Zeus Learning Instructional Designer/UX Designer Interview Experience ft. Anish Patil

Summary

In the COD podcast, Anish Patil, a UX designer at Zeus Learning, shares insights on the recruitment process for UX designers, which includes an aptitude test, HR and technical interviews, and a focus on design logic and portfolio presentation. He advises aspiring designers to avoid crash courses and instead practice and learn from mistakes, recommending Google's UX design course as a starting point. Patil emphasizes the importance of understanding design principles and having a strong case study project to demonstrate design thinking.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Anish Patil is an electronics engineer turned UX/instructional designer at Zeus Learning.
• 📝 The recruitment process for UX designers at Zeus Learning consists of three rounds: an aptitude test, a technical/HR interview, and a final technical interview.
• 🧠 The aptitude test includes a mix of short and long-form questions covering logical reasoning, verbal ability, and image/product analysis.
• 💡 Candidates are expected to demonstrate their thought process and reasoning behind their aptitude test answers during the HR/technical interview.
• 📑 A strong design portfolio and case study showcasing design logic are crucial for UX role applicants.
• 🛠 For aspiring designers, Anish recommends starting with Google's UX design course and then replicating existing designs to build confidence.
• 🎨 It's important for designers to master at least one design tool like Figma, Photoshop, or XD to improve efficiency and expertise.
• 🚫 Avoid short crash courses and focus on consistent practice and learning from mistakes to become a better designer.
• 🔍 A logical mindset and understanding of UX principles are more important for a UX role than a design degree.
• 📈 Having a well-thought-out case study and side projects that demonstrate UI abilities can significantly enhance a candidate's portfolio.
• 💼 For freshers, it's beneficial to have a main project that is a case study ready to be presented during interviews.

Q & A

How many rounds are there in the recruitment process for a User Experience Designer at Zeus Learning?

There are three rounds in the recruitment process for a User Experience Designer at Zeus Learning: an aptitude test, a technical or HR interview, and a final technical interview.

What types of questions can candidates expect in the aptitude test round for a UX Designer role at Zeus Learning?

Candidates can expect a mix of short and long-form questions that may include con-based, aptitude, logic-based, and verbal ability questions. They might also encounter quiz-based questions and product or image-based questions where they need to identify issues or suggest features.

What is the focus of the second round of interviews for a UX Designer at Zeus Learning?

The second round is a mix of technical and HR questions. It focuses on the candidate's responses from the aptitude test, their thought process behind those responses, and may also involve presenting a design portfolio.

How important is it for a candidate to have a design portfolio when applying for a UX Designer role at Zeus Learning?

Having a design portfolio is crucial as it allows candidates to showcase their design thinking and capabilities. It should include a well-thought-out case study and may also feature side projects demonstrating UI abilities.

What advice does Anish Patil give for aspiring engineers or designers preparing for UX roles?

Anish Patil suggests that aspiring engineers or designers should have a strong understanding of design principles and laws, and should be prepared with a good case study project and some UI projects. He also recommends starting with existing projects to gain confidence before creating projects from scratch.

What resources does Anish Patil recommend for someone starting their UX journey?

Anish Patil recommends the Google course on UX design as a starting point, which provides necessary resources for beginners. He also suggests replicating existing projects found on Behance or Dribbble to gain practical experience.

How does Anish Patil view the importance of design tools for a UX Designer?

Anish Patil emphasizes the importance of having expertise in at least one design tool, such as Figma, Photoshop, or XD, as it can significantly improve efficiency and quality of work.

What mistake does Anish Patil advise aspiring designers to avoid?

Anish Patil advises against falling for quick crash courses that promise to make one a designer in a short period. Instead, he suggests continuous practice, learning from mistakes, and not repeating them.

What is the one thing Anish Patil thinks is crucial for a UX role regardless of whether one is from an engineering or design school?

Anish Patil believes that having a strong logical foundation and understanding of UX principles is crucial for a UX role, regardless of one's educational background.

How does Anish Patil suggest improving design skills?

