A selection of inspiring and challenging questions (and a bonus presentation to practice them). First published on Medium: https://is.gd/zn1Fsa

1. Eleonora Zucconi, Lead User Experience Researcher
46 Interview Questions for User
Experience Researchers at
Google, Amazon, Microsoft and
Facebook
@eleonorazucconi

2. If you’re a User Experience Researcher looking for a new job or a Hiring Manager
looking for inspiration to ask new questions to your candidates, this presentation
should give you with some food for thought.
The presentation contains 46 questions that Glassdoor and Quora users reported
being asked during an interview for a User Experience Researcher position at
Google, Amazon, Microsoft or Facebook.
The slides include all questions reported by Glassdoor users excluding generic ones
(e.g. “Describe your previous job experience”). They are reported exactly as stated
by users (including grammatical errors).
Enjoy!
- Eleonora
“46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi

3. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Describe p-value.

4. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Suppose that you are using eye
tracking on a cross-eyed participant
and the calibration cannot be
successful.
What do you do?

5. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What is your best skill as a UX
designer and what advice would you
give to someone who is trying to learn
this skill?

6. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you conduct user interviews
if you were trying test a particular
interaction?

7. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Imagine you have 3 different UIs and
you want to know which one is best,
what would you do?

8. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Imagine that a team of engineers want
to know why certain users aren’t
engaging with a particular push feature.
They plan to conduct a survey with six
yes/no questions and one question that
can be answered via [a] text box. What
would you tell them about their plan?

9. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
If you had two products and had to ask
one question of users to determine
which they preferred more, what would
you ask?

10. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What are the weaknesses of
personas?
How do you overcome those
weaknesses?

11. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Think about an app you like to use.
Suppose the product manager tells you
that he wants you to find the top 10 UX
issues.
How would you go about this?

12. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How do you handle it when people are
skeptical of the value of usability
research?

13. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Suppose you come forward with a
usability recommendation, and the
engineers counter that with, “All the
usage data we have from millions of
people suggest that is not a problem.”
How would you respond?

14. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Design a study for an in-vehicle phone
keypad

15. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you determine a metric for
engagement?

16. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Define metrics for measuring fun and
satisfaction for a mobile maps product

17. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What’s the difference between a
Persona and a Market Segment?

18. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How do you know if you are asking the
right research questions for a project?

19. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How do you know when a project is
“done”?

20. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you conduct a user
experiment centered on using email?
And how would you protect a user’s
content if they chose to use their
personal email during the experiment?

21. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
You’re working on a streaming music
project that is getting ready to launch a
new design.
Describe how you would begin creating
a plan to research the new design and
what it would include.

22. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Assume you are an Amazon engineer,
the review scores of amazon items are
sometimes biased, because people
usually give a score only if they
strongly like it or strongly dislike it. How
would you know if the review score of a
given item is biased or not?

23. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Think of your favorite app. How would
you go about studying decreased
engagement for that app? What would
you tell PMs about why you chose that
research method?

24. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Tell me about a weakness that a past
manager had mentioned you had.

25. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What would you consider one of the
most difficult challenges you’ve had as
a researcher?

26. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What would you tell someone if they
came to you and said that they wanted
a bigger sample size for interviews or a
survey?

27. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you monetize one of the
research projects listed on your CV?

28. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Pitch a new product and how you
would research it.

29. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Why do you want to work for
Facebook?
What are some UX studies you would
want to conduct?

30. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Name one feature/component of the
Facebook interface that a competitor
does better.
Why?

31. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Pick a favorite app.
How would you evaluate it?

32. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Share a project you completed in which
you feel you made an impact or that
had a “social impact”.

33. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you communicate your
findings to different stakeholders?

34. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Propose a research question and
research design. Explain how it is
useful for Facebook and interesting to
you.

35. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Explain a time that you had to
persuade your manager about a
particular design idea.

36. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Someone on the team has a strong
opinion about how a certain feature
should be designed, but you disagree
that it is a good user experience. How
do you approach the situation?

37. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What aspect of your education
prepared you for this role?

38. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How did you convince your team to
follow your directions?

39. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What did you do when the team
disagreed with you?

40. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
Identify and explain a newly redesigned
feature of the software that had a UX
issue in the previous version.
Describe an alternative design plan for
the same.

41. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What are the areas for improvement on
Amazon.com?

42. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you improve UX on
Amazon.com?

43. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
How would you conduct a UX research
study to improve UX on Amazon page
with books?

44. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
When users are navigating through the
amazon website, they are performing
several actions.
What is the best way to model if their
next action would be a purchase?

45. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What is the most challenging part in
your research projects?

46. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What is your experience with Amazon
website?
How will you improve it?

47. “46 Interview Questions for User Experience Researchers at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon”
Eleonora Zucconi | @eleonorazucconi
Source: Glassdoor
What was a challenging problem you
had to solve and how did you solve it?