Loyal Product Designer Interview Questions
& Process

So I applied, and they made me fill out more questions. It took like a month for them to get back to me and schedule an interview. I talked to some people at the company, and they seemed nice, but there were some red flags. For the designer role, they expected the designer to come up with the product requirements, which I think is the PM's job. I mean, designers can give input, but it's weird if they're expected to do all the work. It just seemed like we weren't a good fit. I didn't hear back after that, but I figured it was a done deal. Then, like two weeks later, they emailed me asking if I'd heard back. I said no. We had a call, and they told me they weren't moving forward with me. They gave me that whole 'apply for other jobs' thing, and I said sure. It was odd because instead of giving professional feedback, they basically read Slack messages. They said I applied for a job above my level and that I'm actually entry-level and shouldn't be looking at mid-level jobs. This is funny because another company offered me a senior role two weeks later.

So, first I had to do this 8-question thing, the Screening Questionnaire. Then, it was like, Recruiter Screening, which was pretty much the same questions as the first one. After that, I had the Hiring Manager Interview. Honestly, the people were nice, but they kept stressing how tough and unpleasant it is to work here. It felt like I was being interrogated because I kept getting asked the same stuff over and over. At one point, I just zoned out, thinking about my life choices and why I keep ending up in these interviews that feel like they're setting me up for a bad time, even if I get the job. This whole process was so depressing I've seriously reevaluated everything. A six-figure salary just isn't worth this vibe.

The interview process was laid out as: a 45-minute phone screen, followed by a take-home assignment. After submitting the assignment, there was a 45-minute review session. Then, a 30-minute behavioral interview with a Front End Developer, and finally, a 45-minute final round interview. The design challenge for the take-home was presented as a way to evaluate problem-solving and design process, with no single correct answer, emphasizing the thought process. Candidates were advised not to spend more than 2-3 hours on it. I actually enjoyed the creative aspect and exceeded the time limit because I was engaged with the opportunity. My submission included a detailed presentation deck covering the scenario, user pain points, journey mapping, user stories, sketch-form ideation, wireframes for three flows with extra features, some visual analysis, and two visual design mockups. Despite my efforts, the response was delayed by two days with a generic acknowledgment of receipt, and I never heard back, leading me to believe my work was either disliked or not thoroughly reviewed. I've shared this experience because another candidate has since reported a similar outcome.