GOAT interview
Design inspiration
-Go tos: relevant apps in the app store-Dribbble, Mulzi for fresh ideas, for more general inspo Pinterest and Tumblr -Read: blog from Medium, Mulzi recommendations, books: Coffee table books for colors and texture for example Kinfolk books -Movies: Wes Anderson - colors, sense harmony -Photography: light, balance, color palettes
Do you have any experience in retail or e-commerce?
-I have worked in retail during college for about 3 years, and that really gave me valuable insight into customer experience and customer service. The idea of putting the customer first was really held to a high standard in my role. It taught me about the shopping and retail experience; from advertising promotions, presenting merchandise, payments, and refunds. -In my current role at Mesh, I lead a feature for enabling our community leaders to fundraise for their communities, so I designed a payment experience that would allow users to donate money, and leaders to collect and transfer their money. This was my first time creating a payment design flow. -E-commerce is something I'd love to learn more about because I'm interested in designing an easier, enjoyable and more efficient system for customers to experience. Because I relate as a consumer and I would love to keep improving the shopping experience for people.
How will you go to the voice of the consumer?
-I think speaking with real customers is a great way to gain valuable feedback about the product. It's something i'm always advocating for when there are resources to conduct research in my work. -For example, at Mesh we're working on a new feature that will help folks connect much easier with the communities that they follow in our app -The lead designer and I reached out to current users for a remote interview session, and asked them about their current experience meeting people in their online communities -We've taken that feedback into consideration for how we want to design this new feature that would allow users to find more connection online
How will you build personas and run a/b tests?
-I've had some experience running A/B tests in a previous internship, but it's something that I'm definitely interested in learning more about and using in my process because I know it can give important insight about how customers want to communicate as well as how to optimize an experience. -Personas through defining the target user group of the product, gathering research about their behaviors/frustrations/goals/motivations, and turning that information into a fictional character that represents your target user -archetypes: give us a more behavioral view of your target base
How do you typically measure success?
-It almost always depends on the project's goals and what we want to know -For example, at Spotgini we were creating a survey to go with our new promo video about a feature called Firestarter, which allows independent artists to book events with people who need someone at their event -The survey was measuring customer loyalty using a similar questionnaire to the net promoter score method, and we wanted to know if this was an idea customers would come back to or if they would share it with their networks -Ultimately it was only one aspect of measuring success in our new feature, but it was a quick and viable way to see how much customers would recommend it to someone else
How would you balance the two users of the consumer and the e-commerce entity?
-It's all about understanding what the business and product goals are, and using that space to shape the best experience for the target user group based on their needs. -That's something that I focus on in my work at Mesh when we're reviewing new feature ideas and deciding how we want to create them. It's important for me to know what the company wants to provide and what technical capabilities we have in order to shape an experience that is optimal and the most enjoyable for users.
Your favorite sneaker
-Low Air Jordan 1's, in U.N.C. Blue-Stussy x Nike Air Zoom Spiridon Cage 2 in Fossil
Your favorite brands
-Reformation, Paloma Wool, Louis Vitton, Off-white - Dior, Jean Paul Gautier
What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a product designer?
-Something that I'm trying to improve on is my technical knowledge. -I want to learn more about coding, so at Mesh, i've been having more in-depth conversations with engineers on my team so that I can design with a stronger understanding of technical feasibility.
Are you familiar with the endless aisle?
-Yes I've heard about it, its essentially the concept of going to a store and being able to find that product online and having it shipped to you or the store for in person pickup, blending the two shopping experiences together
Why should we hire you?
-beyond my skills in design and research, I'm willing to learn and i'm truly an advocate for users, i'm willing to take the initiative to move the product forward to align with business needs and ultimately the needs of your customers. -communication skills, i'm a naturally curious learner, and i'm open minded which makes me adaptable
How do you convey your ideas to project managers or other designers?