Anish Patil suggests improving design skills by studying interesting designs or products, trying to replicate them, and then adding one's own touch to understand the design process deeply.

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Interview Introduction and Recruitment Process

The paragraph introduces Anish Patil, an electronics engineering graduate from Mumbai University, who is currently working as a UX or instructional designer at Zeus Learning. Anish discusses the recruitment process for UX designers at Zeus Learning, which consists of three rounds: an aptitude test, an HR or technical interview, and a final technical interview. The aptitude test includes a variety of questions such as logical reasoning, verbal ability, and image/product-based questions. Candidates are advised to be prepared to explain their thought process behind their aptitude test answers and to present their design portfolio or case studies during the interviews. Anish emphasizes the importance of having a strong design logic and understanding UX principles for the role.

05:01

🔍 Deep Dive into Interview Rounds

Anish elaborates on the second round of interviews, which focuses on the candidate's responses from the first assessment. Interviewers may ask questions based on the candidate's previous answers to understand their reasoning. Candidates are also expected to present their design projects, which could be scrutinized for their overall thinking and behavior. Anish suggests that candidates should have a well-thought-out case study and side projects to demonstrate their UI abilities. He advises against focusing on small design elements and instead recommends designing complete features or components, such as a Spotify play bar or menu, to showcase a deeper understanding of UX design.

10:01

🛠️ Tools and Resources for Aspiring Designers

Anish shares his experience and suggests resources for aspiring engineers looking to enter the field of UX or UI design. He recommends starting with Google's UX design course, which provides a comprehensive foundation for beginners. He advises against trying to learn every design tool at once and instead suggests mastering one tool before exploring others. Anish also emphasizes the importance of having a good understanding of design tools to improve efficiency. He mentions that candidates often make the mistake of chasing new tools instead of gaining expertise in one.

15:04

🚀 Advice for Engineering Students and Future Designers

Anish provides advice for engineering students and aspiring designers, particularly those looking to join the design field in 2025. He stresses that having a logical mindset and a strong grasp of UX principles is more important than having a design degree. He encourages candidates to have a solid project or case study to showcase their understanding of UX design. Anish advises against enrolling in quick crash courses, suggesting that design skills require consistent practice and learning from mistakes. He recommends studying existing designs, replicating them to understand the design process, and then applying personal touches to improve and innovate.

Keywords

💡User Experience Designer

A User Experience Designer focuses on enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and a product. In the script, Anish Patil mentions his role as a UX Designer at Zeus Learning, emphasizing the importance of design logic and functionality over aesthetics.

💡Instructional Designer

An Instructional Designer creates educational experiences and training programs. While not directly discussed in the script, it's mentioned alongside UX Designer, suggesting a role that involves designing learning experiences, which could be part of Anish's responsibilities.

💡Aptitude Test

An Aptitude Test is a method used to assess a candidate's natural abilities and potential for learning or performing a certain job. The script describes the first round of recruitment at Zeus Learning as an aptitude test, which includes questions on logical reasoning, verbal ability, and image/product analysis.

💡Technical Interview

A Technical Interview is a job interview that assesses a candidate's technical knowledge and problem-solving skills. Anish mentions that after the aptitude test, candidates go through a technical or HR-based interview where they are asked about their thought process behind their test responses.

💡Design Portfolio

A Design Portfolio is a collection of design work that showcases a designer's skills and experience. Anish advises candidates to be prepared to present their design portfolio during interviews, which can include case studies and examples of UI design work.

💡Gestalt Principles

Gestalt Principles are a set of design laws that describe how people perceive and organize visual elements. Anish suggests that candidates should be well-versed in these principles as they are fundamental to UX design and can be discussed during interviews.

💡Case Study

A Case Study is a detailed analysis of a specific situation or project. In the context of the script, Anish recommends that UX candidates should have a well-thought-out case study to demonstrate their design process and problem-solving abilities.

