What's the difference between a UI Designer and a UX Designer?

UI (User Interface) design is focused on the look and feel—the visual design, colors, and typography. UX (User Experience) design is focused on the overall feel of the product—the user flow, information architecture, and how easy it is to use. Most modern roles are a blend of both, but it's important to know which is more critical for your needs.

Is a portfolio the only thing that matters for a designer?

A portfolio is critical, but it's not the only thing. It shows the final product, but doesn't show the process. Screening questions can help you understand *how* they work: 'Have you conducted user research?' or 'Have you worked with a design system?'. This gives you insight into their process and collaborative skills.

Why is Figma proficiency so important now?

Figma has become the industry standard for UI/UX design and collaboration. While other tools exist, requiring Figma proficiency is a strong signal that a candidate is up-to-date with modern workflows and can collaborate effectively with your product and engineering teams from day one.

UI/UX Designer Screening Questions

A great portfolio isn't enough. Use these 20 knockout questions to filter for designers who understand user research, prototyping, and developer handoff.

Why Screening UI/UX Designers is Hard

Screening designers is challenging because a beautiful portfolio can hide a flawed process. A candidate might have stunning Dribbble shots, but do they know how to conduct user research? Can they create a prototype that works? Can they hand off designs to developers effectively? Manually reviewing dozens of portfolios to find these signals is incredibly time-consuming and subjective.

What to Look For in a UI/UX Designer

A great UI/UX designer is a problem-solver who uses aesthetics to create intuitive experiences. The most important filter is their portfolio. After that, look for proficiency in industry-standard tools (like Figma), experience with user research and usability testing, and a history of collaborating with product managers and engineers. These questions are designed to verify that they have experience across the entire design lifecycle, not just making pretty pictures.

20 Knockout Questions for UI/UX Designers

#	Question	Type	Knockout Rule
1	How many years of UI/UX design experience do you have?	MCQ: 0-1 / 1-3 / 3-5 / 5+	Below minimum = Knockout
2	Do you have a portfolio of design work you can share?	Yes / No	No = Hard Knockout
3	Are you proficient in Figma?	Yes / No	No = Knockout for Figma-first teams
4	Have you designed for both web and mobile platforms?	Yes / No	No = Knockout for cross-platform roles
5	Have you conducted user research or usability testing?	Yes / No	No = Knockout for UX-heavy roles
6	Have you created wireframes and interactive prototypes?	Yes / No	No = Knockout
7	Have you worked directly with developers to hand off designs?	Yes / No	No = Red flag for product teams
8	Have you worked within an existing design system or built one?	Yes / No	No = Red flag for scale-stage companies
9	Have you collaborated with product managers on feature design?	Yes / No	No = Red flag
10	Have you done data-informed design using analytics or heatmaps?	Yes / No	No = Red flag for growth-focused teams
11	Do you have experience designing SaaS product interfaces?	Yes / No	No = Knockout for SaaS companies
12	Are you comfortable receiving and iterating on design feedback?	Yes / No	No = Red flag
13	Have you designed onboarding or user flows end-to-end?	Yes / No	No = Knockout for product design roles
14	Have you worked with motion design or micro-interactions?	Yes / No	No = Knockout for animation-focused roles
15	Do you have basic knowledge of HTML/CSS?	Yes / No	No = Red flag for design-dev collaboration roles
16	Are you authorized to work in [country] without visa sponsorship?	Yes / No	No = Knockout
17	What is your expected salary range?	MCQ: Range bands	Out of budget = Knockout
18	What is your current notice period?	MCQ: Immediate / 2 weeks / 1 month / 2+ months	Mismatch = Knockout
19	Are you open to our work model?	MCQ: Onsite / Hybrid / Remote	Mismatch = Knockout
20	Are you available for an interview within the next 7 days?	Yes / No	No = Deprioritize

"Asking for a portfolio link is a must, but screening for Figma and Design System experience is what gets us to the best candidates faster."
- Head of Design, B2C App

How to Use These Questions

Your first question should always be "Do you have a portfolio?". If the answer is no, they are an immediate knockout. After that, use a Sift quiz to filter for your team's specific needs. Are you a Figma-first shop? Is it a UX-heavy role requiring research experience? Asking these questions upfront ensures that the portfolios you spend time reviewing belong to candidates who are already a strong practical fit for your team.

Common Screening Mistakes

The most common mistake is being seduced by a beautiful but irrelevant portfolio. A designer who has only done marketing websites may not be a good fit for a complex SaaS application. Another mistake is hiring a "UI designer" for a "UX role" — use questions to screen for research and user testing experience to ensure you're hiring for the right skill set.