-getting the user problem clear and defined, so that i can share that solutions based on that need, therefore stakeholders or other team members can thoughtfully and meaningfully interpret the work S: At Curve, I was working with the PM to design for the UI that would allow users to view a job post and its details T: I was to present the idea for critique and review with the PM A: When I presented the work I was specific about the goal which was to have a simple and sophisticated MVP design that allowed users to find out more information about a job posting, and from there I explained the design choices I made based on that R: The PM was able to see my perspective for why i made those choices and she was able to give me feedback based on the goals we had defined for the product
Tell me about your experiences working with iOS or Material design guidelines?
-i use iOS design guidelines the most in my current design roles, but i do use Material design guidelines for my freelance role with OpenMentorship -depending on the project i'm working on, i use the guidelines accordingly, for example at Curve, I'm using both iOS and material design for our project because we want it to be designed for both platforms -but at Mesh, we lean more towards iOS UI because of the company's stylistic choice
GOAT critique
-one of the main factors that helps me to decide whether to buy is price, i would like to see prices on the landing page for the merchandise. its an extra click to determine whether or not i want to add it to my cart, prevents me from casually browsing-i do love the sections based on type of sneaker, brand, gift guide, sustainability, featured sneakers, etc. -when i was casually browsing as a new customer, i saved some specific search filters, scrolled through the catalog, and found a sneaker i wanted to save to my want list. I created a new account, but when i went back to where i was all of my filters were gone and i was back to the default shop all page. I would be nice create an account and be taken back to the screen i was at right before creating a new account. -i love the styles section; it really helps you imagine yourself in the shoes by seeing it on real peron. Curious to know how people can get featured on this page? -also a big fan of the Greatest section. I think it supports the community of sneaker culture folks and creates inspiration. However i think there could be a filter for the editorials, to either search by name, type of creator, date published, etc. i'd want to search instead of scroll through the entire section.
Design trends
-organic lines and shapes, color gradients, playing with opacity and overlap , abstract imagery, minimal and clean aesthetics
What makes for a great e-commerce site?
-strong branding, security of users' data, effective use of visual elements, clear presentation via menus, merchandise etc., ability to leave feedback about the products/services, easily available general and contact information about the business providing goods or services
What I'm looking for
Continue working on products with a collaborative team that make people's lives simpler and more enjoyable. Gain more learning opportunities to learn and work alongside seasoned designers and grow within a company.
Which product's design do you like and dislike, how would you change it?
Dislike: Spotify podcasts Problem: it's hard to organize your podcasts- they usually sit in one place, and its annoying to refer to word of mouth to find new ones Solution: create a system where podcast listeners can organize their saved content, and make podcasts more discoverable by allowing for public and shared podcasts playlists Like: FB Marketplace. I'm always on the hunt for the coolest, unique furniture because i'm planning to re-do my room. I love how I can connect with folks in my area and find the best deals. -Critique: I wish the payment flow could be more secure or at least have guidelines for how I can be safe when purchasing. For example, if I'm wanting to hold something that I'm not ready to buy, i can put a small deposit through a payment system on FB, and if something suspicious happens with the seller, I can get my refund back from the FB payment system.
Why do you want to work at GOAT?
Ever since I can remember, sneaker culture and streetwear culture, has always been an interest of mine. It's likely related to my fascination with the 90s era. I pull a lot of my personal design inspiration from that decade- it's nostalgic and effortlessly cool. Additionally, my interest in fashion has always made life feel more connected to something bigger than myself. Fashion and streetwear culture allows me to connect with people and find my community by bonding through common interests which has always been incredibly important to me. I'd love to work with the GOAT team to create experiences that give people access to products that can provide them with inspiration, empowerment, and a community of like minded people.
*Tell me about a time when you ran into an issue with the product manager, or co-worker - what was the situation, how did you resolve it?
I haven't had any major issues with PM's but whenever I'm not clear on what the design requirements are I definitely like to ask questions to make sure i'm on the same page with PM's. S: At Mesh, our PM wanted me to work on the UI for a certain profile screen, but he wasn't super clear on what needed to be done T: I wanted to gain more clarity on the purpose of the screen and what we specifically needed for that UI A: I decided to follow up with questions that would help me figure out the problems in this profile screen and where it fits into our user flow R: After gaining a better understanding of the design requirements and the context, I was able to send him a final mockup ready for implementation
How do you create a design system with engineers?
