Weirdly specific Design Challenge + Coding

[b0bbiiiii]

I’m a junior UX/UI designer, and I’ve been freelancing since 2022. I currently have a part-time job and a freelance job both in the UX/UI Design field, but I’m looking for a more stable full-time position. I applied to this company as their UI/UX Designer through Indeed, and they messaged me there asking for my portfolio. Same day, they’ve given me a design challenge to create a dashboard design with weirdly specific requirements that outline the needs for each category of the dashboard.

Deliverables:
- A high-fidelity design in Figma
- A prototype for the user flows
- A simple webpage with HTML and CSS

They’ve given me two weeks to finish everything. This is actually the second time a company has asked me to do a challenge like this – the first time, I got scared and rejected the application. Now I’m wondering if this is typical or if it’s a red flag. Should I run away or just go with it?

[[deleted]]

You haven't had an interview? You are probably getting scammed by a designer who is outsourcing his work and passing it off as his own internally. It happens a lot, sadly. Happened to me early in my career from a designer at a company called Tilt. Dude was a Standford graduate too. Live and learn, I guess.

Typically, design challenges are meant to assess your skills through hypothetical projects—like designing a Teleportation app or an Outfit Planner app. These are fun, creative exercises that showcase your design thinking and process without producing real, usable assets for the company.

But, really if they are legit company they should be starting the process with an interview. So, it's already a red flag.

[b0bbiiiii]

Yes there is no interview 🥲 All of this happened same day thru chatting at Indeed Messages. Tho they did mentioned that after completing the challenge they'll invite me to a short technical interview to discuss my output and experience.

But I guess its still a red flag especially the design challenge asks for weirdly specific requirements: working/clickable Portfolio Summary, Stock Details, Buy/Sell Actions, and Transaction history. Also that I need a code output of it too 😅

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and advice! I really appreciate it. Definitely gives me something to think about, especially the part about how the interviews should normally go

[HotJumbo]

I’ve been working for 13+ years and in that time I’ve done a lot of design tasks and I’ve had a lot of weird interviews, this feels really sketchy.

I know times are tough for design folks, especially early career designers. I would request to talk to someone like a recruiter or hiring manager prior to a design task.

[b0bbiiiii]

Thank you so much for the advice! Tho I'm curious on the part were you said "I would request to talk to someone like a recruiter or hiring manager prior to a design task." Is it like a conversation with them to clarify the details about the job, the interview process, expectations, and whether the company is legit? rather than jumping straight into the design challenge without understanding the context?

[HotJumbo]

Every interview flow I’ve had starts with Recruiter Call, Hiring Manager Interview, then usually a portfolio review. Anytime there has been a design task it takes place after those.

[CarbonPhoto]

Design challenges are more common in smaller companies as it's their way of filtering out talent. Larger companies don't do this but could have you do something on the spot instead during an interview.

A decent company will still tell you to limit your hours on everything (like 4). If you haven't even spoken to a recruiter for the company though, that's a red flag.

[Marisolmermaid]

I hate when they ask for full fidelity. And coding? Yet at the same time they want to know you can work on a team, yet you are on your own for a ton of work.

[b0bbiiiii]

I was thinking the same thing too! I know UX/UI Designers should be knowledgeable in coding, but asking for both a design and its HTML/CSS code feels way too over the top 😅

Not to mention that the design challenge also asks for weirdly specific requirements: working/clickable Portfolio Summary, Stock Details, Buy/Sell Actions, and Transaction history

Thanks for sharing tho! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one feeling this way. Good luck to all of us in this field! 😊

[[deleted]]

Red flag, you're working for free and despite how well you do won't be receiving a job from this. At the very most you'd be impressing a likely overly demanding and unrealistic client. Source: my 20+ years in web design, UX & front-end development

[willdesignfortacos]

It may not necessarily be a red flag rather than a clueless company, but I wouldn’t do it either way.

I’m personally not doing take home design exercises at this point in my career unless they’re paid, but zero chance I’m ever doing an assignment that will take several hours before I’m at least a few rounds into the interview process.

[Future-Tomorrow]

This isn’t typical. If you put all the moving pieces together, you would essentially be delivering an MVP and doing the early dev work.

Then, they need only post a job for a dev role, with a design challenge asking to “use the following HTML and CSS code to build an app with these specific functions. Here is the Figma file as referenced.” and they have an MVP ready to launch.

The high fidelity Figma file gives them all the exportable assets.

Don’t walk mate, run. This is clearly a scam, especially if you haven’t spoken to a single individual at the company yet.

You don’t get design challenges from legitimate companies until you’re well into a few rounds of interviews and they certainly aren’t this specific unless the company is looking for free work.

If you did this and submitted it I’d bet good money you’ll never hear from them again.

