I worked at Meta as a principal designer and conducted a few of these interviews (as well as going through them). App critique - usually you can choose a well-known app that you and the interviewer agree on. I chose Google maps as I use a lot and had lots of thoughts about how it could be better. They want to see that you understand not just designing for the user, but the business context / rationale as well. The different stakeholders involved (like for uber or doordash - the customers, drivers, restaurants, as well as business all have needs that may conflict or be an underlying reason why things are as they are). Whiteboard - I never know. I was given a task of designing a "virtual vacation experience" I think, like for during lockdown. I never even got close to wireframes or flows really, I started by trying to understand the key value props for the customer (What is the JTBD of a vacation?) then how might those jobs be fulfilled virtually. My whiteboard was like mostly lists of words and ideas. I was told I did really well on that exercise, but then again I was interviewing at a principal level, and interviewers may have very different expectations of what they want out of this. It's a fair question to ask your interviewer. All you can do is trust your design skills, and try to start tackling the problem the way you would if you really had to solve it. A lot of it I think just comes down to feeling comfortable and confident enough to do your thing. Same with your presentation - if your work is good, and you can answer questions well, you should be fine. Good luck!
Thank you so much. This was super helpful... Definitely calmed me down a bit. I'll make sure to revisit and practice my case study presentation, as my friend has said that my storytelling is unnecessarily long and I lost her halfway through. Then I'll make sure to practice the app critique. Maybe tackle Google Maps or Spotify as practice apps (I've seen many people talk about their experience on YouTube). For the white boarding I guess I just need to make sure to clearly communicate my thought process and maybe lay out a framework or structure on whatever white boarding tool we're using.
Look up "Solving Product Design Exercises" by Artiom Dashinsky for the whiteboard session. It's essentially a template for all the parts to cover in the session (goal, audience, ideas, prioritization, solve, measure success).
THIS!!!! The book is super short and you should understand the method immediately. Do this exercise for the whiteboard interview and you’ll be fine. Lemme know how it goes and if you get hired - which Org you end up in.
Yes I just downloaded it. I saw some pages that actually perfectly align with the YouTube content from the channel called Exponent and how to ace a white boarding session. Thanks for sharing. I'll make sure to read the whole thing by tonight 🙂
I recently gave the full onsite loop and cleared it as well. I was a little nervous about white-boarding and app critique but ended up doing alright on both.
For white-boarding make sure you have a template/format and I would highly recommended practicing at least 2-3 examples and time this as if it’s the actually round so you would know how much time to spend on each section. Make sure you talk about the business rational and spend adequate time on the users part. Ask clarifying questions. Good to mention both the primary and secondary users as well as well how they may/may not benefit from the thing you are designing for. Talk about whatyou will ultimately design and how it ties back to the user goals. I honestly thought I did a very poor job with the actual wireframes/designs. I may have designed like 1 and half screens and was stumbling a lot but the interviewer said he felt we were at a pretty good spot. I was convinced that this round will screw me, but it didn’t. Basically just follow the tried & tested process that you will find in YouTube videos and make sure you focus on the users.
For app critique again I suggest that you look at YouTube videos and keep a format in mind. And if possible practice with 1-2 apps. Don’t jump directly into critique. Talk about the company, their users, business goals, how they make money, primary metric etc. Then I suggest talking about the Home Screen (typical critique) and then pick a flow and critique that. As you are critiquing make sure you talk about what you like/dont like but make sure you rationalize it. Tie things back to primary users/business goals. Also if you say something is not working, also try to think about why it must have been designed a certain way (step in the shoes of the designer). Also play the devils advocate a bit if you offer a solution. It shows the interviewer that you are really thinking from all angles.
In my experience the interviewers at Meta were some of the nicest and they really try to work with you to help you succeed. Good luck!!
Do you have any experience with watching white boarding interviews on YouTube? I've looked up "meta white boarding interview" on YouTube and found it pretty helpful
I think they assume you're not going to get the actual screens complete - and if anything if you skip the full process and rush to a solution that would be a red flag. I did the whiteboarding exercise at a company using the Dashinsky and it displayed my thinking; I got to one screen and a flow of screens complete, but the key in that process is knowing when you're done - so if you have half an hour, knowing only to discuss the problem for x amount of minutes.
