How to own the whiteboard exercise as a UX/Product Designer

Whiteboard rules.

I love the whiteboard. I’ve come to trust it as one of my most valuable tools in design. It’s quick. Its content is disposable in nature. It’s collaborative in nature. It’s a near perfect medium to sketch out ideas, but it can bury you in an interview.

I’m going to share with you some simple tips to master the whiteboard and look like a marker wielding demigod should it ever dare show its slippery pale face in an interview. “Hyperbole?” Perhaps.

Prepare

Embrace it early. Go to the whiteboard early; work there every day. Work there with someone else. Get used to handing the marker off and asking for it back. There is a reason they put big whiteboards in conference rooms. Get used to mapping out concepts for discussion. Get comfortable with the tool. It’s one of the few places you can discuss and work side by side with people from Dev, Product, Marketing, and even the executive team. The whiteboard is your seat at the table. It is a powerful ally. Make the whiteboard your friend.

Frame the discussion

Establish expectations and outcomes. Remember, we aren’t going to solve the problem, we’re going to explore possibilities and find experiments to conduct. Establish some assumptions to act as anchors for the exercise.

Do it your way

I’m not going to tell you what diagrams or methodology to espouse while marking up the magnetic porcelain span. The exercise is to show how you think. And frankly, the tactics used will vary based on the context of the exercise and the way you think. You do you, it suits you.

Make alliances

Get the other people in the room involved. Just because you are being interviewed doesn’t mean you are alone. Use the room and the people in it. Engage them. Ask them what they know, feel, have experienced, think or observed. The more they invest and work with you in the exercise the more likely you are to be viewed as someone they can work with. This isn’t a demonstration of how you solve problems, it’s how you work. Do you instinctively create a collaborative environment? Do you seek out and value the resources around you?

Tell a story

These exercises need to tell a story. Start with a relatable character; Your user. Make a quick proto-persona. It’s fine. We’re establishing some assumptions early. Talk about what that person wants or needs and the obstacle that stands in their way. Engage your new allies. Identify several possible paths that might lead to success. Identify strengths and weaknesses. BUT, don’t go for the solve.

It’s a trap

Remember, the task is to discover what you don’t know — The risky hypothesis. Solving the problem might be easy. But it’s not the primary reason for the exercise. The reason for the exercise is to demonstrate the way you think and operate with the room. You want to demonstrate that you can both represent the user, and feed the business.

With the group, select and rank two or three possible strategies from your list of possibilities and say something like, “which one of these experiments do you think we should pursue?” or “which of these experiments has the most upside? how about risk?” Discuss.

The End

If the exercise is timeboxed, you need to drive toward the end. Tip - The end is not the solution. You need to get to that point where the team is talking about action items or what comes next. When you hit that transition point, end the exercise. But do it in a manner that keeps your interviewers in control. I usually say something like, “Ok. It looks we’ve landed on this path as a direction to pursue. Is there anything else we should address before we move on to the next part of the interview?” You’ve just signaled that you are able to keep a meeting focused, but maintain respect for the person conducting the interview.

Measurements

You will have a pretty good idea of how successful the exercise was based on the participation level of the people in the room — Especially if those participating were excited and eager to assist.

Remember the metrics for success are often:

• Demonstrating how you think
• Demonstrating you are able to work with the team
• Demonstrating how well you facilitate a group discussion and organize the thoughts of that group
• Identified opportunities to move the proverbial needle for your user AND your potential employer

Can the whiteboard be intimidating? Absolutely. But you've got this. Let it be a natural extension of the way you think and operate. That comes with practice. So practice. Be prepared. Nail that interview.