Essential Work Sample Exercises for Hiring a Product Design Manager

The Product Design Manager role is pivotal in shaping both product excellence and team performance. This leadership position requires a unique blend of creative vision, technical expertise, and people management skills that can be challenging to assess through traditional interviews alone. While resumes and portfolios showcase past accomplishments, they often fail to reveal how candidates approach problems, collaborate with others, and lead design initiatives in real-time.

Work sample exercises provide a window into a candidate's actual capabilities by simulating the challenges they'll face on the job. For a Product Design Manager, these exercises should evaluate not just design skills, but also leadership abilities, strategic thinking, and cross-functional collaboration. The right exercises can reveal how candidates mentor team members, communicate design decisions to stakeholders, and balance creative vision with business objectives.

The cost of a poor hire in this role is particularly high. A Product Design Manager influences not only product outcomes but also team culture and processes. An ineffective leader can result in disjointed product experiences, missed deadlines, and high turnover among design talent. Conversely, the right hire can elevate your entire design organization, driving innovation and creating cohesive, user-centered products that stand out in the market.

The following work sample exercises are designed to evaluate the essential competencies of a successful Product Design Manager: leadership, collaboration, creativity, communication, and adaptability. By incorporating these exercises into your interview process, you'll gain deeper insights into how candidates would perform in your specific environment and with your unique challenges.

Activity #1: Design Critique and Feedback Session

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to provide constructive feedback, mentor team members, and articulate design principles clearly. A strong Product Design Manager must be able to guide designers toward better solutions without micromanaging or stifling creativity. This activity reveals how candidates balance critique with encouragement and how effectively they communicate design concepts.

Directions for the Company:

• Select a recent design project from your company that has some obvious areas for improvement (but isn't completely flawed).
• Prepare a brief that explains the project's goals, target users, and constraints.
• Arrange for one of your designers to present this work to the candidate as if seeking feedback in a design review.
• The presentation should last about 10 minutes, covering the design process, key decisions, and final deliverables.
• Observe how the candidate engages with the designer, the quality of their feedback, and their overall approach to the critique.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the project brief provided before the session to understand the context.
• During the presentation, listen actively and take notes.
• After the presentation, provide feedback on the design work, focusing on both strengths and areas for improvement.
• Frame your feedback in a constructive manner that would help the designer grow.
• Explain the reasoning behind your suggestions, referencing design principles and user needs.
• The entire session should take approximately 30 minutes (10 minutes for presentation, 20 minutes for feedback and discussion).

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate provides feedback, the interviewer should note one aspect of the critique that was particularly effective and one area where the approach could be improved.
• Give the candidate this feedback directly, then ask them to reflect on it and adjust their approach for a brief follow-up question about the same design.
• Observe how receptive the candidate is to feedback and how effectively they incorporate it into their revised approach.

Activity #2: Design Process Planning Exercise

This exercise assesses the candidate's ability to structure and plan a design project, allocate resources effectively, and establish processes that ensure quality outcomes. It reveals how the candidate approaches project management, prioritization, and risk mitigation—all critical skills for a Product Design Manager who must oversee multiple initiatives simultaneously.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic product design brief for a new feature or product that your company might develop.
• Include information about business goals, user needs, technical constraints, and available resources (e.g., team size, timeline).
• Prepare any supporting materials that would typically be available at the start of a project (e.g., market research, user feedback).
• Allow the candidate 45 minutes to complete their plan, followed by 15 minutes for presentation and questions.
• Evaluate the comprehensiveness, practicality, and thoughtfulness of their approach.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the product design brief and supporting materials.
• Create a comprehensive plan for how you would approach this design project, including:
• Key phases and milestones
• Resource allocation (who would work on what)
• Research and validation methods
• Collaboration points with other teams
• Risk identification and mitigation strategies
• Success metrics and evaluation criteria
• Prepare to present your plan and explain your reasoning for each element.
• Your plan should demonstrate how you would ensure both design excellence and efficient execution.
• Be prepared to discuss how you would adapt the plan if certain constraints changed.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the candidate presents their plan, provide feedback on one strength of their approach and one area that could be improved or reconsidered.
• Ask the candidate to revise a specific portion of their plan based on your feedback (e.g., "How would you adjust your research phase given this constraint we hadn't mentioned?").
• Observe how the candidate incorporates the feedback and adapts their thinking in real-time.