I usually like to check in with the engineers throughout the process to get their feedback especially when there are certain design elements that won't work, I'd like to know those things in the beginning of the design process. -Mesh: I've been working on building our design system for the alpha launch of the community building app, and we've come across some feasibility issues in terms of our card designs for the home feed -I was able to communicate with the eng team about the technical constraints and got their input on the iterations i made to make sure they were good to go -I was able to update our design system with these new card designs that solved for our technical constraints while still keeping the UI looking clean and consistent
What do you do when project managers or clients don't like your design?
I'll usually ask why to get a better sense of what could be improved or iterated on, so that I can deliver something that's more aligned with the stakeholder's goals.
Tell me a little about yourself
I'm a UX/UI designer currently at Mesh, interested in using data driven results to create intuitive and seamless designs that address the needs of users. With my educational background in psychology and studio arts, I combine an understanding of human behavior with design to create inclusive and inspiring experiences that can empower people. As early as I can remember, I've always been interested in fashion because it has always made life feel more connected to something bigger than myself. My interests in fashion, particularly streetwear culture, allows me to connect with other people and find my community which has always been an important part in my life and identity.
What do you hope to achieve in this role?
I'm excited to get the chance to work with a larger design team, because i'm looking forward to collaborating with seasoned designers and learning from the best. I'm also hoping to grow within the company as well to create more impact and have more responsibility.
Who you are and how you got involved in design.
I've always been interested in design, solving tangible problems, and human behavior. I wasn't sure how they would all mesh, but I discovered UX during one summer in college and dove into a rabbit hole. I found a UX mentor at my university who taught me about user centered design in her UX course, and I spent much of my college career utilizing my background in research to lead and collaborate on research studies, all while doing design on the side for my colleague's art collective and taking design courses. Near the end of my time at LMU, I knew this was something fulfilling and enrolled at UW for a UX program. After I started my grad program, I soon realized after my first semester that gaining valuable industry experience was something that I craved and wanted to get involved in before going back to school. So this past year I've been working for tech startups and doing freelance projects. Though in my current job at Mesh, I have learned a tremendous amount of skills such as UI design, collaboration and problem solving, I'm looking forward to joining a team that values culture and fashion as much as I do.
What is your experience like working with product managers?
It's been really enjoyable, and has helped me in my design process by making it more clear, straight forward, and organized. S: As a freelance designer at Curve, I've been working alongside with the PM to design their app for a MVP T: The PM that I work with had ideas of what she needed based on design requirements and product goals and would sometimes hand me sketches of ideas she wanted to be implement, or will give me the creative freedom to bring those product goals to life A: After getting the design requirements and mocking up the ideas for our key screens, I liked to check in with her often to get feedback before they get approved R: As a result of this, we've been able to be really transparent and communicative during the design process which allows me to create designs that are aligned with our product goals in a more efficient amount of time
What's something you recently learned from an engineer colleague that changed how you approach your design work?
Lately, I've realized from Spotgini and Open Mentorship, that it's crucial to get the engineers on board with the early design process. At Openmentorship, we had meetings early on for product ideas for the user flows. This allowed me to hear about any feasibility concerns that I knew to design around.
Next big thing in UX?
Personalized content recommendation and designing for accessibility (better contrast, identifiable elements, clear navigation, avoid using color as the main way to convey important info)
Goal you failed to achieve
S: As a freelance designer at OpenMentorship, I was creating design mockups for their MVP launch. The engineers decided to start working on the onboarding screens before we had a chance to validate them. T: I wanted to do a usability study with a couple users before the team starts developing the UI to make sure we were going in a solid direction for the MVP A: I was able to communicate with the engineers about my goals of testing before they start developing all of the UI because I wanted to make sure it could be tested first R: As a result of this, they were understanding and open to the idea of testing; so they decided to work on the backend while I gathered some data. This situation taught me to check in with other teams to make sure we're all on the same page about next steps.
