IXL Learning Product Designer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process started with a phone screen, followed by a substantial project that took about a week to complete. Then there was another 45-minute phone call and a full-day onsite interview with six employees and managers. I was surprised when a few weeks later, I received an email out of the blue saying that they would like to set up an interview, which made me think the company was extremely disorganized. After the initial call, I had to complete a very lengthy homework assignment where I had to design new features for their product, as well as a follow-up call about my designs. During my final round interview in the office, I knew from the first five minutes that I would NOT want to work at this company. Three out of the six interviewers were incredibly awkward. One of the six interviews was a technical interview, which I felt was unfair because they did not tell me about this even though I asked what to prepare for. I left the interview feeling like I would not want to work with many of the people I met. I ended up accepting another offer before I even heard back from IXL because I was so dissatisfied by my experience. When I finally heard back, I received a very rude email from the recruiter, saying that the team decided I was not a good fit for the company.

The interview process took quite a while, about 4 months total. It started with 3 phone interviews spread out over a few weeks. After the second call, I was given a take-home assignment that I had a week to complete, and it took me about 2 days. Once I passed that, I had my third phone interview, followed by an on-site interview. The on-site had 4 interviews: 3 behavioral and 1 technical. There was also a lunch break where I met some other employees in a more casual way. After the on-site, I waited around 4 weeks for the final decision. During that time, a recruiter checked in to see if I'd accepted another offer. I eventually got the offer. It was a lengthy process, but since I was still in school, it wasn't too bad. Everyone I met was really friendly and easy to talk to. Despite the slow pace, I have good memories of it.

So I first encountered IXL Learning at a college recruiting event and brushed off the bad reviews I saw online, thinking it wouldn't happen to me. A week later, they reached out for a Product Designer role and we set up a phone interview for the following week. That first interview was pretty standard, with brain teaser and behavioral questions. After that, they sent me an assignment where I had to design a feature for their system, including graphics and explanations, and I had a week to complete it. I finished it in 3 days, but then the real waiting game started. For 8 weeks, I emailed and called the recruiter weekly, only to get the same 'still processing' response. It was clear they were waiting for other candidates. Eventually, they proposed an on-site interview, which was a full day of various interviews. The interviews themselves were fine, and people were mostly friendly. Another long wait followed, this time for 5 weeks, after which they finally extended an offer. The offer had a lower salary than expected and they wouldn't negotiate, making it seem like they were trying to low-ball me. It felt like I was a backup choice the whole time. This whole process took over 13 weeks, which was super stressful during my last semester. They really could have been more humble and less robotic in their communication, especially if they want to attract top talent. Their actions didn't match their 'quintessential silicon valley startup' talk. I ended up taking a job at another company with a much better, more responsive, and genuinely caring environment. I don't recommend wasting time with IXL; there are better companies that will respect you.