Comprehensive 14-Point Web Design Checklist & Guide

How do you design a website that is beautiful, converts well and provides great value for users? Designing and developing a website takes time and effort. Working efficiently helps us to deliver a great website at a competitive price. A systematic approach to designing a web page is usually recommended to create a cohesive, consistent site that is scalable across all devices and platforms. In order to work efficiently, it may be useful to record steps that are repeated in every project. By doing this you are able to save time and have more freedom to explore other areas of design.
This article includes a web design checklist and suggests a few approaches designers can take to make their workflow as fast as possible. This will not help you save time but figure out new solutions to design problems and that can improve the overall design of the website.

1.  Use visual hierarchy 

Web designers should use visual hierarchy to guide the user through the web page. Visual hierarchy refers to the organization of different visual elements in a high to low visual prominence. This order not only brings visual clarity but also helps engage the user as he or she is on your web page.

Combining different aspects of this law can help keep the page interesting to look at and read. An effective web page should be able to engage the user as he navigates through a series of images, messages towards the call to action.

2. Use standard layouts

When designing a web page, designers have to design the layout around human behavioral patterns. We have been accustomed to using websites a certain way, if we don’t keep the layout and structure consistent to the usual standards, users are going to find it hard to navigate through your web page. So it is better to stick to low visual complexity in design to keep it usable, simple and attractive. It is good to be able to differentiate your brand in the marketplace but adding complexity in the layout will only make it harder for the user to use it. Here are some of the common web design standards to keep in mind when designing a webpage.

•  Logo in the top left

•  Horizontal navigation in the header

•  The search bar at the top

•  Social icons at the bottom are f the page

•  Use focused headline on top of every page

Having a descriptive headline about the company will help the user know if they are on the right page. Users spend about 80% of their time above the fold. So having a clear value proposition above the fold is as important as the content itself.

Just because users spend most of their time above the fold of the web page doesn’t mean that your call to action should be placed on the same section. For users to take action, you have to market the company and the product throughout the page. Persuading the user this way will often make them take action. This is why the call to action buttons are usually placed at the bottom of the page where the interest of the user tends to be high.

3.  Clean, simple and tall layout

Designing web pages that are simple sans clutter can help the user really focus on the product and its value. Low visual complexity is often preferred because they cut the clutter out of the web page and make the site more readable.

Making use of space to create tall pages helps you add sections for frequently asked questions. By doing this, you are able to answer questions that a user might have about the business and the product. You want the user engaged while reading through the page so make sure to build a long page that answers all of their questions.

4. Avoid slideshows and tabs

Users only tend to look the very first image on the slide often without seeing the images and messages of the subsequent slides. So ‘call to action’ buttons placed here is unlikely to be clicked.

Avoiding tabs and expansively boxes will help your content be more visible to the user. Users prefer scrolling and usually don’t take the time to click on a button to learn more about a section. So it would make sense to have your content exposed without the need for you to click on a tab to reveal something.

5. Use the right Images

Using pictures of faces can help bring users attention to a specific content of the web page. Using face imagery can be useful in web design. Placing them in a specific way can guide them through different contents of the web page. For example, having an imagery of Hillary Clinton with her head turned towards the headline can help draw the user to the readable content on the left of the screen. Using visual cues like this can be beneficial to guide the visitors’ attention to statements or call to action buttons.

As web designers, you should be looking to build a web page that is capable of building a trust with the reader. So the imagery has to be picked carefully. Avoid using generic stock photos if possible. People prefer and want to see real people who actually work at the company.

6. Color and contrast

Color can be a powerful tool to draw the users attention. Colored call to action buttons designed in specific ways can impact the viewer in more ways than previously imagined.  Having a colored call to action button with a contrasting text or a background can bring the visitors eye towards the buttons.

Using action colors that separate from the colors of the brand palette can be another way to guide the visitor towards all the links, buttons and rollover effects.

