Whiteboard activities have become a staple in design interviews — especially for UX and product designers. Done well, they give you a window into how a candidate thinks, collaborates, and approaches problems.
But here’s the catch: done poorly, whiteboard activities can feel intimidating, biased, or even like free work. That’s not good for the candidate experience — or for your ability to evaluate fairly.
Here’s how to make sure your whiteboard activity works for everyone involved.
1. Don’t call it a “challenge”
Language matters. Calling it a “design challenge” can trigger anxiety and create an adversarial tone. Instead, frame it as an activity, exercise, or collaboration. You want candidates to feel like they’re working with you, not being tested against you.
2. Share context in advance (without assigning homework)
Provide as much information as possible before the interview: the structure of the activity, the tools they’ll be using (whiteboard, Miro, FigJam, etc.), who will be participating, and what you’re hoping to learn.
3. Keep the group small and supportive
Include only 2–3 designers from your team, depending on the seniority level of the role your are hiring for. Any more, and the candidate may feel outnumbered or overwhelmed. Brief the designers on your team beforehand letting them know the goal is to simulate collaboration, not an interrogation.
4. Avoid bias in your activity topic
Don’t use a real problem your team is currently working on. If you do, the candidate risks being compared against solutions your team has already considered which isn’t a fair evaluation.
Instead, choose a neutral, realistic problem with enough ambiguity to spark discussion, but no “insider knowledge” advantage.
5. Structure the activity clearly
The most effective whiteboard activities have three main elements:
- A problem → a clear, understandable scenario
- A few considerations → constraints, audiences, or goals to shape their thinking
- A clear ask → not to solve the problem outright, but to walk you through how they would approach solving it
6. Focus on process, not solutions
The point isn’t whether they “get it right.” It’s about:
- Who they would involve
- The questions they’d ask
- The process they’d follow
- How they collaborate under ambiguity
This is far closer to the reality of design work than magically solving problems on the spot.
The Takeaway
A successful whiteboard activity is not about stress-testing or “tricking” candidates. It’s about creating space for them to show you how they think, communicate, and collaborate — the skills that actually matter on the job.
When you structure the activity with care, respect, and fairness, you’ll get a truer picture of your candidates and reflect the kind of design culture great talent wants to join.