What is your design process like early on into a project?
S: At OpenMentorship, early on we were coming up with design ideas for our MVP T: We ended up brainstorming fun ideas that we thought aligned with our product goals for a mentorship app A: Then we brought engineers into our ideation session to get their feedback and concerns about technical constraints R: Since I've been able to design mockups for our web and mobile version then next thing we plan to do is some user testing to see if we're heading in the right direction in terms of usability and UI
Have you revisited your key success metrics since successful launches? How are they the same or different?
S: At Spotgini, I conducted an initial usability test to evaluate the landing page. T: We gathered insights and translated that into designs. A: When I was still there, they launched part of the designs that i created R: We've seen spikes in our page visits, but I wanted to dive deeper into how we could make it more effective in getting those sign up rates up. So that's something I would explore more if i was still there.
Tell me about a challenging situation when you worked to earn trust and credibility within your team: My greatest accomplishment:
S: Early on into my design role at Spotgini there wasn't a lot of interest from the founder to do UX changes on the landing page T: I needed to gain more buy in because i felt the need to advocate for the customer and their experience with the product because i noticed that there were some major usability issues A: I took the initiative to conduct a usability study, presented the results,, and got the green light to make design changes based on the data R: Ultimately, gained more credibility as a designer because I was able to use data to back up my work within a company that wasn't necessarily very data driven.
Experience working with cross functional teams?
S: I really enjoy working with cross functional teams because it allows for innovative ideas when diverse teams come together. For example, at Mesh, I was working on a new feature that would allow community leaders to fundraise money in app. T: I needed to create a seamless feature that addressed user needs, while also being technically feasible and viable. A: I worked closely with the product manager to gain a better understanding of the product goals, and I worked with our senior designer to gain feedback on my iterations. I also gathered insights from our engineers to determine how feasible it was to implement.R: I took the feedback from our teams to create mockups that were placed in our product timeline which is ready to implement when it's closer to launch.
Tell me about how you work under pressure or under a tight deadline?
S: Openmentorship, i just finished creating our mockups for our web application but the engineer on the team told me new information that i needed to deliver a mockup for the mobile version before they start developing T: I needed to create the mobile mockup before our next meeting to critique the design which was within less than a week A: Luckily, i was able to build on top of the style guide that i had already been working on to streamline the process of creating the mobile version R: I was able to deliver the mobile mockups in time for the meeting so engineers could start working on this new app design. I learned to have conversations with the appropriate stakeholders about product and platform expectations, and to also be thinking about both platforms at the same time to make my designs responsive
When you had to make a decision but information available was inadequate.
S: Project interact health with the Mercer Club, I was taken on to completely design this MVP with the founder from scratch T: My first assignment was to start creating ideas for mockups but i realized there was inadequate research that has been done or at least that I was aware of A: voiced my thoughts on what we should do instead and take a step back, and instead synthesize our notes we have so far on the users, and create a user flow so we can understand their journey in this telehealth product we're creating R: It helped to reevaluate the plan, and make sure we were on the right track given what we know and have access to. I think that's something the founder really appreciated because we felt more confident moving forward because we're taking a more user centered approach.
Tell me about a time you got results that far exceeded your own expectations:
S: Side project, redesigning the YogaWorks app, the original app had poor usability and the UI made it even harder to navigate through the app T: Before I started designing I did some competitive research to get a better sense of the other yoga apps and surveyed some current yoga users A: I created a redesign, tested the wireframes with a group of yoga users to evaluate the task completion rate R: I was surprised that it was almost near 100% task completion rate, which was exciting but whenever my results far exceed my expectations, I want to make sure i'm effectively checking my methods and critically evaluating results because I don't want to be misled by data. After getting the results back, I even went in to follow up with those users and see if there was anything else i could gather from that session.