7. Navigation and links

Visitors usually scan the web page from top left to right so anything placed on here is likely to be seen and used. To communicate your message with the menu, buttons and navigation link place them in areas where the eye is bound to travel. Be sure to use descriptive navigation links that are relevant to search engines and visitors. By doing so you will be able to leverage the web designs best practices. The most common area to place the home link is to the top left of the screen as visitors expect to find it here. The other items in the menu screen can be placed in any order you wish as they don’t directly affect the SEO rating and success of visitors.

8.  Linking to other websites and blog posts

As a web designer, you want the visitors to spend time on your web page. So try to avoid using any distracting links that take their attention away from the service page. Exiting the page they are on to go to an external website is bound to lower your conversion rate. To be able to successfully convert them to a lead, the user should find the service page engaging and of high interest.

9. Include social share and follow buttons in your blog site

Having great content on your site is not enough, a good experience can only be created when users can interact with it. People like to share what they have just read or learned. Including social share buttons on the top of the screen will persuade them to take an action. If you don’t leverage this feature, you will be missing out on social media traffic.

10. Optimizing for mobile

A vast majority of website users own mobile phones. If you are designing a website for a business, chances are they are going to need you to design mobile pages to reach a wider customer base. About 61% of the users don’t go back to using a mobile site if they have trouble accessing it. So make sure to use the best practices for developing a mobile site to create a seamless mobile experience for the user.

11. Build an online presence

To be able to have a solid online presence, your website has to get found. How do you do this? Having a great SEO strategy in place will help you design a website that converts well. This means that you have to create content that your users will search for.

12. Use meaningful Words

Writing meaningful subheads may help visitors find relevant content. Having vague subheads with useful text underneath will defeat its purpose. To make the content helpful to users it’s better to have descriptive subheading instead of a vague one. This is not only good for usability but is also considered a good SEO practice.

It’s always good to break up a long paragraph into smaller chunks. This will not only make the content easier to consume but also help the overall design more readable. Another way to make the content more readable is to use simple, common words that appeal to a wide array of people. The goal is to create an effortless reading experience for the user and keeping the text simple will help them process information without much effort.
List any content within your copy in order of importance. As visitors scan the copy the text they read in the beginning and end tends to stay in their short-term memory.

13. Add testimonials and other types of social proof

Add evidence as to why the user should choose your company’s service over the others. Adding testimonials and reviews will help them understand your offerings and will, in turn, be able to form a sense of trust.
Here are some types of social proof that can be added to the page

• Endorsements from clients

• Customer reviews of your product

• Trust signage and symbols of proof

• Media releases and as seen in editorial images

• Email sign up forms for subscribers

Email sign up form is usually placed at the very bottom of the web page. It should be able to stand out within the page so pay attention it’s representation when designing this section. It should also clearly indicate their value offering and have social proof so users can verify their data.

14. Understand what makes the site unique and valuable

Visitors are interested in useful information more than just a pretty site. Let us take a look a recent study done on some of the important factors that influence the design of a website:

• 76% of the visitors said that they want to find what they are looking for

• 10% cared about the appearance

• 9% were interested in cutting-edge interactive experiences

• 5% cared about other factors

Now let us take at the causes of failure:

• 60% find-ability

• 12% search

• 9% page design

• 9% information

• 5% task support

• 3% fancy design

• 2% other

Visitors are drawn to beautiful design but that by itself won’t keep the user interested in the page. For a website to be successful, it has to go beyond its visual representation, it has to give the visitor what they need. We hope that you found this 14-point web design checklist useful. If you’ve got anything to add to the list, please let us know!

#vorzie, #vorziestudios, #webdesignchecklist, #jayvorzimer

www.vorzie.com

Original post: 

http://www.webdesigndev.com/web-design-checklist-guide/

These are some curated UX trends that should be dominating in 2019 which is just around the corner. Achieving good user experience will continue to dominate the industry and let’s show gratitude to all the experience designers around the world for proving experience matters in a product. Let’s dive into the topic.

