An engineer says your design will take three times longer to build than planned. What do you do?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Understand which parts are expensive and why
- Separate what is essential for users from nice-to-have
- Find simpler alternatives together
- Agree with the PM on scope and possible phased delivery
Model answer
I treat it as a shared problem, not a fight. I ask the engineer to show me which parts are expensive and why, for example a custom animation or a component that does not exist in our design system. Then I separate what really matters for users from what is nice to have. Often the core value can be kept with a simpler solution, like using an existing component or a standard transition. We sketch alternatives together, since engineers often know cheap ways to get a similar result. Then I bring the options to the PM with the trade-offs so we can decide the scope, maybe shipping a simpler version first and improving it later based on data. I also try to involve engineers earlier next time so surprises like this happen less.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed medium round and get scored on every answer.
More medium UI/UX Designer questions
- You have only one week to design a new feature. How do you include user research?
- A stakeholder gives feedback on your design that you disagree with. How do you handle it?
- How do you measure whether a design change was successful?
- Why are empty, loading and error states important, and how do you design them?
- How do you plan and run user interviews for a new feature?
- You are asked to restructure the navigation of a large website with hundreds of pages. How do you approach it?
- A team wants a custom styled dropdown instead of the native select. How do you make sure it is accessible?
- How do you turn research findings into design decisions the team actually acts on?
- How do you run a design critique session that is useful rather than a debate about taste?