What is a UX/UI Designer at ATC?

As a UX/UI Designer at ATC, you are stepping into a role that directly impacts the democratic process. You will be instrumental in the rebuilding of WisVote, the statewide voter registration system for the Wisconsin Elections Commission. This is not a typical consumer-facing application; it is critical infrastructure serving local election officials, municipal clerks, and the general public. Your work ensures that elections are administered efficiently, securely, and accurately.

This position offers a unique blend of high-stakes problem solving and deep user empathy. You will be responsible for creating intuitive, accessible interfaces that balance strict security requirements with seamless usability. The scale of this project means your designs will be utilized across diverse user groups, from highly technical administrators to everyday citizens looking for accurate voting statistics.

Expect a role that challenges you to think systematically while maintaining a relentless focus on the end user. You will collaborate closely with developers, election specialists, and IT leadership to translate complex legislative and functional needs into clean, user-friendly designs. If you are passionate about civic tech and want your design work to have a tangible, statewide impact, this role offers an unparalleled opportunity to drive meaningful change.

Common Interview Questions

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparation for this role requires more than just a polished portfolio; you need to demonstrate how your design process adapts to highly regulated, complex environments. Interviewers at ATC want to see a deliberate, evidence-based approach to problem-solving.

End-to-End Design Execution You must prove your ability to take a concept from abstract requirements to high-fidelity prototypes. Interviewers will evaluate how efficiently you move through low-fidelity wireframing to test concepts before committing to polished designs. You can demonstrate strength here by walking through past projects where your iterative process saved time or uncovered critical usability flaws early.

Accessibility and Inclusive Design Because you are designing a government system, WCAG 2.1 AA compliance is non-negotiable. You will be evaluated on your practical knowledge of accessibility standards and how you integrate them into your design workflow. Strong candidates will confidently discuss color contrast, screen reader compatibility, and keyboard navigation as foundational elements, not afterthoughts.

Cross-Functional Collaboration You will be working alongside .NET developers and election subject matter experts. Interviewers will look for your ability to articulate design choices clearly to non-designers. You should be prepared to show how you negotiate design constraints, especially when working with specific technical frameworks or third-party UI libraries.

User-Centric Problem Solving This criterion focuses on your foundation in user research. You will be assessed on how you gather both qualitative and quantitative data to inform your personas, user flows, and journey maps. To stand out, highlight specific instances where user feedback directly pivoted your design strategy to better serve complex user behaviors.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for the UX/UI Designer position at ATC is designed to evaluate both your technical design capabilities and your cultural fit within a highly collaborative, public-sector-aligned team. You will begin with an initial screening conducted via a Teams meeting. This conversation typically focuses on your high-level experience, your portfolio, and your understanding of the core requirements of the role.

Following the initial screen, you should prepare for follow-up rounds that dive deeper into your technical skills and problem-solving methodologies. These rounds will likely involve presenting a case study from your portfolio, where you must defend your design choices, explain your research methods, and discuss how you handled technical constraints. Expect interviewers to probe your experience with accessibility standards and complex data visualization.

Because this role requires close collaboration with a Madison-based team, expect some or all of the advanced interview stages to be conducted onsite in Madison, WI. The onsite experience is a chance for you to meet the IT Project Manager, IT Director, and key developers. It is as much about evaluating your ability to integrate into their daily workflow as it is about assessing your design prowess.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression from the initial Teams screening through the deeper portfolio reviews and the final onsite interviews in Madison. Use this to pace your preparation, ensuring your portfolio presentation is fully refined before the deeper technical rounds. Note that the exact number of follow-up rounds may vary based on team availability and how quickly you demonstrate core competencies.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

User Research and Journey Mapping

Understanding the diverse users of WisVote—from municipal clerks to the general public—is the foundation of this role. Interviewers want to see how you translate abstract user needs into actionable design artifacts. Strong performance here means showing a clear, logical link between the data you gathered and the personas or journey maps you created.

Be ready to go over:

• Persona Development: How you segment different user groups with distinct technical proficiencies.
• Journey Mapping: Visualizing the end-to-end experience of complex workflows, such as voter registration or election reporting.
• Data Synthesis: Analyzing qualitative and quantitative research to inform strategic design decisions.
• Advanced concepts: Conducting contextual inquiries with specialized users (e.g., poll workers) to uncover hidden pain points.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through a time when user research completely changed your initial design assumptions."
• "How do you approach creating journey maps for a system with multiple, distinct user types?"
• "Describe your process for gathering qualitative data when you have limited direct access to the end-user."

Interaction Design and Prototyping

Your ability to visualize solutions quickly and iterate based on feedback is critical. You will be evaluated on your proficiency in moving from low-fidelity wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes. A strong candidate will explain why they chose a specific interaction pattern, not just how they built it.

Be ready to go over:

• Iterative Wireframing: Using low-fidelity designs to test concepts before investing in high-fidelity assets.
• Prototyping: Creating interactive models to demonstrate user flows to stakeholders and developers.
• UX Writing: Crafting clear, concise, and user-friendly interface text that guides users without confusion.
• Advanced concepts: Designing complex data tables and dashboards that remain readable and responsive.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Show us a low-fidelity wireframe that evolved into a high-fidelity prototype. What changed and why?"
• "How do you ensure your UX writing remains clear and concise when dealing with complex, legal, or technical subject matter?"
• "Describe a situation where a prototype helped resolve a disagreement with a stakeholder or developer."

Accessibility and Compliance (WCAG)

For a statewide government system, accessibility is a legal and ethical mandate. Interviewers will rigorously test your familiarity with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. Strong performance requires demonstrating that accessibility is integrated into your design process from day one, rather than applied as a final check.

Be ready to go over:

• WCAG 2.1 AA Standards: Specific rules regarding contrast, typography, and focus states.
• Assistive Technologies: Designing for screen readers and keyboard-only navigation.
• Accessibility Testing: How you validate your designs against compliance requirements.
• Advanced concepts: Educating developers or stakeholders on the importance of accessible design choices.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you incorporate WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines into your daily design workflow?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to compromise on a visual design to ensure it met accessibility standards."
• "If a developer tells you an accessible interaction pattern is too difficult to build, how do you handle the conversation?"

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Technical Acumen

You will be designing for a system built on the .NET Core framework. While you are not expected to write backend code, you must understand the constraints and possibilities of the technology stack. Interviewers will look for your ability to collaborate seamlessly with front-end and back-end developers.

Be ready to go over:

• Developer Handoff: Creating clear documentation and specifications for your designs.
• Framework Familiarity: Understanding the basics of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and ASP.NET Core (Razor).
• Component Libraries: Working with third-party tools like Telerik UI to maintain consistency and speed up development.
• Advanced concepts: Adapting modern JavaScript framework principles (Angular/React) to older or more rigid enterprise environments.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe your ideal handoff process to a front-end development team."
• "Have you ever designed within the constraints of a specific UI component library, like Telerik or Bootstrap? How did you handle limitations?"
• "How do you articulate your design choices to stakeholders who may not have a design background?"