1. Designing for Foldable display smartphones

2019 is just around the corner and we are going to witness smartphones with foldable display as we have seen leaked prototypes from major OEMs which no longer seems like fantasy and prototypes proved they are close to reality. According to Display Supply Chain Consultant (DSCC), a major display market research company carried out a research and estimated nearly 3.1 million units of foldable display smartphones to be shipped in 2019 and OEMs like Samsung, LG, Huawei, Oppo are already gearing up to introduce first in market trying to become pioneer in foldable display smartphone industry. Here is a prototype.

We should gear up to get adapted to hybrid design by designing for both the views in a foldable smartphone and this experience is not going to be like responsive design. Though the first models are not gonna leverage buyers to buy as there gonna be plenty of compromises just to bring the devices to the market but it is essential to learn it and move on.

2. Multiple Design experience for Geographic, Demographic and Psychographic segmentations

This might sound unreasonable for you but going through this might make sense. Let’s agree to the fact that the preferred app experience differs with different people, a design might not be widely appreciated by all age groups, people from different countries, people with different behaviours and this is where Geographic, Demographic and Psychographic segmentations play indispensable part.

Geographic
Geographic segment is an segment of audience where they are situated, it can be of region or country. For instance Chinese audience, Indian audience and western countries audience and these audiences don’t always have similar likings or way of life as they have their own tradition & culture. For a more hint Arabic app interfaces are implemented right to left instead of left to right which is universally accepted. Similarly Chinese people preferred to have their app to be presented more colourful playing emotions around compared to American apps more functional and straight to the context. Here is a example how app markets are being designed for respective people.

DemographicDemographic segment is aimed at few characteristics of the audience like gender, age, marital status, education, income and so on and here age and education is fundamental characteristics to be looked upon for deeper insights. For instance, different aged people has their own desire using a product, for instance people who falls between 18–30 years can get used to modern experience as they could easily get adapted like gestures. On the other side aged between 40–55 years are gonna expect a simple experience with no so sumptuous colours hanging around and animation on touches. And at last who aged 60+ years are gonna like old school experience expecting large images, huge font sizes, basically pays attention to the size of user interfaces. In one word you are going to mess if you offer them complex features and experience. Here is my favourite product testing clip with three senior gentlemen.

PsychographicThe last segmentation here is the Psychographic which deals with mental models of people, opinions, interests, lifestyle and so on and apparently most arduous and onerous segmentation among all. In order to achieve this a deep analysis, research needs to be carried out by meeting different people and comprehending their problems and virtue. This is near impossible segment to achieve as each people’s mental model works dissimilar and offering custom experience is impossible but close to the solution is to offer them configurable options on certain parts of the app as they can customize as per their needs.

3. Tunnelling User Experience

Tunnelling is a stratagem in UX which is a planned user journey and the end goal is to make users to interact with the things we designed. Basically you are guiding users to interact with the elements on each screen that are being navigated to end goal of a product. For instance how a wizard works in software industry, the wizard here explicitly tells user to do certain things in step by step in order to achieve.
Let’s take Uber as example how they cracked in tunnelling.

4. Thumb Friendly Experience

The ongoing 2018 saw the rise of 18:9 ratio panels over 16:9 ratio in display of smartphones which gave OEMs to achieve screen to body ratio upto 87% which is batty. This means more display and less bezel which is in track to attain futuristic 100% screen to body ratio which is no more going to be a fantasy. The average display size of Android mid-range smartphones launched in 2018 ranges from 5.8" to 6.2" which is prolong but thanks to the less bezels. Twist in the tale is bezels are being trimmed and display sizes are being increased so the compact factor don’t exist in modern smartphone world giving little gymnastics to your palm and fingers where you are forced to use both the hands sometimes to reach certain parts of the app.
Here is a example how reachability works on two different phones with two different aspect ratio.

The ideal solution to offer is to surface fundamental controls of the app at the bottom that is already being adapted by major apps realizing how handy it is and thanks to Apple for kickstarting this approach in their apps several years back and now it is criterion.

What else?

