asked to relate something about yourself, the interviewer does not want to hear about your pet birds or taste in music. The hidden agenda of the question is that the interviewer wants to hear how your previous experience relates to the role for which you’re being considered. Yes, that has nothing to do with how the question sounds.

How to answer

You should respond with a precis of your current professional situation, your past experience, and why you'd fit in well with the role and the company. That means you’re going to be expected to have done a lot of research about the job and the company and to work that into your answer. It sounds like a harmless question, but it really is there to get you to make your case for being hired.

For some reason, a lot of the online advice for answering the question suggests that you also work in the fact that you’re on a recreational softball team, probably because it’ll show you’re good at teamwork. If you actually do play on a softball team and can work it in, by all means, do so. You are also going to want to draw attention to your strengths as a designer and avoid being negative about your current job. (“What makes you want to leave your current job?” is another question you’re likely to be asked. Wrong answer: “I’m underpaid, overworked, hate my boss, and the catering in the breakroom stinks.” Right answer: “I’m looking for a role that is more challenging and that will allow me more scope as a designer.”)

Tell me about a design project you’re proud of and walk me through your process

In this case, the interviewer does honestly want to hear about your creative process. There is a sneaky part to the question, however: your interlocutor also wants to see whether your process fits in with the way the company works. Your answer is thus going to have to be a tightrope walk between however you choose to articulate your creative process and what your research has revealed about the company.

How to answer

You’re likely to have your portfolio as a visual aid for this question, so you’ll have something substantive to discuss. Pick your best project, but make sure that it is, if possible, relevant to what the company does. If you can, choose a real-world project instead of a school one, as school projects are often done using the instructor’s process rather than your own, and your opposite number on the other side of the desk knows that.

Since you're very likely going to be asked this question (or the less substantive “tell me about an accomplishment you’re most proud of”), it’s a good one to think out pretty thoroughly. Defining your creative process on the spot is next to impossible. You need to explain how you got from the idea to the finished product, and if you’re not sure what your “process” is, simply say how you got from A to B to Z. Explain the tools you used (this shows off that you know your media, both traditional and digital), and explain the outcome as well. If the outcome fell short of your expectations, that’s not the end of the world. It opens the door for you to say what you might do better the next time. Extra credit: be able to quantify the outcome of your project (e.g., “after we switched to the new logo, conversion rates increased 7%”.)

Do you prefer to work in teams or by yourself?

Danger, Will Robinson!

The reason for the question is straightforward enough: the interviewer wants to know which work style suits you better, but for the somewhat nefarious reason that the hiring person is looking to match a candidate with the role’s requirements. The question is therefore a booby trap, since, regardless of which answer the interviewer is looking for, you don’t want to come off sounding either anti-social or devoid of initiative. (On the other hand, if you’re applying for a job that calls for nothing but teamwork and you can’t stand working with other people, you might indeed want to follow the advice on Indeed’s website and seek a different opportunity.) 

How to answer

The only solution for answering this question is diplomacy. You can start off by stating that both work methods have their advantages and downsides, then explain your preference and why, using examples from your professional past. Then work in the job description and how it suits you, and follow that with more diplomacy about how you work well both in teams and independently. The last bit is especially necessary if the job description doesn’t tell you enough about which answer the interviewer wants to hear. (If that sounds like you’re involved in a game of cat and mouse, it’s because you basically are.)

What makes someone a good designer?

This question has two hidden agendas; it’s not really about starting a pleasant conversation about whether creativity or practicality is more important. The first thing the interviewer wants to ferret out is based on the assumption that you think you’re a good designer and that the qualities you mention are going to be qualities you either have or to which you aspire. The second thing is, again, trying to determine whether you’re compatible with the way in which the company works.

How to answer

Your research is going to be invaluable in sculpting an answer to the question. You hopefully will have determined something about what the company considers to be good design work, and from that, you’ll be able to answer something that will confirm the interviewer’s belief that you’re a good fit for the company. There is also a little room for you to include something about your design philosophy, although you should remember that you’re talking to someone who works for a company that sees design as something tangible and deliverable and not just as wild flights of visual fantasy. So going on about creative spark may not be the best answer. You should also give this some thought so that you can maybe hit upon a somewhat original thought that isn’t something the interviewer has heard a thousand times already. A good theme to work into your answer is communication since, after all, design is about communication.

Are you comfortable with the design programs you would be expected to use in this position?

This one actually is straightforward, as it addresses something that’s almost quantifiable about you as a candidate. Much design is digital these days, and you’re going to be expected to operate the software used by designers, whether it’s the various Adobe programs or AutoCAD or something more specialized like a fashion design program or a game engine. Beware, though, that this could lead to a test question about some aspect of the software you’ve just laid claim to being an expert in using. 

How to answer

For once, honesty really is the best policy, and you should give a fair assessment of your abilities. State how long you’ve been using each program and what your training in it is. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t make yourself out to be an InDesign Jedi master if you’re just good when it comes to handling the program.

What are the differences between UX and UI?

