Designing Effective Hiring Challenges

The difference between challenges that predict success and challenges that just create stress is craft. A well-designed challenge is clear enough that candidates understand what's being asked, complex enough that it reveals problem-solving approach, and fair enough that a prepared candidate has a good chance of success.

Challenge Design Principles

Clarity Without Over-Explanation

Good:

"Design an experience for new users to discover songs on Spotify. You have 20 minutes."

Problematic:

"Design the entire Spotify product experience considering all edge cases, international markets, accessibility requirements, etc." (Too broad)

Principle: Be clear about scope so candidates don't waste time wondering if they're on the right track, but leave room for them to ask clarifying questions and define their own approach.

Appropriate Scope

15-Minute Challenge:

• Single user flow or feature
• Example: "Design the checkout flow for a mobile e-commerce app"
• Enough for a quick problem analysis, rough ideation, and basic solution

30-Minute Challenge:

• Small product or major feature
• Example: "Design a new feature for Twitter that lets users organize their followers"
• Time for research, multiple concepts, and a detailed solution

45-60 Minute Challenge:

• Full product for a new company or substantial redesign
• Example: "You're starting a new company to help remote teams collaborate better. Design the core product"
• Time for deep research, exploration of multiple approaches, and comprehensive solution

Clear Success Criteria

Before the challenge, articulate what success looks like. Share this with candidates. Examples:

• "I'm looking to understand your approach to problem-solving and how you handle ambiguity"
• "I want to see how you balance user needs with business constraints"
• "I want to understand your thinking about information architecture and user flows"

This helps candidates focus on what matters rather than optimizing for the wrong things.

Content and Context

Grounding in Reality

The best challenges feel like real problems but are solvable in limited time.

Strong Examples:

• "Design a feature for Uber that addresses the problem of riders not trusting driver ratings"
• "Redesign the process of booking a hotel room to reduce cancellations"
• "Design a way for people to discover new restaurants in their area"

Weaker Examples:

• "Design the future of transportation" (Too vague, no clear product)
• "Design an app that solves world hunger" (Not solvable as a design problem in 30 minutes)
• "Redesign Facebook" (Too large, no clear scope)

Domain Appropriateness

Does the challenge match the role?

• For interaction designers: Focus on flows and features, not visual design
• For product designers: Include business and strategy questions
• For branding designers: Challenges about brand identity and strategy, not interaction flows

Avoiding Biased Challenges

Domain Knowledge Bias

Don't assume everyone is familiar with your specific industry or product.

• If using "Design a feature for Stripe," expect to explain payment processing to candidates who don't know it
• Or choose a product everyone understands (Spotify, Uber, Amazon)

Cultural Bias

Don't assume everyone knows your local context or cultural references.

• "Design a better way to order at a US food truck" might confuse candidates from other countries
• Use global contexts: apps, music, communication, travel

Technical Bias

Challenge should be about design thinking, not technical knowledge.

• Don't expect candidates to know your specific technical stack
• Don't require API knowledge or technical architecture thinking unless it's core to the role

Levels of Difficulty

Beginner/Junior Designer Challenge

Characteristics:

• Familiar product or context (people have used the app)
• Focused scope (one feature, not whole product)
• Clear user group (target user is obvious)
• 20 minutes

Example:

"Design the experience for bookmarking a song on Spotify. Consider how someone might organize or discover bookmarked songs later."

Mid-Level Designer Challenge

Characteristics:

• Familiar product but deeper complexity
• Need to define user group or constraints
• Some ambiguity to navigate
• 25-30 minutes

Example:

"Spotify wants to increase how much time users spend discovering music. Design a new feature or experience that could help. You choose the approach and target user group."

Senior Designer Challenge

Characteristics:

• Complex problem with significant ambiguity
• Business and strategy considerations
• Multiple stakeholder perspectives
• 30-45 minutes

Example:

"Spotify is seeing declining engagement from users over 40. How would you address this? You need to consider the business implications, user research, and implementation approach."

Writing the Challenge Brief

Essential Elements

1. Context (1-2 sentences)

"Imagine you're working at Spotify. The company has noticed that music discovery playlists often include songs that don't match the user's taste."

2. Problem (1-2 sentences)

"We want to give users better control over song recommendations. How would you improve this experience?"

3. Constraints/Scope (2-3 bullet points)

• You have 25 minutes
• Focus on the core user flow, not the entire product
• Assume Spotify has access to user data and preferences

4. Questions to Consider (Optional, 3-4 bullet points)

• Who are the primary users for this feature?
• How would they access it in the app?
• What are the key moments of interaction?

Examples of Well-Written Briefs

Branding Challenge:

"A new startup is launching a service to help people find remote work opportunities. Design the brand identity. You should consider the company's positioning, what makes them different, and how their brand experience should feel. Focus on visual direction and design language you'd use."

Product/UX Challenge:

"Design a feature for Airbnb that helps hosts manage their calendar and availability more effectively. Currently hosts manually block off dates when their property isn't available. Think about what a better experience might look like and how it would integrate into the host tools."

Marketing Challenge:

"Design a marketing campaign concept for a meal kit delivery service trying to reach busy professionals. You should develop the core message, how it would be communicated, and where/how people would encounter it."

Testing and Iteration

Try Your Challenge

Before using a challenge with candidates:

• Complete it yourself in the target timeframe
• Have other designers complete it
• Note how long different phases take
• Identify where people get stuck or confused
• Adjust scope or time if needed

Pilot with a Few Candidates

• Use the challenge with 3-5 candidates
• Get feedback: "Were there unclear parts?" "Did you have enough time?" "What felt off?"
• Adjust based on feedback before using widely

Track Results Over Time

• Keep notes on how candidates perform on different challenges
• Do some challenges consistently separate strong performers from weak ones?
• Do some challenges fail to differentiate or create excessive stress?
• Refine your challenge library based on patterns

Variety and Rotation

Why Rotate Challenges

• Prevents candidates from practicing extensively on the exact challenge
• Ensures you're testing different skills (branding, marketing, product, UX)
• Keeps your evaluation focused (using the same challenge for a cohort allows meaningful comparison)

Rotation Strategy

• Maintain 3-4 challenges that you rotate through
• Use the same challenge for 5-10 candidates, then rotate
• Keep a "challenge bank" of tested, refined problems
• Add new challenges quarterly, retire ones that aren't working

Great hiring challenges are like great interview questions: they're simple enough to be clear, complex enough to be revealing, and fair enough that candidates can succeed through preparation. Invest in getting these right, and you'll make better hiring decisions.