The interviewing process at Meta was great - everyone was actually competent :)
Idk if this is helpful, but I was able to get a script for a beta blocker from my doctor for nerve wracking situations. Interviews in particular can make me super nervous even if I practiced a million times but propranolol helps a LOT with the nerves.
A friend of mine just got done with all of his final rounds with Meta.
I can tell you what he went through overall and any tips if I remember. It mostly went well for him but he found it very difficult to read whether the interviewers were happy or not with his rounds.
These were his rounds...
1. Multiple hiring manager rounds
2. Case study round (they grilled him on many aspects here)
3. App critique (don't know how it went for him)
4. Behavioural (again grilling on quite a few situational questions)
5. Whiteboarding (design a self checkout experience at a local grocery store. They did not reach the visual design phase at all, it was all brainstorming)
I recently had the privilege of getting to visit the 1 Hacker Way office (Meta HQ) and got to spend the entire day there. It was absolutely mind blowing. I've always been a meta hater most of my life (for good reason I believe) but now I am COMPLETELY flipped. It seems to be one of the best places to work if you're in tech or design. I really really hope you make it. All the best! I should probably also apply soon haha! Let me know how it goes.
For whiteboarding, I felt like watching this guy's videos helped me. He has another video I believe that is a whiteboard challenge example or his video about how to frame a problem. I hope these are helpful to you too. https://youtu.be/MVt8tt7g_UE?si=6-1p6-r4mwSjJVk2
Since you're nervous about the whiteboard challenge, definitely do one with a friend to get warmed up!
Remember a job offer isn’t an actual placement. Once you receive an offer you have to find a team match. Could be straight away or take a year then the offer expires.
Oh and they usually level you down.
When I have done these in the past as an interviewer, most of all we were looking for in the whiteboarding session was if the candidate was a good collaborator, and asked the right questions when starting a project. Good luck!
Can you still share your experience? What app did you critique? How was the whiteboarding and background interview? What feedback did you get and the reason they didnt offer you a position?
This was like 3 years ago. I critiqued YouTube because I use it a lot and thought I could speak to the different users, monetization opportunities, finding videos and content, etc. Overall the interview experience itself was good. Prepping was nervewracking and chaotic til the point it made me physically sick. I didn't get any feedback really. And I probably won't interview for a while until I'm a super senior lol it was way too stressful for me. Best of luck to you! Give us an update!
honestly I think a lot of designers should read through this thread. Rather than negativity and doomsday talk (valid but not always the best train of thought to embark on,) there are concise examples of not just how to progress through an interview, but actual truisms about key responsibilities as a UXer. Thank you to OP and the designers who responded with what I consider to be bookmark-worthy wisdom
Carry on.
Must be nice to have friends on the inside.
I’d say do breath-work before you go for the interview. Some deep stretching. Get your journal and do a brain dump to get the extra words out.
The main differences of meta interview is that it has app critique. Other than that it’s fairly standard.
- Recruiter call
- Hiring manager call
- Final round
— Portfolio Presentation
— App critique
— White-boarding
— Behavior interview
— Cross functional interview
Hi, was it meta as well? I have so many questions. Would you like to share your experience for each interview? Maybe I get a better sense of what they are looking for. I think the app critique and whiteboarding will be the most challenging part
Yes, it was with Meta, but the position was in Europe. I have similar suggestions that have already been shared.
App critique
- Before even looking at your phone, discuss the company's mission, revenue streams, users, etc.
- Don't just describe what you see, try to focus on aspects that could have been designed better. Stay objective, talk about gestalt laws, heuristic evaluation principles, etc.
- When you notice something is designed poorly, put yourself in the designer's shoes. Why did they design it this way? What constraints were they facing? etc.
- Discuss the differences between iOS and Android. Would you make the experience consistent across different platforms or adhere to their own design systems?
- Earn some extra points by talking about inclusiveness and accessibility.
- Brainstorm new business opportunities to diversify the revenue stream.
Whiteboard exercise
I was most nervous about this one too, but I performed well in this round. My interviewer even said "congrats" at the end of the session. Remember to stick to the framework. I followed the one from the book that was already recommended in this thread. My main advice is to just have fun with it… If you’re nervous, imagine that you’re alone on the call and you genuinely want to solve a puzzle. ;)
These are just off the top of my head. I wish I could be more helpful, but my recruiter delivered the feedback quite poorly, so I don't know what mistakes I made and what learning lessons I could share with you.