Describe a time you had to make a quick decision and gather a lot of information in a short time frame
S: Spotgini we were getting ready to launch our first event through the app T: The founder came to me the day before to give a talk about the company and introduce the speakers A: i was only notified that day who the speakers were, so i had to gather data about them to formally introduce them during the event R: we were able to have a great first event, and i was able to introduce the speakers which turned out to be a great last minute experience
Can you tell me about a project that walks through your research process well? Can you tell me about a project you're really passionate about:
S: The YogaWorks Redesign was a passion project to redesign the yoga app of a studio that I used to go to. I realized the app was not user friendly, the design did not match the brand at all, and the only thing you could do on the app was book classes. T: The goal was to create more engagement and a visually cohesive design that aligned with their brand. A :I did an app evaluation to see if there were any immediate usability problems I could identify, competitive analysis to see what the market and designs were like for successful yoga apps, quick survey to get feedback from current yoga users. Gathered inspiration from the style that the current yoga website had to inform the style guide that I made for the app, created some prototypes and validated them with users to get some feedback. R: The final product was an app that was visually consistent with the brand, and included data driven features that would allow users to be more engaged when using the app.
Have you ever had to come to a compromise or make trade-offs with a team you were working with?
S: Working on a mobile design for Mesh's social platform's feed. The lead engineer mentioned that each post needed to be a fixed dimension for optimal scrolling, but the post UI was not currently fixed it would change in size depending on the content. T: The problem was that if we made each post fixed, the UI would look odd if there was not a lot of content and there would be a ton of odd amount of white space. A: I decided to make the post fixed to a comfortable amount, so small text could fit comfortably, and long text would be cut off to a "view more" link to find a safe balance between the two. R: therefore, I was able to work around technical constraints, and create a post design for our feed that allowed for optimal scrolling while keeping our content looking clean and consistent for many forms of content.
Tell me about a time you struggled to work with an engineer on your team. A mistake you made. What did you do to correct it? Time you failed. When you made a difficult decision.
S: early into my design role at Spotgini, i realized that some of the designs that i've been putting effort into weren't being developed the way that i had designed them to spec T: I wanted to check in and be communicative to know more about the engineer's process, he was also the founder. A: Reached out to the founder who was the lead engineer, and asked him about it. R: It turned out to be a beneficial and productive conversation because it made our work process more aligned. We ended up checking in with each other more often during the design and implementation process to make sure the designs were feasible, according to spec, and I was able to check in more to see if the engineer needed anything.
Weaknesses
Taking on too many projects at one time, but for the most part I handle this challenge quite well because I have a time management system that I really stick to, and dividing and conquering throughout the day really allows me to stay organized. In terms of design: Illustration design, I'm not the strongest at creating illustrations but I've been practicing by working with free existing vector files and tweaking them to learn the process and edit them based on the project I'm working on.
Most challenging project you worked on? What made it difficult?
The Mercer Club -S: remote design role, small team, lack of communication since i've started this new project -T: i wanted to us to check in more so we can get the project moving because i felt like we could have been more efficient with our time -A: since he hasn't been as responsive, i reached out and offered to be more flexible in my schedule so we can meet and talk about updates-R: me and my boss were able to come up with a refined workflow that worked better for his schedule and the product timeline. We were able to align our expectations and get those done in an efficient amount of time.
why you want to leave your current role?
Though at my current job at Mesh, I have learned a tremendous amount of skills such as UI design, collaboration and problem solving, I'm looking forward to joining a team that values culture, fashion, and design as much as I do and i would love to work on more project that relate to that
Strengths
Time management - developed a system that helps me organize my tasks, and i usually plan out my days ahead of time or in the morning to divide and conquer Communication - im not afraid to ask questions and get clarification especially when it comes to getting feedback on a project Willingness to learn- I am a very curious individual, and I absorb knowledge like a sponge from many people, situations, places, etc. and I try to use those new connections and apply it to my work to create new and refreshing ideas. In terms of design: Turning UX research into actionable design solutions, I think that's because of my background in psychology and ability to develop empathy for the users I'm designing for.
Interests outside of work
painting, thrift flipping, browsing for antique furniture on marketplaces, shopping for unique finds on other marketing places such as depop, etsy, mercari, etc.