I have seen few apps that offer search field just under finger reachability rather than placing on top of the app which again causes inconvenience. Even Google’s pixel launcher comes with Google search just under reachability, simultaneously I kind of think this is to promote their Google now as well. Let’s take instance on newest launcher this time from Poco launcher again has bottom search bar for swifter app search.
Let’s go away from launchers and talk about apps that use bottom search bars. First hits my mind is Lyft ride share app, most user actions in the app are performed at bottom half of the app which was well thought by comprehending user models. Second I would pick floating action button which was introduced alongside Material design for Android and Google products. The floater button was utilized for multi purpose not just to compose but to search, filter, sort, account and so on and it mostly presented as shortcut.

Bonus

5. Evolving to contemporary Interface design (Just White)

You might be bit confounded by the title as what does this mean? We got acquainted by Window’s Metro design and Apple’s iOS 7 with Flat designmoving away from realistic interface Skeuomorphism. Flat design swiftly became admired mostly after Apple’s iOS 7 as Apple known for perfecting the things and designers had to get adapted to flat design language as it was clean, minimal and causes less distractions as it was purely two dimensional. Looking at past standing on a mountain’s peak tells you how flat design evolved and became much more intelligent in bestowing on user experience as well. A variation of flat design called Material design which was inaugurated back in 2014 which again brought bit of Skeuomorphism by adding emotions to design by offering depth, shadows and physics too! But as time progressed it became more flatter dumping material design aspects in their design language resembling flat design found on iOS specifically.

Flat design turning Just White!Just white is beautiful interface with user experience compromises! Flat design had minimal factor in design with contrasting colour to highlight crucial atoms of the screen like call to actions, filled iconography and so on to stand out against static elements. You would have observed how flat design evolved to more white minimal design meaning representing visuals of the screen mostly white offering pleasant experience along with clean visuals. Just white resembles newspaper approach which is proved to be good for reading. What I want to say is more apps in 2019 will go with just white approach by dumping choosing of solid colours and making way for this.

6. Gestures!

It’s no wonder gestures gonna gradually replace with current on-screen buttons to navigate found on Android phones making more room for apps. The on-screen navigation buttons mostly remains static in most of the time except in few departments like video, gallery view, gaming. So this is why Apple indeed introduced iPhone X with gestures instead of static multi-purpose home button on bezel which helped to navigate. Initially people had hard time getting used to gesture based controls as they are not visible as they are controlled programatically but people got used to it as they progressed to use the phone. Gestures can be operated in several ways by swiping up, down, sides, long swipe giving different options to each gesture which are being operated on top of display which detects touch.
Even Google’s recent phones Pixel 3 & Pixel 3 XL have gesture-based navigation inspired by Apple’s but it is not certain whether the intention was to copy Apple.
We also have hidden menus which can be operated by gestures and you would noticed especially in lists where you can see multiple actions for a item like delete but this feature was rarely used by users as they are hidden.

#Design, #UX/UI Design, #VorzieStudios, #SiliconeValleyTrends, #Jay Vorzimer

http://www.vorzie.com/

Visual Guide to the Customer Journey Mapping

According to the Digital Trend 2015 Report, customer experience is considered the most important factors to stand from your competitor in the business. This can be achieved only through understanding the customer experience. The customer journal mapping can help us to visually learn more about our customers and build a coherent project future plans accordingly.

The literature studies highlighted that companies found that attracting a new customer is 6X to 7X more expensive comparing with the effort, time, and cost spent to keep the existing customer happy and engaged to the product or service. So, how can the customer journey maps help companies to reach this goal? We will go through the steps to create a customer journey mapping and the benefits that can be accomplished by applying it. In this practice, you can use any of the customer journey mapping tools highlighted later in this article.

What is the Customer Journey Maps?

The customer journey maps are a visual diagram that tells the story of your customers’ experience when using a product, service or visits a retail store. it helps us to identify the consumers’ goals, the steps they made to access the service, the touch point with the service, and their emotional experience at each stage of their journey.

The customer journey map can be presented in different formats including drawing on a whiteboard, digital diagrams, and infographics. These diagrams intent to visual and organize a deep research for your customer’s experience using different research methods.

Why Should we Use Customer Journey Mapping?

While human-centered design aims to focus on the customer needs and experience, it can’t be achieved without a deep understanding of the customer experience itself. Therefore, the customer journey maps are considered a powerful tool in the hand of designers and companies to reach a consumer-centric product.