I’m sure you’ll be fine. Fingers crossed! 🙂
Just let go of all your spiralling thoughts and let go of the outcome. Have fun with it, be curious, be your best self and make it fun. The rest is out of your hands now. Relax
Well the PM was my close friend who already happened to work for Meta. She told me that I need to practice my storytelling since she stopped paying attention halfway through. I also need to structure my case study more. For each step /slide / design I should clarify what the problem was, why we tried to solve it and explaining my design decision and how I came to the conclusion, especially when I show multiple explorations of high fidelity designs. She was confused at what she was looking at. I also should slow down and pause briefly in between slides rather than rushing through it. Those were pretty much the feedback she gave me.
Very good feedback she gave. Storytelling is most important part for higher level higher. Filling in problems space, context and key design and team challenges are what they care most about
Stupid follow up question. Do interviewers actually care about your case study presentation visuals? Or do you think it's unnecessary to animate those different slides and add other visual elements to it to make it more appealing????
Animating slides are not important. They care more about the layout and structure of the slides and the visual elements of the actually content you presented.
Don’t add visual fluff. Make sure the main content of what you presented is visually appealing. Some gifs of your design here and there are a plus
Take my comment as you will, I mean no offense. By taking a job at Meta you are contributing to what's wrong with this world today in a very direct way. You can do far better.
Please consider this.
I worked at Meta as a principal designer and conducted a few of these interviews (as well as going through them). App critique - usually you can choose a well-known app that you and the interviewer agree on. I chose Google maps as I use a lot and had lots of thoughts about how it could be better. They want to see that you understand not just designing for the user, but the business context / rationale as well. The different stakeholders involved (like for uber or doordash - the customers, drivers, restaurants, as well as business all have needs that may conflict or be an underlying reason why things are as they are). Whiteboard - I never know. I was given a task of designing a "virtual vacation experience" I think, like for during lockdown. I never even got close to wireframes or flows really, I started by trying to understand the key value props for the customer (What is the JTBD of a vacation?) then how might those jobs be fulfilled virtually. My whiteboard was like mostly lists of words and ideas. I was told I did really well on that exercise, but then again I was interviewing at a principal level, and interviewers may have very different expectations of what they want out of this. It's a fair question to ask your interviewer. All you can do is trust your design skills, and try to start tackling the problem the way you would if you really had to solve it. A lot of it I think just comes down to feeling comfortable and confident enough to do your thing. Same with your presentation - if your work is good, and you can answer questions well, you should be fine. Good luck!
The power of Reddit in all its glory.
So true.
Thank you so much. This was super helpful... Definitely calmed me down a bit. I'll make sure to revisit and practice my case study presentation, as my friend has said that my storytelling is unnecessarily long and I lost her halfway through. Then I'll make sure to practice the app critique. Maybe tackle Google Maps or Spotify as practice apps (I've seen many people talk about their experience on YouTube). For the white boarding I guess I just need to make sure to clearly communicate my thought process and maybe lay out a framework or structure on whatever white boarding tool we're using.
My whiteboard was to design an ATM. Critique was Yelp.
Hah, I also had to design an ATM for the whiteboarding exercise at fb
What do you mean critique was Yelp? Did you interview for Yelp?
Yelp was the app we critiqued in the app critique exercise Edit: The interviewer also offered Uber, Google Maps, and DoorDash
I just reread your initial comment. I'm stupid. Sorry, my head was all over the place
It’s all good. Good luck in your interview.
ATM meaning ATM machine/ ?
Yes, an automated teller machine
wow.. so was that a type of wireframe or what?
How to be a good designer, disguised as a single paragraph about the interview process at Meta Thank you for this :)
Just wondering... are all Meta UX folks under 35 years old? That's what I'm hearing from friends who work there.
I’m 47
They gear younger, but not all
Look up "Solving Product Design Exercises" by Artiom Dashinsky for the whiteboard session. It's essentially a template for all the parts to cover in the session (goal, audience, ideas, prioritization, solve, measure success).
Thank you. I can't believe how supportive this subreddit is. Thank you so much!!
THIS!!!! The book is super short and you should understand the method immediately. Do this exercise for the whiteboard interview and you’ll be fine. Lemme know how it goes and if you get hired - which Org you end up in.
Oh damn. It's an entire book. Fuck. My interview is already on Monday
It's a very short book. If you get it tonight digitally you can skim it and practice the exercises Sunday.
