Hi

I would construct a scenario then ask what research plan they would create to achieve the scenario goal.

Get them to break down their answer and explain their thinking.

Hth

Matt

What is your process? Do you have a technical background? What tools do you prefer to work with for developing site maps, wire frames, etc. How do you prefer work with designers and strategists? Do you prefer to work on more functional web applications or more experiential web sites? How do you stay current? Do you have experience with consumer research and usability testing?

One of my favorite questions: show some screenshots to the candidate and ask what does he/she think about it. No matter what screenshots you will use, but better find some unpleasant (or even ugly) interfaces so that candidate could find something to improve. It's interesting that there are hundreds of things that candidate could say from the thoughts on interaction and users and their goals to graphic design, colors and typography.

We find that the best questions are those that reflect the reality of the job. So we'll give the candidate a print out of an email from a potential new client (names changed to protect the innocent) and ask candidates what they would do next. For example, how would they reply to the client: phone? Email? What's the next step: a face-to-face meeting? Some preliminary research? A short discussion with colleagues? What technical approach would they recommend for this project?

Another old chestnut is to ask the candidate to design the "ideal" 404 'page not found' error message. This checks the candidates design chops without needing him or her to design a full-blown wireframe.

Ask how they use research as inputs into the final design. Ask them to illustrate the answer with their own work. You'll see how they use inputs and the result in the output.

Coming from a different point of view, the person being interviewed, I was asked two that surprised me in a recent corporate interview.

Who do you follow on Twitter for UX/UI/Usablity?

Describe something that's not computer related that you've recently had a bad user experience with and how it could be improved?

I like to get an understanding for how they think and handle tough problems. One example that a colleague likes to use is "Compare and contrast the key layout for telephones and calculators and which one is better?" Of course, there's no correct answer to this question, but it does give the candidate an opportunity to show their reasoning skills. In all fairness, however, it might be a demanding question to answer in an interview.

I was in one interview where all of the other designers and product managers were there. 6 people in the room at once. They said, "We want to see what its like to work with you". Then they proceeded to show me some hairy UI and then said, "Our job is to fix this". The next 3 hours was a brainstorming and prototyping session.

I think it could have been done in 90 minutes, but it was fun. I got a great feel for their style and talents. At the end of the day, you need someone who works well with the team.