This is a different type of question in that it’s got a right and a wrong answer, and, like a substantive question about the Polygonal Lasso Tool in Photoshop, is being given to you as a test. It gives you a chance to demonstrate your understanding of the boundaries between UX and UI and, as such, is particularly apposite to the UX or UI role for which you’re auditioning. 

How to answer

Have your answer to this one down cold. You likely know the difference between UX and UI if you’re a designer trained in one or the other (or both); the trick is to be able to articulate that difference satisfactorily in the space of about one minute. (You might even time your answer to make sure you’re not babbling unnecessarily.)

Google the question, and you’ll easily find a few dozen answers. They all tend to boil down to UX being about the full gamut of the user’s experience with the product and even the company that makes it. “Feel” is a good word to use since, for example, the user experience designer is responsible for how the doneness button on a toaster feels to the fingers as much as being responsible for the ways in which a digital product feels, whereas the UI designer is responsible for the way a digital product (and UI is only used in reference to digital product) gets you to that feeling.

Who is your role model among fashion designers, and why?

This question for Fashion Designer role candidates is designed to assess, not so much your taste, but, rather, how plugged you are into fashion’s derniers cris and whether you know what’s been happening in New York, Paris, Milan, and London. It will also assess how you ideally imagine your job and whether that accords with the vision of the company for which you’re interviewing.

How to answer

The key to your answer here is how what you appreciate about your role model aligns with the company’s image. Thus you’re going to be falling back again on the research you did about the company. On top of that, you’re going to be expected to show how your model has influenced your designs, your approach to fashion, and your work. Avoid a controversial figure as your answer, and also avoid someone too obscure since you should never never never outsmart your interviewer. 

What is one thing about your favorite game you would change to make it better?

This question for people applying for Game Designer roles is designed to see whether you can think critically about games rather than just play them and to determine whether you have a grasp of what games are out there on the market. This one is especially tricky as it has a built-in landmine to be avoided in sounding too negative, which is something to be avoided at all costs in any job interview. 

How to answer

You probably also don’t want to choose one of the games produced by the studio with which you’re interviewing. You’ll do better to stick to a classic game you can be sure your interviewer knows, say how much you enjoy playing it, and then come back with something like “the only thing that I wish is that…”. Diplomacy (the quality, not the game) should be your watchword when answering this one.

How do you respond to criticism of your designs?

This is an example of the “behavioral interview question,” as your interviewer has been taught to call it. Although this question is asked in some form at nearly every job interview, it’s particularly relevant at Designer interviews because designers can be touchy about the creative work to which they’ve given intellectual birth and are prone to taking criticism personally. The goal of the question, therefore, is to see whether you can differentiate between criticism of your work and of you personally, as well as to see how your process accommodates criticism, both negative and positive, and puts it to use for the common good.

How to answer

One approach to responding to this interviewer’s gambit is to go with the obvious cliches, which are that you use adverse criticism to improve your designs, that you use it as a means of determining with the client wants (regardless of how encouragingly it is framed), and that you know how to distinguish criticism of your designs from criticism of you as a person by doing things like responding patiently and avoiding off-the-cuff retorts to criticism. You’ll need to dress the cliches up in something more personal, but you should get the idea.

Another way in which this question may be framed is asking you for an example of how you've handled negative criticism in the past. Here, you pretty much are being called upon to employ the so-called STAR Method, beloved of many interviewers (and books about acing interviews.) Invented by the consulting firm DDI, the STAR Method is the preferred way to get through one of these behavioral questions. STAR is an acronym for situation or task (S/T), action (A), and result (R). If you look at it objectively, the STAR Method is just a fancy way of saying you put first things first: give the interviewer the story of the negative criticism you received, then say what you did, and then reveal the outcome, which, if you chose your story correctly, will make you look good. There are books on the subject, but that’s really all there is to it. Still, it’s the way your interviewer is going to expect you to answer the negative criticism (and other behavioral) questions, so you should most definitely work your answers out in terms of the STAR method.

Learn the Skills to Become a Designer at Noble Desktop

If you wish to become a designer, Noble Desktop, a tech and design school based in New York that teaches worldwide thanks to the wonders of the internet, is available to give you the education you need to get started in this exciting field. Noble teaches certificate programs in numerous aspects of design and the technology that makes design possible in the contemporary world. These certificate programs offer comprehensive instruction in their topics and will arm you for the job market in whichever aspect of design interests you.

Noble has certificate programs in graphic design (the Adobe trio of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator), digital design (the main troika of Adobe programs plus Figma for UI design), UX & UI design, and motion graphics. All these programs feature small class sizes in order to make sure that each student receives ample attention from the instructor, and can be taken either in-person in New York or online from anywhere over the 85% of the Earth’s surface that is reached by the internet (plus the International Space Station.) Classes at Noble Desktop include a free retake option, which can be useful as a refresher course or as a means of maximizing what you learn from fast-paced classes. Noble’s instructors are all experts in their fields and often working professionals whose experience is invaluable when they mentor students in the school’s certificate programs 1-to-1.

Noble offers further design courses that are briefer than the certificate programs. You may also wish to consult Noble’s Learning Hub for a wealth of information on how to learn to be a designer.