When it comes to hiring a UI Designer, the interview process serves as a critical window into not just a candidate's design skills, but also their problem-solving approach, collaboration abilities, and creative thinking. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, effective UI designers blend technical proficiency with user empathy to create interfaces that are both visually appealing and highly functional.

UI Design represents a pivotal function for modern companies across virtually every industry. Great UI Designers transform complex interactions into intuitive experiences, directly impacting user engagement, conversion rates, and brand perception. Their work manifests in everything from streamlined checkout processes to accessible navigation systems and visually cohesive brand presentations. Beyond creating attractive interfaces, UI Designers solve real business problems by reducing user frustration, increasing engagement time, and ultimately contributing to product success through thoughtful visual communication.

When evaluating UI Designer candidates, pay careful attention to how they articulate their design process and decision-making. The most effective behavioral interviews focus on past examples that reveal how candidates approach challenges, collaborate with stakeholders, and iterate based on feedback. Look for evidence of both technical design skills and soft skills like communication and adaptability. By using the behavioral questions below combined with strategic follow-ups, you'll gain deeper insights into how candidates have handled real situations rather than how they might handle hypothetical ones.

Interview Questions

Tell me about a time when you had to redesign an existing user interface that wasn't performing well. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?

Areas to Cover:

• The specific issues with the original interface
• How they identified problems (user research, analytics, feedback)
• Their process for approaching the redesign
• How they balanced stakeholder requirements with user needs
• Specific improvements they implemented
• How they measured success of the redesign
• Challenges faced during implementation

Follow-Up Questions:

• What metrics did you use to determine the interface wasn't performing well?
• How did you prioritize which elements to redesign first?
• How did you validate your redesign solution before full implementation?
• What would you do differently if you tackled this project again?

Describe a situation where you received critical feedback on one of your designs. How did you respond to it?

Areas to Cover:

• The specific design and feedback received
• Their initial reaction to the criticism
• Steps taken to understand the feedback
• How they modified their design based on the feedback
• What they learned from the experience
• How this experience changed their approach to future projects

Follow-Up Questions:

• Who provided the feedback and what specifically did they critique?
• How did you determine which feedback to incorporate and which to push back on?
• What changes did you make based on the feedback?
• How has this experience affected how you present designs or seek feedback now?

Tell me about a UI design project where you had to work within significant technical constraints. How did you handle it?

Areas to Cover:

• The nature of the technical constraints
• Their process for understanding the limitations
• How they adapted their design approach
• Creative solutions developed to work within constraints
• Collaboration with developers or engineers
• The final design outcome and its effectiveness
• Lessons learned about designing within constraints

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you learn about these technical constraints?
• How did working with these limitations affect your creative process?
• What compromises did you have to make, and how did you decide which were acceptable?
• How would you approach a similar situation in the future?

Describe a time when you had to balance aesthetic considerations with usability requirements. How did you approach this challenge?

Areas to Cover:

• The specific project and conflicting requirements
• Their process for evaluating the tradeoffs
• How they communicated with stakeholders about these tradeoffs
• The decision-making process for prioritizing certain aspects
• The outcome of their approach
• User or stakeholder reaction to the final design

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you determine when usability should take precedence over aesthetics or vice versa?
• What methods did you use to test if your solution achieved both goals?
• How did you convince stakeholders when you needed to prioritize one aspect over another?
• What principles guide your decision-making when balancing these considerations?

Tell me about a time when you collaborated with developers to implement one of your UI designs. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Areas to Cover:

• The nature of the project and collaboration
• Communication methods used with the development team
• How they prepared their designs for handoff
• Challenges that arose during implementation
• How they resolved misunderstandings or technical issues
• What they learned about effective designer-developer collaboration
• How the final implemented product compared to the design

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you prepare your designs for developer handoff?
• What kind of documentation or specifications did you provide?
• How did you handle situations where the developers said something couldn't be implemented as designed?
• How has this experience changed how you work with developers now?

Share an example of a time when you had to design a user interface for a diverse user group with varying technical abilities. What was your approach?

Areas to Cover:

• How they researched and understood the diverse user needs
• Their approach to creating inclusive design
• Specific design decisions made to accommodate different users
• Testing methods used to validate the design with various user types
• Challenges faced in meeting diverse needs
• The effectiveness of the final solution

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you gather insights about the different user groups?
• What specific design elements did you incorporate to address varying technical abilities?
• How did you test whether your design was accessible to all intended users?
• What compromises did you have to make, if any, when designing for such a diverse group?

Describe a time when you had to create a UI design system or style guide. What was your process and what impact did it have?

Areas to Cover:

• The reason for creating the design system or style guide
• Their approach to organizing and structuring the system
• Key components and elements included
• How they ensured consistency across applications
• How they communicated the system to other team members
• The adoption and impact of the design system
• Maintenance and iteration of the system over time

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you determine what elements to include in your design system?
• How did you document the system for other designers and developers to use?
• What challenges did you face in getting others to adopt the system?
• How did you handle updates or changes to the design system over time?

Tell me about a time when you had to rapidly iterate on a UI design based on user feedback or testing. What was your approach?

Areas to Cover:

• The initial design and feedback received
• Their process for prioritizing which feedback to address
• How quickly they were able to produce iterations
• Methods used to track changes and improvements
• How they validated that iterations were addressing user concerns
• The final outcome and user response
• Lessons learned about efficient iteration

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you gather and organize the user feedback?
• How did you decide which feedback items to address first?
• What tools or processes did you use to enable rapid iteration?
• How did you measure whether your iterations were successful?

Describe a situation where you had to advocate for a UI design decision that others initially disagreed with. How did you handle it?

