This page needs a newer browser to run its tools. You can still read everything here.

Interaction design and UI patterns interview questions

Interview questions on interaction design and UI patterns: warm-ups, then what each harder question tests and how a good answer starts.

8 questions: 3 warm-ups and 5 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to staff

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher to mid

An affordance and a signifier, in one example from a screen?

Answered in the lesson Interaction principles, states and feedback
Fresher to mid

Should a Submit button stay disabled until a form is valid?

Answered in the lesson Interaction principles, states and feedback
Fresher to mid

Why is a placeholder not enough as a field's label?

Answered in the lesson Forms and data entry

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Mid to senior

Ward Desk field officers mark complaints Resolved from a phone, often on patchy networks. The app shows "Resolved" at once, but some marks never reach the server, and residents get calls that their complaint is still open. What feedback do you design?
What it tests

Designing feedback that tells the truth about a change that has not reached the server yet, including pending, failed and retried states, without slowing the officer down.

First step

List the states a mark can really be in between the officer's tap and the server's record, and what the officer should see and be able to do in each. Then decide which of them the current design pretends do not exist.
Follow-ups
- The officer closes the app while a mark is still pending. What then?
- Two officers change the same complaint while offline. What does each see?
- How would you check that marks no longer go missing?
From the lesson Interaction principles, states and feedback
Model answer, Pro. Model answers open with any pass; prices are in the notice on this page.
Opening the model answers with your pass…
Model answers open with any MySmartCoPilot pass.
Pro pass · 1 week₹79$2.99
30 days₹179$5.99
1 year₹1,699$45
One payment; nothing renews unless you choose to. The price shown is the total you pay: no fees or charges are added at checkout.
Passes can’t be bought right now, so the model answers can’t be opened at the moment. If you have a pass, enter your licence key.
Choose a pass I have a licence key
It also opens every other in-depth part in Learn and every Pro tool. Sales are final, except where the law gives you a right to withdraw, for example in the EU and the UK (refund policy).
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Mid to staff

A Ward Desk officer deleted the wrong one of two complaints with nearly identical titles. The manager now wants "Are you sure?" before every delete. Officers delete about 300 duplicates a day, and deleted complaints must be kept for audit. What do you propose?
What it tests

Choosing a safeguard from how often an action happens and whether it can be reversed, finding the real cause of the mistake, and meeting the audit rule.

First step

Look at the deletion that went wrong before looking at the dialog: what the officer saw, what told the two complaints apart, and whether a deleted complaint can be brought back today. Then weigh a question asked 300 times a day against the alternatives.
Follow-ups
- The manager insists on a confirmation. Where, if anywhere, does it belong?
- What does "delete" mean for a record that must be kept for audit?
- How do you show the manager the change worked?
From the lesson Interaction principles, states and feedback
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Mid to senior

Ward Desk's sign-up refuses "Sk. Mohd. Ali" and the single name "Kavya", yet accepts a name of three spaces. The developer says the strict pattern stops SQL injection, and support wants a first name for SMS greetings. What do you change, and what do you still check?
What it tests

Separating input validation from injection safety, designing a name field that fits real names, and handling a request for a first name without breaking single names.

First step

List what the pattern refuses and what it lets through, and ask the developer where the query is built. Then decide which checks protect the service and which only refuse people, before you touch the field.
Follow-ups
- How do you give support a name to greet people with?
- Officers search names typed in Devanagari using Latin letters. What do you do?
- How do you test the new check?
From the lesson Forms and data entry
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Mid to staff

MealBox's sign-in sends a six-digit code by SMS. The code goes into six separate boxes that refuse paste, it expires after 30 seconds without warning, and Resend appears only after 60 seconds. Screen reader users and older subscribers keep failing. What do you change?
What it tests

Applying accessible authentication and time-limit rules to a one-time code, and balancing them with the security team's concerns.

First step

Write down every step a person takes from the SMS arriving to being signed in, and mark where the design asks them to remember, transcribe or race a clock. Then check each mark against the rules before proposing a fix.
Follow-ups
- Security wants to keep the 30 seconds. What do you say?
- Should the six boxes stay?
- Where does the WebOTP API fit?
From the lesson Forms and data entry
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to staff

Ward Desk's complaint form puts 22 questions on one page. Its analytics show that 41 % of the people who start leave at the address block, and failed submissions show six errors on average. Officers like the single page because they can print it. What do you propose?
What it tests

Using a question protocol and form structure to cut and order questions, reducing errors by design, and meeting the officers' need without keeping the page.

First step

Run a question protocol on the 22 questions and look hard at the address block: what it asks, how, and what the errors there say. Then decide the order and the structure, and only then the printed version.
Follow-ups
- Which questions come first, and why?
- How do you keep officers' printouts?
- How will you know the new structure works?
From the lesson Forms and data entry
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes

All UI/UX Design interview questions · The UI/UX Design track

Warm-up questions

An affordance and a signifier, in one example from a screen?

Should a Submit button stay disabled until a form is valid?

Why is a placeholder not enough as a field's label?

Questions with model answers

Ward Desk field officers mark complaints Resolved from a phone, often on patchy networks. The app shows "Resolved" at once, but some marks never reach the server, and residents get calls that their complaint is still open. What feedback do you design?

A Ward Desk officer deleted the wrong one of two complaints with nearly identical titles. The manager now wants "Are you sure?" before every delete. Officers delete about 300 duplicates a day, and deleted complaints must be kept for audit. What do you propose?

Ward Desk's sign-up refuses "Sk. Mohd. Ali" and the single name "Kavya", yet accepts a name of three spaces. The developer says the strict pattern stops SQL injection, and support wants a first name for SMS greetings. What do you change, and what do you still check?

MealBox's sign-in sends a six-digit code by SMS. The code goes into six separate boxes that refuse paste, it expires after 30 seconds without warning, and Resend appears only after 60 seconds. Screen reader users and older subscribers keep failing. What do you change?

Ward Desk's complaint form puts 22 questions on one page. Its analytics show that 41 % of the people who start leave at the address block, and failed submissions show six errors on average. Officers like the single page because they can print it. What do you propose?