Design challenge by Google
I'm currently working on a design challenge given to me by Google. Apart from ensuring the obvious (showing my process, rationale, backing it up with visuals etc), is there anything specific that I should absolutely be able to communicate or show as a part of my process to make the cut? Would love to hear from people who've reviewed these exercises in the past.
I did my design challenge much like the designer in the link someone shared. It got me on-site 2 years go. I think I wasn’t as experienced and didn’t get the role. I’m fortunate that I can use the same project again for this second time around and hopefully I get in this time. It’s all about process and supporting your ideas with rationale!
Did they give you the same prompt even after 2 years?
Where are you in the process OP? I interviewed 2 years ago and got declined by hiring committee. I made it through this time - Thank goodness! They are looking for several things in the design exercise: 1. It’s all about process - they want to see how you think and rationalize decisions. Frame the problem(s)> discuss opportunities> narrow on solution. 2. Show you know about different UX methods and when to apply them ie IA, research, test assumption, visual, prototyping, etc. That being said, make sure to highlight what you’re good at. Google likes to hire “T” shaped individuals - be knowledgeable in different areas but really excel in a single area. 3. Length of time spent on the project varies for individuals. Some spend less, some spend more. I spent about 40hrs on mine because I didn’t have a lot launched product in my portfolio. So, I really wanted to make my project polished. Your portfolio might be different, but regardless, show the process. 4. If you make it to onsite, be ready to talk about your decisions. Why did you make certain choices, how would you do things differently, what did you learn a long the way, etc. Wishing you all the best!
Thanks! This was really helpful. I am curious to hear how you approached the design exercise or in the on-site round differently when you were interviewing the second time.
I started broad in terms of trying to understand overarching problems. First, I began by taking what I knew/thought about the challenge and just wrote everything down. Things like problems, opportunities, questions, assumptions, etc. essentially brain dumping. Afterward, I identified areas where there were gaps of knowledge. I wanted to learn more about what I didn’t know, so I did a contextual inquiry w actual users to learn. After that, I had an idea of my user(s) and I defined their needs. I also started to frame my learnings into several key insights or opportunity areas. I gathered enough about the user and problem that I could start hypothesizing about potential solutions. For this it was a combination of design ideation and writing more things down to collect and organize my thinking. Afterward, I narrowed on a single approach that addressed a single use case of the user and the best platform/device I would design for. I referenced examples of similar product (comparative analysis) on behance, dribbble, Pinterest, etc for design patterns/inspiration to reference. This helped me think of new features but also not reinvent the wheel if something had been done well. Last step was to create high fidelity mocks and prototypes (about 4) of what I thought the best solution to the problem was. This was defined through the exploration of the aforementioned steps. It wasn’t perfect but that’s also why you need to be ready to discus what you learned, your decisions, or might have done differently for the onsite. Hopefully that helps. There’s a lot of literature and process out there, especially of past Google design exercises you can look at. If you’re invited on-site, the recruiter will cover everything interviewers will be looking for in a candidate. Be ready to discuss: 1. Past projects and decisions 2. Collaboration with peers 3. UX knowledge and expertise 4. Creativity 5. Whiteboard exercise (could have 1-3).
OP where are you in the process? How did it go?
If you need help still dm
I heard l5 designers don't require to do a design challenge. Is this normal ?
This guys says this design exercise got him into google. I think it’s a decent example of process: https://medium.com/@polkuijken/pet-adoption-8798b14af117
Thanks! Yes, I've seen that. Not sure if that's the only way though. Was hoping to get first-hand insights from someone who's either worked on or reviewed these challenges.