When recruiting for UX designers, you may need to look past experience alone. Since UX is a relatively new field, it’s difficult to find candidates with decades worth of UX experience. However, plenty of skills make up a strong UX professional, and it’s your job as a recruiter to locate and evaluate these strengths. Here are five qualities you should look for when interviewing candidates for user experience design jobs:
1. Design Prowess
When hiring a UX designer, the most important piece of information to determine is: Can they design impactful and brand-friendly work? While you can most effectively evaluate this skill through the candidate’s portfolio, consider also assigning a design exercise that takes place during the interview process. This project shouldn’t take a long time but should provide you with enough information to see how the UX designer works and decide if their style fits the brand’s needs and expectations.
2. Open to Innovation
In the field of user experience design, professionals oftentimes have trouble coming up with new, exciting ways to freshen up stale designs and programs. The thought process is this: Previous processes have worked in the past, so why not implement them in the future? With the internet’s dynamic nature, UX professionals should not only be able to create innovative solutions, but they should also encourage the testing and trial of new ideas. Companies want their design to be fresh and interesting, not cut from the same cloth as all the other UX visuals online. One way you can test applicants’ adaptability and out-of-the-box mindset is by providing them with a problem that they need to solve using UX design principles.
3. User-Centric Approach
UX designers should always understand where research and testing come into play. Strong skill in design isn’t enough to succeed in this area. When recruiting UX designers, you should try to find out their approaches to research and user insight, and then figure out how this mindset fits into their design process. UX and design should be approached simultaneously and interchangeably. If a candidate’s process does not reflect this attitude, they may not be the best fit for the job.
4. Collaboration Abilities
UX professionals work both individually and with a team. For that reason, they should be able to thrive in group settings. In their day to day, UX designers work alongside product managers, engineers, researchers, and others. In order to work effectively alongside other individuals in their organization, UX designers should be flexible and open to feedback. When interviewing a UX designer, present scenarios of conflict or differing opinions to see their initial reactions and plans of execution, therefore seeing how they will perform in a highly collaborative setting.
5. Passion and Curiosity
When speaking with UX design candidates, make sure they seem passionate about their work, the company’s mission, and their expected day-to-day projects. Even if the candidate seems like an exceptional designer, a lack of passion and interest can hinder the UX team from creating its best work. If the candidate does not ask any questions about the UX team or the organization’s business model or KPIs, they may not feel compelled to go the extra mile to create exceptional work.
Recruiting UX Design Candidates with Profiles
Finding the right talent isn’t easy. That’s where Profiles comes in. If you’re in need of a dynamic, collaborative UX designer, get in touch with one of our skilled design recruiters today.