The customer journey mapping can drive the below benefits for the product or service:
– Build a complete and accurate understanding of the customer behavior and experience when using the product or service
– Learn how to customer really use the product or service based on real-life examples
– Identify the pain point that causes bad emotional experience for the customers
– Reduce or eliminate the negative factors that affect the customer experience
– Identify the communicate problems that face customers when interacting with the touch points such as the application interface, help desks, or customer support service
– Build key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to evaluate the product in order to collect feedback to improve the future version

How to Apply the Customer Journey Mapping?

The process to create the customer journey maps follow the critical thinking main stages; understand, reflect, and implement. Based on this flow, the creation of the customer journey maps follow the below main three stages:

Stage 1: Understand

At this stage, the design and marketing team work together to understand the customer behavior through deep research to their experience while using the product. Before, starting the research, the team should define a customer persona; The persona is a virtual character with the same demographic information of the real customer targeted in the research phase. In terms of the customers’ emotional experience, you can also build the persona empathy mapping which allows the design team to understand the different feelings that visit the consumer during using the product or service.

The different research methods (Source: NNGroup: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/)

Once the persona is defined, the research team is recruited to collect the data using different research method that include the following:
– Qualitative research methods. These methods allow the team to collect the customer emotional experience. These methods include observation, interviews, focus groups, and field studies
– Quantitative research methods. These methods aim to collect measurable information such as how many time does the customers user the service? How long does it take to complete the process?…etc. These methods include surveys, testing, and web analytics.

The persona for the customer journey map created using UXPressia

Stage 2: Reflect

At this stage, the collected data are organized and shared with the team to brainstorm and solve problems. The stage includes the following preparation:

Assemble the team

The team should involve all the stakeholders working in the project in order to understand and discuss problems from all the different perspectives such as the design, marketing, and managerial sides.

Prepare the meeting place

The meeting place should include the tools required to go through all the data, present it, and convert to a visualized infographics. These tools include the following:
– Projector to overview the different collected data and available media
– Whiteboard and notes to sketch different ideas and visualize it to the team
– Online customer journey mapping tool to digitalize the brainstormed ideas during the meeting using the customer journey map template that can be shared with the team later. There are different customer journey map tools such as UXPressia, Smaply, and UX360.

Brainstorming

Based on the collected data, the team defines the information that should be included in the customer journey map in order to help to understand the customer behavior including the following:

1. The steps that the customer go through in order to use the product or the service
2. The customer goal during each step
3. The process that the customer should follow in each step and the relation between the customer and the system

The connection between the customer and the touchpoint using arrows (Adopted from UX Lady: http://www.ux-lady.com/diy-experience-map/)

4. The emotional experience at each stage represented in terms or shapes of happy, moderate, or sad
5. The reasons of the emotional experience
6. The channels that customer may use to access the service, it can be a website, a mobile app, an email, or a phone call
7. The touch points where the customer interact with the service such as the mobile design

The figure below shows a customer journey map template created using UXPressia to visualize the persona experience in traveling using railway service:
The figure below shows a customer journey map template created using UXPressia to visualize the persona experience in traveling using railway service:

example of the customer journey map. (Click the image to enlarge)

In addition to the above information, the customer journey map can also include:

8. Qualitative data to evadable each stage such as the Key Performance Indications (KPIs)
9. Ideas area to give suggestions that may improve each stage

Stage 3: implement

After understanding the customer experience, the team should have a clear vision about the pain point that faces the customer and how brainstormed how to overcome it through building an action plan. This plan should address these issues faced by the customer with solutions. The action plan should clearly define the timeframe and budget required to improve the product or the service in order to improve the customer satisfaction. The plan should include the stakeholders working n implementing these changes

After implementing these changes, another customer journey map should be created in order to evaluate the customer satisfaction of the new changes and if there any further improvement is needed. Note that the design of a product or service is an iterative process, there are always ways to improve it as the customer experience change due to the changes in the culture, education, and new technologies.