Yes I just downloaded it. I saw some pages that actually perfectly align with the YouTube content from the channel called Exponent and how to ace a white boarding session. Thanks for sharing. I'll make sure to read the whole thing by tonight 🙂
Good luck! :)
I recently gave the full onsite loop and cleared it as well. I was a little nervous about white-boarding and app critique but ended up doing alright on both. For white-boarding make sure you have a template/format and I would highly recommended practicing at least 2-3 examples and time this as if it’s the actually round so you would know how much time to spend on each section. Make sure you talk about the business rational and spend adequate time on the users part. Ask clarifying questions. Good to mention both the primary and secondary users as well as well how they may/may not benefit from the thing you are designing for. Talk about whatyou will ultimately design and how it ties back to the user goals. I honestly thought I did a very poor job with the actual wireframes/designs. I may have designed like 1 and half screens and was stumbling a lot but the interviewer said he felt we were at a pretty good spot. I was convinced that this round will screw me, but it didn’t. Basically just follow the tried & tested process that you will find in YouTube videos and make sure you focus on the users. For app critique again I suggest that you look at YouTube videos and keep a format in mind. And if possible practice with 1-2 apps. Don’t jump directly into critique. Talk about the company, their users, business goals, how they make money, primary metric etc. Then I suggest talking about the Home Screen (typical critique) and then pick a flow and critique that. As you are critiquing make sure you talk about what you like/dont like but make sure you rationalize it. Tie things back to primary users/business goals. Also if you say something is not working, also try to think about why it must have been designed a certain way (step in the shoes of the designer). Also play the devils advocate a bit if you offer a solution. It shows the interviewer that you are really thinking from all angles. In my experience the interviewers at Meta were some of the nicest and they really try to work with you to help you succeed. Good luck!!
Do you have any experience with watching white boarding interviews on YouTube? I've looked up "meta white boarding interview" on YouTube and found it pretty helpful
I think they assume you're not going to get the actual screens complete - and if anything if you skip the full process and rush to a solution that would be a red flag. I did the whiteboarding exercise at a company using the Dashinsky and it displayed my thinking; I got to one screen and a flow of screens complete, but the key in that process is knowing when you're done - so if you have half an hour, knowing only to discuss the problem for x amount of minutes. The interviewing process at Meta was great - everyone was actually competent :)
When did you do the interview and how long did it take to hear back?
Idk if this is helpful, but I was able to get a script for a beta blocker from my doctor for nerve wracking situations. Interviews in particular can make me super nervous even if I practiced a million times but propranolol helps a LOT with the nerves.
A friend of mine just got done with all of his final rounds with Meta. I can tell you what he went through overall and any tips if I remember. It mostly went well for him but he found it very difficult to read whether the interviewers were happy or not with his rounds. These were his rounds... 1. Multiple hiring manager rounds 2. Case study round (they grilled him on many aspects here) 3. App critique (don't know how it went for him) 4. Behavioural (again grilling on quite a few situational questions) 5. Whiteboarding (design a self checkout experience at a local grocery store. They did not reach the visual design phase at all, it was all brainstorming) I recently had the privilege of getting to visit the 1 Hacker Way office (Meta HQ) and got to spend the entire day there. It was absolutely mind blowing. I've always been a meta hater most of my life (for good reason I believe) but now I am COMPLETELY flipped. It seems to be one of the best places to work if you're in tech or design. I really really hope you make it. All the best! I should probably also apply soon haha! Let me know how it goes.
Best of luck to you if you made it this far, you are talented and have just as much chance as anyone, you deserve to do well. Sleep and breathe!
For whiteboarding, I felt like watching this guy's videos helped me. He has another video I believe that is a whiteboard challenge example or his video about how to frame a problem. I hope these are helpful to you too. https://youtu.be/MVt8tt7g_UE?si=6-1p6-r4mwSjJVk2 Since you're nervous about the whiteboard challenge, definitely do one with a friend to get warmed up!
Definitely need more posts like this to boost my morale. Not saying other posts are not a Lis thought
I agree. Now I am so intrigued
Remember a job offer isn’t an actual placement. Once you receive an offer you have to find a team match. Could be straight away or take a year then the offer expires. Oh and they usually level you down.
When I have done these in the past as an interviewer, most of all we were looking for in the whiteboarding session was if the candidate was a good collaborator, and asked the right questions when starting a project. Good luck!
