Let’s get something out of the way:
Being great at Figma does not make you a UX designer.
It makes you a great visual designer—or maybe a UI designer—but UX is an entirely different mindset. And yet, companies keep interviewing “UX designers” who have never conducted a user interview, run a usability test, or even read a heatmap.
Let’s break this down.
UX Is Strategy, Behavior, and Empathy
At its core, UX is about understanding how humans interact with systems and how to improve that experience. That means:
1. Research comes first.
If you’ve never spoken to a user, conducted a field study, or done a card sort—how do you know what they need?
Good UX designers start with questions, not comps. They use qualitative interviews, surveys, analytics, ethnography, and competitive audits to uncover what’s going on.
2. Behavior matters more than beauty.
A pretty UI that nobody uses is a failure.
UX is about making things usable, useful, and usable again. This means mapping user journeys, identifying pain points, and making iterative changes based on real-world behavior—not just stakeholder preferences.
3. Testing is not optional.
You’re missing half the job if you’ve never watched someone struggle through your design.
Usability testing—moderated or unmoderated—exposes flaws you didn’t consider. The best UX professionals get excited when their design fails in a test because it’s a chance to learn and improve.
4. Accessibility is part of the job.
Actual UX means designing for everyone.
If your product doesn’t work with a screen reader, if color contrast fails WCAG standards, or if tap targets are tiny on mobile, you’re not done.
Accessibility is not a nice-to-have. It’s table stakes.
5. Content is UX, too.
If your buttons say “Learn More” on every screen and your error messages are cryptic, you’re not solving problems—you’re creating them.
Microcopy, labeling, hierarchy, and instructional clarity all impact user experience. Great UX designers care about the words just as much as the wireframes.
So how do we interview for UX—real UX?
Look for:
- Critical thinking, not just visual thinking
- Systems design, not just page design
- Evidence-based decision-making, not just stakeholder pleasing
- User empathy, not just brand alignment
- Continuous iteration, not just one-shot delivery
UX is about process, not polish.
When we hire folks based on tools, we miss out on the thinkers, the strategists, and the quiet observers who can transform a product from functional to loved.
To every company out there building design teams:
Stop hiring Figma. Start hiring UX.