The above example went through one customer journey map template, yet there are varied templates and shapes of the customer journey maps depend on the visualized information, the team creativity, and the tool used to create the map.

In sum, the customer journey mapping is a powerful tool in the company’s hand to understand their customer experience and work to improve it in the next versions of the product or the service. It allows companies to collect data about the consumer and organize these data in a visual form that can be easily tracked by all the stakeholders included in the project. As a result of this understanding, the team can work to build an action plan aiming to improve the consumer experience which will positively reflect on the project success in the market.

Original Article

Jay Vorzimer, Vorzie Studios, www.vorzie.com

10 Questions You’ll Be Asked in a UX Interview

The Questions (and notes):

1. How do you define UX/design?

Focus on crafting a unique and specific definition that sheds light on who 
you are as a designer. Use this also as an opportunity to tell a story that 
provides context for your design perspective. However you define UX, make 
this a chance to add something personal.

I focused my definition around empathy and the importance of understanding 
the people I’m designing for. It allowed me to touch on my background in 
psychology, allude to past experiences I had doing anthropological research, 
and brought to light the importance of designing human-centered experiences.

2. What is your design process?

Everyone has a different design process (and that’s okay). What will matter is 
your ability to describe your process and explain the rationale behind your 
approach. It’s a good idea to have a standard ‘go-to’ process in mind, yet 
it’s important to acknowledge your design context. Different UX situations 
inevitably call for different UX processes. It’s a strength to understand your 
environment and determine a process that’s best fits for your situation.

Ask your interviewer for specifics. Respond to a particular design problem 
the company is facing or talk about a process you have used in a particular 
situation.

Through all my processes, my one constant is to ask the right questions before 
designing.  It frames the way I approach a problem and guides me toward 
the appropriate UX strategy and tools going forward.

3. What are some apps or websites that you love?

When thinking about this question, consider your audience and have a range of 

apps/websites that can demonstrate a diversity of aspects you find important to 
design. When I was interviewing, I chose SquareCash, Lyft, and 
Meetup.com — all experiences I loved for different reasons.

SquareCash represented simplicity in design. It made money transactions 
painless and solved a problem I didn’t realize I had. Lyft represented a 
peer-to-peer service that was trust-worthy and delightful and leveraged 
local communities to foster sharing in my hometown (San Francisco) and beyond. 
Meetup.com represented a platform for community at scale and had provided 
a tribe for me no matter where I was in the world.While touching on UI elements, try 
to paint a picture of your values as a designer. By choosing apps/websites that 
highlight your interests and elegantly solve your pains, you’ll make a memorable 
impression.

4. How do you work with engineers/Product Managers/other designers?

The ability to empathize and understand the motivation of those you work with 
is crucial. Engineers, PMs, and other designers all come with their own particular 
needs and goals and if you can demonstrate your sensitivity to them, you’ll be 
well received.

Engineers: I’ve found that providing especially close attention to interaction 
design and accounting for edge cases is important. Engineers are responsible for 
building the product — making sure that your interactions function properly for all 
use cases will save your engineer friends time and frustration. Also, try to speak 
their language — learn how to code. Being confident in HTML, CSS, and 
JavaScript is a great start.

PMs: I emphasize communication, storytelling, and tradeoffs. PMs manage 
deadlines, appeal to admins and keep projects running smoothly. Make sure 
you and your PM are sync’d. Being able to tell a powerful story about your design 
will also help to make their job easier when trying to persuade other stakeholders.

Designers: Show, don’t tell. Focus your attention toward the design problem 
instead of individual design preferences. Working with other designers is an
incredible opportunity for collaboration and can push you to better work. When 
working with other designers, sometimes I like to practice pair design — it’s a 
great way to develop shared ownership over the work and push your individual 
design limits.

