Product Design in 2026 FAQ
IC interview processes, hiring design leaders and what companies are looking for in portfolios.
I’ve taken all feedback, learning and JDs from companies I work with to answer questions on IC processes, portfolios and how hiring design leaders is changing. It’s changing rapidly.
TL;DR
How have IC interview processes changed in 2026?
What does hiring design leaders actually look like now?
Why do designers fail at the portfolio stage?
Let’s get into it.
1. How have IC interview processes changed?
Raw work over polished decks: Some companies tell candidates: no decks. They want to see raw files, clickable prototypes and not prepped presentations. No one wants to see reams of text and the double diamond.
Tasks are back on the agenda: Companies want to test how someone works in a real scenario. A lot of the work is new to everyone, so no-one has figured this out, so it’s hard to test without seeing work under real conditions. The tasks are more “prototype this with AI and walk us through your thinking.” This also includes leadership roles for some companies, which makes sense if they are looking for hands-on player coaches, they must be able to do the work also.
Craft deep dives: Whole sections digging into your files. The craft deep dive is designed to help companies understand how you think. Usually, the format is to go through one piece of work and go really deep. This is an example from one client of mine on this stage: “We’re looking for an excellent grasp of the fundamentals: typography, layout, spacing, hierarchy, colour, interaction, and overall polish. We want to see systems thinking, not just good-looking screens. Designs should feel consistent and scalable across different use cases. They should be able to explain why they made your choices and talk through product, technical, and business trade-offs. They don’t need to code, but they should understand how products are built and design within real constraints. In critiques, we expect candidates to go really deep on craft. Talk about typography decisions, iconography choices (and why), tone, metaphor, rhythm, and contrast. This is the level of detail we work at every day.”
AI fluency is essential: I think designers will struggle to find a job if they are not using AI in some capacity, and evolving workflows. I think we’ve hit that point now. Knowledge of how ot use AI is required in 99% of companies now.
Companies are scoring candidates on AI practice as a discrete competency alongside UX, visual design, and systems thinking. It’s no longer enough to mention AI tools in passing. Companies are looking for evidence of genuine integration into how you work, and increasingly they’re building that into the interview process.
Processes are getting shorter and sharper: The bloated six-stage FAANG process is being replaced by fewer, higher-signal steps (Portfolio review, craft deep dive) before committing to an onsite. It’s why it’s SO important to treat your portfolio as a product more than ever.
2. What does hiring design leaders look like now?
Every leader needs to have a direct impact on the product, which means being hands-on is no longer a nice-to-have.
Hands-on is non-negotiable: Companies are not hiring hands-off people managers like they were. All the conversations across a whole range of companies are “leading through the work”, “player-coach”, and a “builder mindset”. Being hands-off and lacking recent hands-on experience is a red flag for many companies. You’ll notice a lot of companies with small design teams. When hiring a Head of Design, they’ve determined the hands-on element is something they will not budge on, and they want to help some grow as people leaders. People management is still part of the role, just not the main part.
AI fluency is a must: Same as IC. How can you lead a team through change if you’re not aware of the latest tooling, adapting workflows and keeping up to date with AI developments?
Craft and quality: The shift is away from directors who are primarily organisational builders and towards directors who can demonstrate where they’ve had a clear uplift in design quality through their work in previous roles. People who can see what’s missing in the work and push the team to get there, who can uphold the craft quality.
Cross-functional partnership, not design advocacy: In a lot of companies, design has a seat at the table; now it’s time to do something with it. The expectation is that the director deepens partnerships with product and engineering, specifically.
Systems thinking at scale: There’s a clear expectation that the director thinks in platforms and primitives, not just features. The consistent signal: leaders who can only design at the level of individual surfaces don’t cut it at the director level. The question interviewers are asking is whether you’ve ever had to think about how your design decisions affect ten other surfaces at once.
Ambiguity tolerance is a MUST: You need to operate without full specs, clear org charts, or defined lanes. In some companies, only having big company experience is a red flag. If your work is shaped entirely by structured, process-heavy environments struggle it won’t be a fit.
3. Why do designers fail at the portfolio stage?
Weak visual craft is the number one: Every company feels it is looking for strong craft, quality, polished UI craftsmanship, excellent interaction skills, etc. Visual design is more important than ever before, so people from a pure UX background without visual skills will likely struggle to get interviews, compared to someone with visual skills.
No evidence of shipping: In a world where companies are looking for people with a builder mindset, if you can’t demonstrate actual projects you’ve shipped, it’s hard to see the impact you could have. This is why side projects are talked about a lot at the moment: it doesn’t matter where you work; you can take the initiative and ship a side project using a whole range of new tools, showing people what you could do for them. They want to see a live product.
No AI fluency visible in the work: As mentioned above, it’s important to showcase that you’re evolving your work as we move into this AI era at a rapid rate. Not building with AI is an explicit red flag for certain companies. A portfolio that doesn’t show how AI is embedded in your process is increasingly being read as a signal that you haven’t adapted.
Process over outcome: Portfolios that lead with process, for example, double diamond diagrams, research findings, journey maps, without anchoring each case study in a concrete result, fail to answer the question companies are actually asking: what was the impact they had on the work? Lead through the work. Output over anything.
Systems thinking not visible (More for Staff/Principal level): A portfolio of isolated features with no evidence that the designer has thought about coherence, scalability, or how their work fits into a larger product tells hiring managers the candidate operates at screen level, not product level.
Can’t tell a story: This would be more when you’re presenting work in person. Being able to tell a story and communicate clearly is an absolute requirement. The work gets you in the room, and a compelling story and narrative keep you there.
Until next time!
Thanks for the insight, Tom!