MENTI

Designing a platform for designers to practice for design interviews and gain mentorship.

Introduction

This project was done as part of a class I took during my master’s degree. The goal was to create a platform that filled an unmet need. My colleague, Tammy and I, focused on design interview preparation for junior designers. In 3 weeks, we designed, coded, and tested a prototype. Given the short turnaround, the goal for this project was to build a solution and not necessarily make the most effective solution.

Problem

How might we support designers who want to practice whiteboarding, app critiques, and portfolio presentations?

Outcome

We designed and coded a prototype to support designers with design interviews in 2 weeks.

Timeline

3 weeks

Team

Tammy T., front-end dev & designer

User Research

UX design interviews are hard, especially for junior designers.

We ran a small survey and gathered results from 15 participants, most of whom were new/junior designers.

87% of participants ask for help from friends, but the advice isn't always helpful.

Junior designers tend to practice interviews with friends because it’s easier. However, friends aren’t always able to give them the best feedback.

85% of participants said they'd trust designers based on years of experience.

A majority of our survey takers revealed that they’d trust help from others if they have seniority and/or work at a reputable company, such as FAANG.

Feature #1 — Mentorship

A space for junior designers to find mentors.

The best way to practice for interviews is with senior designers. We added a mentorship feature that allows users to sign up for interview practice sessions with more experienced designers.

Feature #2 — App Critiques

Simplifying the process of conducting app critiques.

Mobile app critiques are challenging due to the complexity of sharing phone screens. We simplified this process by allowing users to easily share their screens by scanning a QR code.

Feature #3 — Company Guides

Tips and tricks from the companies themselves!

Interviewing can be tough when you don’t know what companies want in designers. We’ve added employee endorsed company guides with insider tips and tricks to show exactly what interviewers are looking for.

Feature #4 — Whiteboarding

A space to practice whiteboarding challenges.

Practicing whiteboarding interviews is challenging due to finding prompts and screensharing. We added a whiteboard option for mentorship calls with a prompt generator, so everything needed is in one place.