Areas to Cover:

• The specific design decision and why it was controversial
• Who disagreed and their concerns
• How they presented their rationale
• Evidence or research used to support their position
• How they navigated the disagreement professionally
• The resolution and outcome
• What they learned about design advocacy

Follow-Up Questions:

• What evidence or reasoning did you use to support your position?
• How did you approach the conversation with those who disagreed?
• Were there any compromises made in the final solution?
• How has this experience influenced how you present design recommendations now?

Tell me about a time when you identified and solved a UI problem that others hadn't noticed. What was your process?

Areas to Cover:

• How they discovered the overlooked issue
• Their analysis of the problem and its impact
• How they approached creating a solution
• How they presented the issue and solution to others
• Implementation of the fix
• The impact of addressing this previously unnoticed issue
• Techniques they now use to identify potential problems

Follow-Up Questions:

• What initially drew your attention to this issue?
• How did you determine the root cause of the problem?
• How did you demonstrate the value of fixing this issue to others?
• What methods do you now use to proactively identify potential UI problems?

Describe a project where you had to design a UI for a completely new product or feature with no existing patterns to follow. How did you approach it?

Areas to Cover:

• Their research and exploration process
• How they established design principles for the new product
• Sources of inspiration or reference they used
• Prototyping and iteration approach
• How they validated their design choices
• Challenges of designing without precedent
• The success of the final design

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you research competitive or adjacent products for inspiration?
• What design principles or guidelines did you establish before starting?
• How did you test your concepts with users given the novelty of the product?
• What was the biggest challenge in designing something without existing patterns?

Tell me about a time when you had to drastically simplify a complex UI to improve user experience. What was your approach?

Areas to Cover:

• The nature of the complex UI and its problems
• Their process for analyzing what could be simplified
• How they prioritized features and functionality
• Their approach to redesigning for simplicity
• How they ensured critical functionality wasn't lost
• User response to the simplified design
• Metrics that showed improvement

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you determine what elements could be removed or combined?
• How did you handle stakeholder concerns about removing features or functionality?
• What specific techniques did you use to simplify the interface?
• How did you measure the success of your simplification efforts?

Share an example of when you had to create a UI design that needed to work across multiple platforms or devices. What challenges did you face?

Areas to Cover:

• The platforms/devices they needed to design for
• Their approach to responsive or adaptive design
• How they maintained consistent user experience across platforms
• Platform-specific constraints they encountered
• Their process for testing across different devices
• Compromises made for specific platforms
• The effectiveness of the cross-platform solution

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you approach the differences in screen sizes and resolutions?
• What design system or framework did you use to maintain consistency?
• How did you handle platform-specific interaction patterns or capabilities?
• What testing process did you use to ensure quality across all platforms?

Describe a time when you had to work under a tight deadline to deliver UI designs. How did you manage your time and priorities?

Areas to Cover:

• The project requirements and timeline constraints
• Their process for breaking down the work
• How they prioritized design elements
• Time management techniques they employed
• Any shortcuts or efficiency measures taken
• How they maintained quality under pressure
• The outcome of the project
• Lessons learned about efficient design processes

Follow-Up Questions:

• How did you determine what to focus on first given the time constraints?
• What aspects of your normal design process did you modify to meet the deadline?
• How did you ensure quality wasn't compromised despite the time pressure?
• What would you do differently if faced with a similar situation in the future?

Tell me about a time when a UI design you created didn't perform as expected after launch. How did you respond?

Areas to Cover:

• The specific design and expectations
• How they identified that it wasn't performing well
• Their analysis of what went wrong
• Steps taken to address the issues
• How they worked with stakeholders to implement changes
• The ultimate resolution
• Lessons learned from the experience

Follow-Up Questions:

• What metrics or feedback indicated the design wasn't successful?
• What do you think was the root cause of the performance issues?
• How quickly were you able to implement changes?
• How has this experience changed your design or testing approach?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are behavioral questions more effective than hypothetical questions when interviewing UI Designer candidates?

Behavioral questions reveal how candidates have actually handled real situations in the past, which is a more reliable predictor of future performance than hypothetical scenarios. For UI Designers specifically, these questions uncover not just their design skills, but how they collaborate, solve problems, handle feedback, and navigate constraints—all crucial aspects of the role that aren't visible in a portfolio alone.

How many of these questions should I ask in a single interview?

For a typical 45-60 minute interview, focus on 3-4 behavioral questions with thorough follow-up. This allows you to explore each response in depth rather than rushing through many questions superficially. Quality of insight matters more than quantity of questions. Consider selecting questions that address different competencies relevant to your specific UI Designer role.

How should I evaluate the candidate's responses to these behavioral questions?

Look for specificity in their examples, clarity in articulating their design process, evidence of user-centered thinking, problem-solving approaches, and adaptability. Strong candidates will provide concrete examples with measurable outcomes, explain their reasoning, acknowledge challenges, and demonstrate learning from experiences. Compare their approaches to your team's values and processes to assess cultural fit.

Should I ask different questions based on the candidate's experience level?

Yes, tailor your question selection based on seniority. For junior candidates, focus on questions about handling feedback, collaboration, and fundamental design challenges. For senior candidates, emphasize questions about design systems, cross-functional leadership, strategic thinking, and mentoring. However, most of these questions can be answered by candidates at any level—junior candidates might draw from educational or personal projects while seniors will reference professional experiences.

How do these questions complement a portfolio review?

While portfolios showcase finished designs and technical skills, behavioral questions reveal the process behind the work—the collaboration, problem-solving, and decision-making that led to those results. Use these questions to understand aspects that aren't visible in the portfolio: how the candidate handles feedback, navigates constraints, works with developers, and overcomes challenges. This provides a comprehensive view of the candidate beyond just their visual design abilities.

Interested in a full interview guide for a UI Designer role? Sign up for Yardstick and build it for free.