DESIGN INTERVIEW

STEP BY STEP
Kimberly Nguyen | kim@cs.washington.edu
Design for me a _______.
◦ Examples:
◦ Soda bottling plant
◦ Modern parking garage
◦ Futuristic kitchen appliance
◦ Database system for an investment bank
◦ Restaurant experience using a piece of Microsoft technology
Step 0: Clear Space on the Whiteboard
◦ Use your space wisely on the whiteboard, we’re about to lay down some awesome ish!
Step 1: “Research” Phase
◦ Decide who the customer is ◦ What are the constraints?
◦ Who are you designing this for? ◦ Time
◦ Who is most likely to use this product? ◦ Money
◦ Dev Resources
◦ Are there several categories of people?
◦ Physical Space
◦ Be specific about characteristics of your
customer ◦ Are there specific requirements the
◦ Age range interviewer had in mind?
◦ Location ◦ This is something you can ask your interviewer
directly
◦ Technical Aptitude
◦ Specific Speed/Performance
Step 2: Scope Design Goals
Measurable Goals
◦ Based off your research, are there
any measurable goals that you can
define now?
◦ Ie. This coke bottling plant needs to be
able to produce 1000 bottles every day
Redefining the Design Question
◦ If your notes from the research phase
were a bit muddled, now is your chance
to get crisp. List out the following and
be as specific as you can:
◦ What is the problem you are actively trying
to solve
◦ Who are you solving this for
◦ How will you your customer’s current
experience improve after your implement
your solution?
Step 3. Bullshit Brainstorm
◦ In this step, you list out as many ideas, features and thoughts as you can to solve your problem.
◦ If you don’t have any novel ideas right away, it sometimes to help what you know about the problem or
any context that isn’t captured by the previous steps.
◦ No idea is a bad idea!
◦ This is your opportunity to show off your creativity
◦ Refer back to your measurable goals and scoped design question from Step 2 to draw inspiration
Step 4: DESIGN IT
◦ This is the part where you actually answer the design question.
◦ Note that transitioning from “bullshit brainstorm” to defining an actual design is the most difficult part of
this process. When you start to run out of ideas while brainstorming, that may be the time to transition to
this step.
◦ Pick out your BEST ideas from the brainstorm to focus on. Choose the ideas/features that relate back to
your goals from Step 2.
◦ To completely answer the design question, your goal is to walk through the customer experience. You
can do this with one of the following (or a combination of both)
◦ Write out a step by step description of the customer experience
◦ Draw a wire frame
Step 4: DESIGN IT
Step by Step Description Draw / Pictures

◦ Example for Parking Lot Scenario ◦ You can keep the drawings SIMPLE. All you
◦ Step 1. Lucy approaches the parking garage need is to be able to draw rectangles, circles
entrance and lines
◦ Step 2. Lucy is greeted by a large teleprompter ◦ Drawing works best when you’re expressing a
that flashes step by step instructions for the
solution for something similar to an app menu
parking experience.
or web experience. You can use wire frames to
◦ Step 3. Lucy approaches the conveyer belt and is
sketch out what the menu might look like
instructed to put her car in neutral
(button placement, text placement) and you can
◦ Step 4. Lucy’s car floats on the conveyer belt and
draw a play by play of how the user would step
the car is guided to the stackable storage solution
through the experience.
◦ Etc….
Step 5: Critique Your Design
◦ This is your opportunity to show that you are a thoughtful leader who is open to feedback and flexible on
iterating through multiple designs
◦ Discuss the following questions
◦ Does your design solve the problem you redefined in Step 2?
◦ How might your design decisions affect the goals that you are defined in Step 2 (you probably won’t be able to
make an indication of whether your design will meet your goal, but you may be able to discuss
◦ Is your design wasteful in any way?
◦ Is your design intuitive?
◦ As you discuss and reflect on these questions, literally write a list called “TODO” and keep track of the
things you would for iteration round 2. Literally say to your interviewer, “here’s our todo list for the next
version of this”