💡UI Overhaul

A UI Overhaul refers to redesigning or improving the user interface of a product. Anish uses the example of redesigning the dashboards of apps like Swiggy and Zomato to illustrate the kind of projects that can showcase a candidate's UI design skills.

💡Google UX Design Course

The Google UX Design Course is an online resource for learning user experience design. Anish recommends this course as a starting point for aspiring designers, as it provides foundational knowledge and practical guidance for beginning a career in UX.

💡Design Tools

Design Tools are software applications used by designers to create and edit visual content. Anish discusses the importance of mastering at least one design tool like Figma, Photoshop, or XD, as proficiency with these tools can significantly impact a designer's efficiency and output.

💡Crash Courses

Crash Courses are short, intensive training programs designed to teach a subject quickly. Anish advises against relying on crash courses for learning design, emphasizing the importance of continuous practice and learning from mistakes to truly develop design skills.

Highlights

Anish Patil, an electronics engineer, currently working as a UX designer at Zeus Learning.

Zeus Learning's recruitment process for UX designers consists of three rounds: an aptitude test, an HR or technical interview, and a final technical interview.

The aptitude test includes questions on logical reasoning, verbal ability, and image or product analysis.

Candidates may be asked to identify issues or suggest features for a given product or image.

After the first round, candidates may receive a message for a technical or HR interview within a week.

The second round focuses on the candidate's responses from the aptitude test and may include a design portfolio presentation.

Design thinking and understanding of UX principles are crucial for the UX role.

The final technical interview often involves discussing a candidate's design portfolio and overall thinking process.

Candidates are advised to have a well-thought-out case study showcasing their design process from start to end.

UI projects demonstrating the ability to design components are also beneficial for UX role applicants.

Anish recommends Google's UX design course as a starting point for aspiring designers.

It's important for designers to have expertise in at least one design tool to improve efficiency.

Avoiding crash courses and focusing on consistent practice is advised for aspiring designers.

Having a logical approach and a solid understanding of UX principles is more important than the academic background for a UX role.

Candidates should be prepared to discuss their thought process and reasoning behind their design decisions.

Replicating existing designs and then making improvements is a good way to practice and learn.

Anish emphasizes the importance of learning from mistakes and not repeating them in the design process.

The podcast provides valuable insights for students looking to pursue a career in UX or design roles.

Transcripts

[Music]