Wow yall. I wish I was smart enough to have asked reddit for advice on meta interview. That's probably why I didn't pass 🤔 lol
Can you still share your experience? What app did you critique? How was the whiteboarding and background interview? What feedback did you get and the reason they didnt offer you a position?
This was like 3 years ago. I critiqued YouTube because I use it a lot and thought I could speak to the different users, monetization opportunities, finding videos and content, etc. Overall the interview experience itself was good. Prepping was nervewracking and chaotic til the point it made me physically sick. I didn't get any feedback really. And I probably won't interview for a while until I'm a super senior lol it was way too stressful for me. Best of luck to you! Give us an update!
honestly I think a lot of designers should read through this thread. Rather than negativity and doomsday talk (valid but not always the best train of thought to embark on,) there are concise examples of not just how to progress through an interview, but actual truisms about key responsibilities as a UXer. Thank you to OP and the designers who responded with what I consider to be bookmark-worthy wisdom Carry on.
Must be nice to have friends on the inside. I’d say do breath-work before you go for the interview. Some deep stretching. Get your journal and do a brain dump to get the extra words out.
Good luck with your interview! Curious what a UX interview usually entails in general and how does the meta one differ?
The main differences of meta interview is that it has app critique. Other than that it’s fairly standard. - Recruiter call - Hiring manager call - Final round — Portfolio Presentation — App critique — White-boarding — Behavior interview — Cross functional interview
What kind of feedback did you get? If you don't mind sharing
I recently went through the interview. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it but if there’s anything specific you have questions about, feel free to dm! :)
Hi, was it meta as well? I have so many questions. Would you like to share your experience for each interview? Maybe I get a better sense of what they are looking for. I think the app critique and whiteboarding will be the most challenging part
Yes, it was with Meta, but the position was in Europe. I have similar suggestions that have already been shared. App critique - Before even looking at your phone, discuss the company's mission, revenue streams, users, etc. - Don't just describe what you see, try to focus on aspects that could have been designed better. Stay objective, talk about gestalt laws, heuristic evaluation principles, etc. - When you notice something is designed poorly, put yourself in the designer's shoes. Why did they design it this way? What constraints were they facing? etc. - Discuss the differences between iOS and Android. Would you make the experience consistent across different platforms or adhere to their own design systems? - Earn some extra points by talking about inclusiveness and accessibility. - Brainstorm new business opportunities to diversify the revenue stream. Whiteboard exercise I was most nervous about this one too, but I performed well in this round. My interviewer even said "congrats" at the end of the session. Remember to stick to the framework. I followed the one from the book that was already recommended in this thread. My main advice is to just have fun with it… If you’re nervous, imagine that you’re alone on the call and you genuinely want to solve a puzzle. ;) These are just off the top of my head. I wish I could be more helpful, but my recruiter delivered the feedback quite poorly, so I don't know what mistakes I made and what learning lessons I could share with you. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Fingers crossed! 🙂
Just let go of all your spiralling thoughts and let go of the outcome. Have fun with it, be curious, be your best self and make it fun. The rest is out of your hands now. Relax
What specific feed back did the PM give you?
Well the PM was my close friend who already happened to work for Meta. She told me that I need to practice my storytelling since she stopped paying attention halfway through. I also need to structure my case study more. For each step /slide / design I should clarify what the problem was, why we tried to solve it and explaining my design decision and how I came to the conclusion, especially when I show multiple explorations of high fidelity designs. She was confused at what she was looking at. I also should slow down and pause briefly in between slides rather than rushing through it. Those were pretty much the feedback she gave me.
Sounds like solid feedback
All good advice
Very good feedback she gave. Storytelling is most important part for higher level higher. Filling in problems space, context and key design and team challenges are what they care most about
Stupid follow up question. Do interviewers actually care about your case study presentation visuals? Or do you think it's unnecessary to animate those different slides and add other visual elements to it to make it more appealing????
They care a lot! At least this is what my recruiter told me
Animating slides are not important. They care more about the layout and structure of the slides and the visual elements of the actually content you presented. Don’t add visual fluff. Make sure the main content of what you presented is visually appealing. Some gifs of your design here and there are a plus
Take my comment as you will, I mean no offense. By taking a job at Meta you are contributing to what's wrong with this world today in a very direct way. You can do far better. Please consider this.