Because experience design touches every part of our lives at the moment, the product designers on your team can make your product succeed or hinder it.

Questions to Ask Your New Product Designer

So, how can you make sure that you have found the right candidate for this job? We have collected ten interview questions that you should ask when hiring a product designer for your product design and development project.

How does the role of the product designer affect the rest of the product team members?

The product designer should be ready to talk about crucial areas beyond visual design, including user research, data-driven design, understanding problem spaces, developing design ideas, user testing, and developing user interfaces and wireframes. You want to make sure that they can strategically solve the problem in addition to creating a beautiful job.

What aspects of the product design process are most interesting to you and why?

It is important to assess the level of their interest in certain areas so that you can determine whether they meet your specific team composition and organizational needs. After all, no two product teams are the same.

You really want to hear that they like to solve problems. Product design is all about recognizing a problem and creating a solution. Without this innate passion for critical thinking and analysis, it won’t be easy to pass the initial stage of generating ideas.

Describe the product design projects that you are most excited about. Who was on the team, and what was your role?

The product designer will give you an idea of their level of involvement.

The person should also say what components of the process they owned. And how deeply they understood the problem they were trying to solve. You will also learn how the candidate cooperates with people from various disciplines. You should know if the product designer you are hiring will feel comfortable and thrive in cross-functional environments.

In which areas of design are you strongest? What difficulties do you encounter as a product design professional?

Start by understanding the level of research, strategy, and visual design required for this role. The answer your product designer gives will help you determine if they are the best fit for your product team,

But this also depends on the type of designer you are looking for.

You don’t want to hear that they don’t have areas for improvement, because let’s face it: product design is constantly changing and evolving; there is always something new to learn and improve.

What types of tools do you often use to perform project work?

All product designers should feel comfortable using Sketch and Invision.

If they are focused on Photoshop and Illustrator, then either their talents are in graphic design (and not in the product) or do not meet the industry standards of product design. If they have gaps in this area, but you see that they have potential, then planning a thorough preparation of the candidate is a good option.

What does your ideal working environment look like? What kind of people do you prefer to work with, and what kind of work do you do?

Product design is all about collaboration, and this question will help you understand whether they like working in a team. On the other hand, you want to avoid hiring “heroes”-people who are great designers but believe that they can do it all independently. Study the types of collaboration they have enjoyed in the past and ensure that they like to dive deep into complex problems with colleagues.

What do you like most about what you are doing now?

There is no one-size-fits-all here; instead, pay attention to using specific words that reflect the type of work they will do in your organization.

What do you do to constantly grow as a person and as a designer?

A strong product designer is a person who studies all his life, is aware of himself, and can constantly improve. Product design reflects the changes taking place in technology and business; therefore, if a candidate is able to give convincing examples of how he is constantly growing, it shows that he is impartial and open to new ideas.

What are you looking for in your next position?

In the field of product design, you need an ambitious person who wants to solve complex tasks and who will thrive in cross-functional teams. You want to hear that they want to help others – whether it’s helping their team succeed in junior to mid-level positions or providing mentoring and guidance in senior positions.

Their response will help you understand their ideal environment in terms of team structure, workplace, and level of collaboration. You will be able to understand their motives and values, and ultimately, whether a job in your organization is suitable for you.

How important is listening to you as a designer?

Most people don’t pay attention; they just listen to answer, not to understand. They offer a solution before they fully hear and understand the problem. You want to hire a designer who appreciates the opportunity to collect all the information needed to understand what is expected.

A designer with strong listening skills will develop a genuinely customer-oriented product.

The goal of this question is to know if the designer is ready to spend quality time and effort to identify the actual need the product will be designed to meet.