so yeah uh again welcome in COD podcast

and today we have Anish patil who is

currently working at Zeus learning as

user experience designer or you can also

say instructional designer so first of

all welcome Anish in COD podcast

thanks yeah hi guys my name is Anish

ptin and I have completed my engineering

in electronics engineering from Mumbai

University and I'm currently in Zeus

learning as an ux designer or an

instructional

design okay great so first of all uh

let's understand the number of rounds at

Zeus learning and how many rounds were

there and what type of round uh anyone

can expect uh while applying or while

going through Z learning recruitment

process for user experience

designer yeah um for ux designers there

were three rounds the first round was an

aptitude test U and second round was in

um HR or a technical Dr HR and Technical

Dr and the third round was also a

technical Dr for me uh for the uh

aptitude test uh the users uh the

candidates who are applying can expect

various questions short form and long

form uh they can include they can expect

con based questions aptitude questions

uh logic based questions and verbal

ability questions also uh they can

expect uh quiz based questions also um

yeah in long form questions uh you can

expect something like an image or a

product which is described to you and uh

you may need to U give its functionality

add on its functionality or you may have

to point out what is wrong with that

product or with uh whatever is presented

to you either a graph or an image

yeah so okay so uh candidates can expect

the question based on cons logical

reasoning verbal ability and image or

product based question where uh

candidates have to identify the mistake

from that image or uh suggest some

feature to some product right right okay

so after clearing first round uh what

what what was the next process or what

will be the next

process uh so after clearing the first

round uh you'll receive a message and

within a week or so um there will be a

technical or HR based wherein you will

be ask asked questions based on your

previous responses so whatever responses

were made in the aptitude test uh so

let's say if you have answered something

uh correctly or incorrectly uh you may

be asked what was your reasoning or

thought process behind your answers so

uh the candidates who are applying

should be mindful of that and also um if

you have a design portfolio or you have

made a case study of uh designs

uh they might ask them to present their

designs as well so yeah these two things

the candidate should be well prepared

with also for ux I think the uh major uh

key is to be ready with the the design

Logics right uh so for example gestal

principles or the ux based laws which we

study so the candidates must be well

aware of these things also

while uh preparing for the

interviews okay so your design thinking

uh should be strong for for the ux role

uh the first the ux role is right the ux

role is like majorly about the logic um

it's it's about the design as well but

majorly about the logic as to how the

things will function rather than how the

thing will

look right

so okay so uh this type of question user

uh candidates can expect in the first

round

so uh after clearing the second round

there will be uh again one more

technical round right as you said in my

case there was technical um for the

second

interview okay so uh what candidate can

expect in the second round of inter view

so like uh the first round was based on

uh like the response that you have uh

given in the first assessment So based

on that uh interviewer might ask the

question on your response or your log

behind that response and also also

candidates have to present their design

project so questions can be asked on

that design so what

what can be asked in the second round of

interview uh yeah right so the second

round of interviews as well um I

presented my design portfolio in the

second round as well um uh so majorly I

got questions upon those things and also

the second round was a bit uh to check

for the candidates uh overall uh

thinking and their behavior so so I

think it was a mix of uh HR I can say as

well but uh yeah the second round was

majorly uh in which I showed my design

Port okay so uh do you think your design

uh should have a sense like uh for ux

role or like for some UI role uh

candidates just design design stuff on

wipes so

for ux RO what do you

think for fresher roles

yeah uh right that's a very good point

actually uh because I have noticed

candidates they do these 100 days design

challenges as well and in that they

design a small notifications car slider

or a button and its different states so

I feel personally that is not quite

useful while showing it to an interview

uh the main thing being it is just a

function on the main page on the major

page right so if I uh take a page for

example of Spotify I can divide that

patient to various uh buttons or various

uh features such as I can u i can design

a screen of the uh bar uh which is the

play for bar and I can present it

separately I can present the card

separately I can present the menu

separately so I think candidates must

have a uh proper case study with them

which is logical and which is well

thought through from start to end and

they can have side projects which can

demonstrate the UI abilities um to

better uh present uh to better uh

present what the you what you

capabilities they have or what design

thinking they have but majorly they

should have a uh main project which is a

case study uh at the disposal ready to

be uh demonstrated to the

interviews okay so uh it's good to have

a case study in uh in our projects for

ux role and also uh we can have a UI

projects for uh like how you design

stuff or or how you design any

particular component so yeah yeah

okay okay so U

yeah yeah yeah

continue uh yeah so for example I have

seen projects where uh they have UI

overhauled swiigy and zomato dashboards

and dashboards and Main pages so that is

good I feel uh if you find anything uh

which in lines with the laws which I

just mentioned so let's say swii has

done something which does not comp

comply with the