5. Who in the industry do you follow and read?

Don’t fudge this question! Find some members of the design community now 
that you admire and start reading — there are a lot of incredible designers out 
there to source inspiration. If you don’t have a list, check out LinkedIn, Medium, 
Twitter or design blogs to get started. If you’re feeling brave, reach out to members 
in the community and begin to cultivate a relationship. It’s remarkable how friendly 
people in the design circle can be.Julie Zhuo (Facebook), Daniel Burka 
(Google Ventures), Bo Ren(Facebook), Ximena Vengoechea (LinkedIn), 
and Frank Yoo (Lyft) are a few members of the community that 

I look up to, follow, and read.

6. What is the most interesting project you have worked on?

Use this as a chance to tell a story — and follow a typical story arc: background, 

opportunity, process, adversity along the way, triumphs, and outcome. Talk about  
what you did on the project but focus most on whythis particular project was so
 interesting for you. Did it have to do with the people, circumstance, opportunity, or 
something else?As a young designer, I like to talk about my first foray in design: 
Creating the user experience for a co-living space in Tokyo. This project was 
meaningful to me because it was my introduction to UX and trial by fire as a 
designer. I practiced UX principles in a physical space, was challenged with 
designing in a foreign context (Tokyo), and I was able to find success in 
ambiguity and uncertainty — when I started I really didn’t know what I was doing. 
Designing in a physical space provided a laboratory for me to observe, test and 
iterate in real time and built a foundation for how I now approach design problems 
in a digital context.

7. Do you prefer to work alone or with a team?

Having self-awareness of how you work and demonstrating flexibility is key. 
Consider the company you’re interviewing with — the size, what you know about 
the culture, and how you might fit into work dynamics. Also be true to yourself. 
The interviewer will be looking for how you play with others and determine 
if you’re a good culture fit.When thinking about this question, I sometimes draw 
a graph mapping out my energy levels throughout the day. I’ve discovered I 
like ‘heads-down’ time in the morning, collaborative time after lunch, (snacks 
throughout the day) and time to consume content and find inspiration in the late 
afternoons. I try to balance my own patterns while being aware of others and the 
dynamics around me.

8. Tell me about an assignment that was too difficult. How did you handle the 
situation?Working at a fast-paced startup, you’ll inevitably be thrown assignments 
or tasks that you won’t initially know how to approach (If this doesn’t happen, you 
might not be really working at a startup). Think about a time you took on a difficult 
task head first and struggled through ambiguity to eventually arrive at some 
conclusion. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a triumphant story as long as you show 
your willingness to explore, test, (fail), and iterate and demonstrate a commitment to 
learn and adapt going forward.One example that comes to mind is the first time I 
conducted (guerrilla) user interviews. I found myself clueless with a script in my 
hand, an iPhone camera, and 7 strangers to find and interview on the street. I failed 
pretty hard at first — approaching people on the go, waiting too long to make an 
introduction (awkward…) and rushing my questions. I studied my footage, observed 
patterns of when people could most likely be approached (lunch in the park), and 
upped my confidence with the support of a friend designer and tried again. This time, 
a little bit better.

9. Why do you want to work at [company x]?

I like to talk about the company from a design perspective. Focus on 
mentorship, desigculture, co-workers and the type of design challenges the 
company is currently facing. Make it personal and demonstrate a vision. 
Being able to talk about how the company melds with your past and how 
it will elevate you to where you want to be in your future shows a clear 
understanding of what you want and how to get it.When I was applying for 
full-time jobs, I had just left a contract gig where I was the sole designer. 
I knew that I was looking for something different — a place where I could 
be mentored, level up in a thriving design culture, and solve problems at 
scale. I found companies that fit my focus and demonstrated how I was 
aligned with the team.

10. Why should I hire you?

For young designers, this can feel like the toughest question to answer. Without 
a lot of design experience, what you can offer is your hustle and a proven 
willingness to learn. Emphasize it. And don’t just talk about it —show it. Point to 
personal projects, blog posts, and other forms of commitment to design that 
you’ve taken.As a young designer, you’ve taken an enormous leap into a new 
career. Talk about this experience and share the strides you’ve taken to get to 
where you are now and where you want to be. You have enormous 
potential — be confident as you go.

https://medium.com/salesforce-ux/10-questions-youll-be-asked-in-a-ux-interview-f93f0c78f31d
Vorzie Studios