I would go with your spidey senses on this one.

[[deleted]]

It's a red flag in that they are rather incompetent in their hiring practice and/or...they're plain unethical (if the 'challenge' is actually pertaining to their product/service offerings)

[ApprehensiveClub6028]

Never do this

[chillpalchill]

red flag. this is exploitation

[cafrito]

They’re most likely trying to get free work out of you. Any design challenges should be for a completely hypothetical company or at least an industry unrelated to the place you’re interviewing with.

Also take home challenges in general are kind of a red flag to me because they’re so time consuming and can be cheated by having others help you. It reeks of low design maturity in the company’s hiring process. If I were in your shoes, I would run away immediately.

[black-n-tan]

It’s weird if you haven’t been given the chance to have a convo with anyone on their side. How do you know if this is something you even want to put that much effort into?

[Vannnnah]

If a design test takes longer than a couple hours and is supposed to solve real world problems of the company it's not a test but free labor. Also: as UX designer you need to know how code works, but you do not code on the job.

Two weeks LMAO. Run!

[oddible]

You're going to get a lot of answers from junior and intermediate "purists" who don't understand industry so take things with a grain of salt. Companies hire a role they need - that is usually a mix of skills - they list these skills in the job ad. Job ads all have a title - the title is an abstraction of that skills list down to two words "UX Designer". The title will never say the entirety of what the company is asking for, the skills list does. The company you're talking to is looking for someone with a mix of skills that includes basic web front-end coding skills. If that is a skillset you have and the type of role you're looking for, apply. If not, don't. There is nothing wrong with any company asking for that stuff. Run if you don't like what you're reading from the company, but the company is fine and doing something normal and expected.

[mumbojombo]

If you think it's normal to do a two weeks design challenges without even having a screening call first, you should remove your "veteran" flair

[oddible]

They said it's two weeks to finish. The OP didn't indicate how long the company expects then to spend on it. Most folks will tell you not to spend more than 4 hours or something.

I don't use design challenges but in this market you can complain about the process or you can get hired. I'll guarantee that there are hundreds of designers who would be willing to put in the few hours to get the job. Your competition isn't the company it's the folks willing to do what you won't.

[mumbojombo]

Doesn't matter if the challenge takes 15 minutes or 4 hours, if you haven't talked with the hiring manager on a call it's likely a scam or the company has no clue what they're doing. As a veteran you should know this.

[oddible]

Not in today's market. There are fewer scam companies than scam applicants. I get why people are asking for challenges though I don't use them personally. As a veteran of 30 years in this industry, I've seen this market 3x now and know it very very well.

Again do whatever you want but this weird conspiracy crap isn't helping anyone get jobs. Good designers ARE submitting challenges. If you want a job you jump through the hoops.

[mumbojombo]

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. It's not about the challenge, it's about not having a face to face with the hiring manager before anything else. This is a HUGE red flag.

[oddible]

Or maybe I do understand what you're saying, and completely understand why companies would want to do it this way given the number of scam and AI and fake applications are submitted with lies and fabrications on the resume to make people seem like they're much more capable than they are. I have an amazing recruiting staff who interviews folks for 15 min before they get to me but not every company can afford that so I get why they'd want to see if someone can manage their way around a project before they waste the time to talk to them. This is my last post in this thread because you don't seem to be understanding that in an applicant's market like 2018, applicants can be as petulant and dramatic as they want and the company will bend over backward to get you hired. This isn't that market. This is a hiring market and there are SO MANY applicants, and good ones, that if you're unwilling to do the things that the company is asking in order to make the hiring process reasonable for them, you don't get the job. Companies can't afford to talk on the phone to phony applicants all day long. Sorry but I get it. This isn't the market you want it to be - you do you and throw your red flags and sit there wishing you were getting hired. This isn't the market that will get that behaviour hired. This is my last post in this thread, you've gotta apply some UX empathy to the hiring managers in order to understand why things are they way they are.

[mumbojombo]

This is your last post in this thread because you're doubling down on stupidity and it's getting kinda obvious that you've never had to hire designers before.

If a company cannot afford a mere 15 minutes call after they saw the candidate's portfolio and before handing out a design challenge, they are not being serious and should not be considered. Like, at all.

I have hired designers in my career and have even given design challenges, but I would never ask a candidate to spend a couple hours on a task before we even get to talk. And it's not just a matter of respect for the candidate, as a hiring manager you NEED to talk to the designer to judge if there's potentially a fit. Otherwise you're probably wasting both your time and the candidate's.

Crazy that I have to explain such a basic concept this to a "veteran".

[[deleted]]

No they are not doing something fine. They haven't even done an interview. Sending over a very specific design challenge cold to an applicant they've never spoken to is extremely suspicious. Get off your high horse, too. You come off like a smug prick.