laws working logic that could have been

better or shown in a better way so that

projects are good to have because you

have thought through that uh point which

a major company has

yeah it shows uh that the candidate has

an uh good sense of the design and what

the user

actually okay so yeah Anish what

resources you have used for your ux or

UI Journey or what resources you will

suggest for aspiring Engineers to get

into this

journey yeah um so the aspiring

Engineers are basically I assume they

have a little knowledge about the

uiux um my goto was the Google uh course

on ux design in cor so I think they have

all the necessary resources which a

beginner needs uh to start their ux

Journey uh from then on they can uh try

to basically replicate what they see on

be hands or dribble

so if they find the case study

interesting uh they can try to uh they

can try to get their hands on that case

study and they can try to basically uh

make a few changes here and there so U

the reason for that being is if uh a

user if a candidate starts in case study

from the scratch they have no idea key

where to start um how to do um our uh uh

how to do basic uh research or uh how to

do user testing and uh where to ask

questions how to find resources so uh my

idea is ke basically just copy uh

existing project try to give it give

your own touch to it and from then when

you gain confidence by doing one project

uh you can try and basically uh do uh a

project from start from scratch and all

these uh things are mentioned in that uh

Google course uh ke how to do your user

testing uh how to write ask the right

questions to the user how to find the

problem statement for your uh uh case

study so yeah I think that's a major uh

way to start get started in your U

journey and there are quite a few

resources available as of now now you

can uh try uh CH GPT where you can ask

for a road map and you can also ask uh

key uh give me some resources which are

available for free online and it will

suggest you uh free resources and also

case studies so

yeah okay so that's the major ux

resource for Preparation like Google

user experience course right right right

so so let's move to the next question so

what do you think tools know like figma

Photoshop design tools like

XD for uh ux

role who actually having a knowledge

about the tools that we use in our

day-to-day Life as a designer is very

crucial I feel for because um in figmas

if you don't know the shortcuts you will

do the same work as uh I do but I'll

take more time and you will do it in

five or 10 minutes which I'll take an

hour to do so uh having a good knowledge

about your tools is I think very crucial

and uh for design right uh there are

vast ma vast number of tools which one

can use from Photoshop to illustrators

figma HD there are multiple but uh my

recommendation is to have an expertise

in one tool and then try to explore

other tools right uh I see uh candidates

making the mistake that they try to

learn each and every tool at the same

time so they get confused Photoshop

illustrator figma

HD let's say or and Market will come up

with tools every month right every once

they'll come up with a new tool and the

candidates will chase for the new tools

he I have to start learning this as well

this as well but if you uh hold on to a

tool get an expertise of the tool and

then try to explore other tools that

would be very good and that would not

basically waste your time and uh

basically you will be able to get hands

on one tool and grow your

expertise Okay so so we should have

expertise in at least one Tool uh like

it will be good so let's move to the

next uh question uh we just talk about

tools so after tools what will you

suggest or what uh message you will give

for aspiring Engineers or designers who

are applying for

2025 companies the companies who are

hiring for 2025 pass uh pass out batch

so what message you will share from your

experience and your engineering

experience

basically right so getting into design

is a little tricky if we belong to an

engineering field because uh various

companies they need an engineering uh

they need a design degree for it so you

must be from a design school or of that

sorts but I feel ke uh it is not that

important if you are a engineer or you

are from a design school uh for a ux

role I feel having the logic is crucial

so if you have your logic straight and

if you have uh your Basics ready so all

the principles all the ux laws which we

discussed if you have got all that uh

sorted and you have a good uh project

good case study project and some UI

projects to P then I feel you are pretty

much ready to enter into the design

field and to get ready for the

interviewers who are for the

2025 joining yeah okay

and what that one thing you are

suggesting to avoid for that batch uh

for upcoming batch or aspiring

Engineers uh the one thing I'll tell

them to avoid is basically

to uh not fall for these quick uh

courses crash courses which we see 14

day courses 21 days courses yeah uh I

feel they are not that useful and uh one

cannot be a designer in 14 or 21 days so

uh keep practicing

that's the basics of it uh to keep

practicing to get better you will do

mistakes for sure and it's okay to make

make mistakes but uh to uh learn from

that mistakes and to not repeat make do

new mistakes every time but don't repeat

your mistake basically and U yeah uh try

to get your head around how the design

looks how the design functions if you

see

um something some page if you visit some

page which you feel is quite interesting

uh not just Pages for suppose if you see

sorry a product which is interesting you

like the feel of the design you like uh

how the way they have packaged it so try

to get behind their uh perspective of

how they should they would have designed

it and uh try to replicate it first and

then try to uh give your don't touch to

that design or

thatu okay so that's a really helpful

advice for aspiring designers or

Engineers uh so yeah Anish uh that was

insightful conversation with you uh

thanks for coming at COD uh this podcast

will definitely help uh help student who

want to pursue their career in ux or

design roles so yeah thank you yeah

thank you so much