Activity #3: Cross-functional Collaboration Simulation

This exercise evaluates how effectively a candidate can navigate the complex dynamics of cross-functional collaboration. Product Design Managers must regularly work with product managers, engineers, marketers, and other stakeholders to align on priorities and resolve conflicts. This simulation reveals a candidate's communication style, negotiation skills, and ability to advocate for design while respecting other disciplines.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a scenario involving a design decision that has conflicting perspectives from different teams.
• For example: "The design team has proposed a new checkout flow that the engineering team says will take too long to implement before the upcoming release, while the marketing team is pushing for it to support a planned campaign."
• Assign 2-3 team members to role-play as representatives from different departments (product management, engineering, marketing, etc.).
• Brief these team members on their characters' perspectives, priorities, and constraints.
• Allow 30 minutes for the simulation, followed by 15 minutes for reflection and discussion.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the scenario and any supporting materials provided.
• Participate in a meeting with cross-functional stakeholders (played by company team members) to discuss the design challenge.
• Your goal is to facilitate a productive discussion that acknowledges all perspectives while working toward a solution that maintains design integrity.
• Demonstrate how you would:
• Listen to and understand different viewpoints
• Articulate the value of design decisions
• Find creative compromises when necessary
• Build consensus around a path forward
• Be prepared to make real-time decisions and adjustments as the conversation evolves.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the simulation, provide feedback on one aspect of the candidate's collaboration approach that was effective and one area where they could improve.
• Ask the candidate to reflect on how they might handle a specific moment in the discussion differently based on this feedback.
• Have them briefly explain their revised approach, noting how receptive they are to constructive criticism.

Activity #4: Design Strategy and Vision Exercise

This exercise assesses a candidate's ability to develop and articulate a strategic vision for design that aligns with business objectives. A successful Product Design Manager must be able to think beyond individual projects to establish a cohesive design direction that evolves products over time. This activity reveals how candidates balance innovation with practicality and how they communicate complex design concepts to diverse audiences.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide information about one of your products, including its current state, user feedback, business goals, and market position.
• Include relevant analytics, user research findings, and competitive analysis if available.
• Ask the candidate to develop a 6-12 month design strategy and vision for this product.
• Allow the candidate 2-3 days to prepare their response before the interview.
• During the interview, allocate 20 minutes for presentation and 25 minutes for questions and discussion.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the product information provided and conduct any additional research you feel is necessary.
• Develop a design strategy and vision that addresses:
• Key user problems or opportunities to focus on
• Design principles that should guide the work
• Major design initiatives to undertake in the next 6-12 months
• How these initiatives support business goals
• How you would measure success
• How the design team would need to evolve to execute this vision
• Prepare a presentation (10-15 slides) that clearly communicates your strategy and vision.
• Be prepared to explain your reasoning and respond to questions from various stakeholders.
• Your presentation should demonstrate both strategic thinking and practical implementation considerations.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, provide feedback on one strength of the candidate's strategy and one area that could be enhanced or reconsidered.
• Ask the candidate how they might adjust a specific aspect of their strategy based on a new constraint or opportunity you introduce.
• Observe how the candidate thinks on their feet and incorporates new information into their strategic thinking.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these work sample exercises?

Each exercise requires different time commitments. The Design Critique can be completed in a single 45-minute interview slot. The Design Process Planning Exercise needs about 60 minutes. The Cross-functional Collaboration Simulation requires 45 minutes plus preparation time for your team members. The Design Strategy Exercise requires 2-3 days of candidate preparation time followed by a 45-minute interview. Consider spreading these across different interview stages rather than attempting all in one day.

Should we use real company projects for these exercises?

Using real projects adds authenticity but requires careful consideration of confidentiality. For the Design Critique, using a real but non-sensitive project works well. For other exercises, you can create realistic scenarios based on actual challenges without revealing confidential information. The key is providing enough context for candidates to demonstrate their skills effectively.

How do we evaluate candidates consistently across these exercises?

Create a structured evaluation rubric for each exercise that maps to the key competencies: leadership, collaboration, creativity, communication, and adaptability. Have multiple interviewers observe each exercise when possible, and hold a calibration session before beginning the interview process to ensure everyone understands the evaluation criteria.

What if a candidate has limited management experience but strong design skills?

These exercises can still be valuable for candidates with limited management experience. Focus your evaluation on their potential rather than their polish. Look for candidates who demonstrate strong communication skills, thoughtful approaches to feedback, and the ability to think strategically—even if they haven't formally managed teams before.

How should we adapt these exercises for remote interviews?

All these exercises can be conducted remotely with minor adjustments. Use video conferencing with screen sharing capabilities, provide materials in advance via email, and consider using collaborative tools like Miro or Figma for the planning exercise. For the collaboration simulation, ensure all participants have stable internet connections and are familiar with the video platform.

Should we compensate candidates for the time spent on take-home exercises?

For exercises requiring significant preparation time, like the Design Strategy Exercise, consider offering compensation, especially for senior roles. This demonstrates respect for candidates' time and expertise while ensuring you receive thoughtful, high-quality submissions.

The Product Design Manager role requires a unique combination of design expertise, leadership skills, and strategic thinking. By incorporating these work sample exercises into your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into candidates' capabilities than traditional interviews alone can provide. Remember that the goal is not just to evaluate technical skills but to understand how candidates approach problems, collaborate with others, and lead design initiatives.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. You can also find more information about hiring Product Design Managers in our comprehensive job description guide.

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