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Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]
Whiteboard & Take-Home Challenges

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Lesson: Design Challenges

10 minute read
Design challenges come in many forms. They have become widely adopted as part of the interview process so companies can assess how you would address a particular problem and then execute to solve it.
These range from take-home assignments to on-site, whiteboard challenges. The purpose of these challenges revolve more around your approach and problem-solving abilities than displaying refined solutions. It also can help determine how well you collaborate in a team environment.
Let's review a few of the different kinds of challenges you may experience during the interview process, and you'll dive deeper into each of these through additional lessons and projects within this unit.

Whiteboard Challenges

A whiteboard challenge typically includes a design brief that might be an actual problem the team is tackling or a hypothetical situation. These are typically conducted in person using a whiteboard, markers, and the interviewer(s).
Depending on the complexity, they can last anywhere between 20 minutes to a few hours. That is usually determined by the company interviewing you.
The purpose of this type of challenge is for hiring managers to assess your design thinking and process to determine solutions. A few key things to remember when conducting a whiteboard challenge are ask lots of questions, jot down ideas, and keep talking even when you are thinking. Be sure not to shut down as you're thinking through your approach.

Take-Home Design Challenges

More often, a design challenge will be given to you prior to or after an in-person interview to assess your skills. If this challenge is given in advance of the interview, you are typically expected to complete it and bring in the results to present to the team.
Most of these take-home design challenges require more investment of time and higher fidelity solutions, such as mockups and presentations.
If the challenge is slightly more complex (lasting more than 4 hours), consider any research you may have conducted and include as much information in your presentation.
If you're concerned at all that a company may be taking advantage of your time and wanting to gain free design work, simply ask if the design challenge is for product/feature they have already implemented.
Unlike an in-person, whiteboard challenge, you don't have the luxury of having the interviewer in the room at the time to ask questions. If questions arise as you are completing the challenge, be sure to reach out quickly and often to the hiring manager to gain better insight. You should also clearly define the expectations before you begin.

Examples

As you continue in Career Services, you will conduct a few of these design challenges to better prepare you for the interview process. Below is a list of possible design exercises you may be asked to complete in an interview or as a take-home assignment:
Outlining a mobile registration process
Design an ordering interface for an airport restaurant
An ATM for kids
A high-level wireframe for a dashboard design with specific requirements and research conclusions given in advance (take-home challenge)
Wireframes of an onboarding flow for a company's iOS app.
Design a signup form with some easy data types and some challenging ones (date ranges, colors, image uploads, etc.)
Design an interface for a bike sharing kiosk.
Walk through an idealized project to redesign an app with an agile or lean development team
How would you design a time machine?
How would you design the checkout flow for ABC company?
Design a social messaging app for mobile that includes a way for users to add contacts from their phone or from other social networks.
A mobile app for cruise ship crews (mobile design)
A guitar tuner with only one button (product design with a constraint)
A prompt that is not explicitly related to a particular platform, so as to show your intuitive understanding of UX, such as "Do you have a bank account? How could your bank improve its UX to encourage you to enter the bank physically?" or "What did you hate most about the UX of that car, and how would you improve its usability?"
Remember that, regardless of the challenge prompt, strong candidates ask lots of questions and explain aloud about their decision-making and thinking process.
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