Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Safe Design Interviews
My practical roadmap to safer and more successful design interviews
In the previous newsletter, I explored my views on the importance of creating a safe and effective design interview environment by addressing the pitfalls of traditional interviews and implementing supportive practices. Now, let's dive deeper into my step-by-step guide to developing safe design interviews.
1. Implement Belonging Cues Early
Start with a warm welcome and a friendly introduction. Aim to set a positive but genuine tone; don't overdo it. We humans are very good at sensing if someone is emotionally honest. Starting with a personal story or a compliment is also a good way to ease the candidate into the conversation.
Show genuine curiosity about the candidate's background and experience - that way the candidate will feel validated and heard, and you’ll be doing your job as you should.
2. Foster Collaboration, Not Judgment
Encourage collaboration: Frame the interview as a collaborative discussion rather than a test. Using phrases like "Let's explore X together" gives a sense of a team-oriented mindset.
Share relevant experiences to build a connection with the candidate. You can mention similar challenges you've faced or are facing and how you overcame them, fostering a sense of shared understanding.
Use empathy and active listening to create a supportive environment where candidates feel heard and valued.
Reflect back on what the candidate says to show that you're actively listening and understanding their points.
Follow-up questions after reflecting back can create a more natural flow of interviewing, allowing you to assess candidates in a conversational manner.
3. Empower Candidates
Create opportunities to showcase strengths by allowing candidates to discuss their achievements and strengths.
Ask open-ended questions to let the candidates highlight their skills and experiences.
Foster a sense of belonging by ensuring candidates feel valued and understood.
Acknowledge and appreciate the candidate's past work and contributions during the interview.
4. Use a Flexible Interview Structure
Avoid rigid structures: Allow the conversation to flow naturally, reducing pressure and encouraging a more authentic exchange.
Let the candidate guide parts of the conversation to areas they're most passionate about.
Let candidates break down their favorite pieces of the portfolio.
5. Assess Capabilities After Establishing Safety
Make sure candidates feel safe and comfortable before evaluating their skills and abilities. Spend the initial part of the interview building rapport before diving into technical questions.
Challenge through follow-up questions to explore the candidate's responses in more detail, ensuring a thorough evaluation. An example is to ask candidates to elaborate on their thought process or portfolio examples to gain deeper insights.
Important Considerations
Warmth vs Over-Friendliness: It's crucial to balance warmth with maintaining professional boundaries to avoid bias.
Be friendly and open, but keep the focus on the candidate's qualifications and cultural fit for the role. Keep the context to the domain of work and the company you represent.
Bias Awareness: At my current team, we ensure bias awareness and bias mitigation through having an active interviewer and a shadowing agent, keeping track of the interviewing process and practices, ensuring personal bias mitigation.
Group Dynamics: Pay attention to group dynamics to avoid groupthink. Include multiple interviewers with different backgrounds to provide a well-rounded assessment.
Conclusion
Creating a safe and effective design interview process is fundamentally important for the candidates, the interviewers, and the companies. Traditional interview practices are flawed and packed with pitfalls like rigidity, confirmation bias, and lack of safety, which can lead to suboptimal hiring and a lack of talent sourcing for design teams to grow professionally and culturally. By implementing belonging cues, fostering collaboration, and empowering candidates, you can create more inclusive and supportive interviewing processes. Through empowering candidates, you'll be able to precisely assess their capabilities, culture, and mindsets.
Safe design interviews allow candidates to show their true potential but also help interviewers showcase the cultural beliefs and needs of their company, allowing for a more open, honest interviewing process.