What is a UX/UI Designer at Attentive?

As a UX/UI Designer at Attentive, you are at the forefront of shaping how brands interact with their customers through personalized conversational commerce. Attentive is a leader in SMS marketing, providing a robust B2B SaaS platform that empowers marketers to build campaigns, analyze performance data, and drive revenue. Your role is critical in translating these complex marketing workflows into intuitive, seamless, and engaging user experiences.

The impact of this position extends directly to the core business. You will be designing interfaces that thousands of marketers rely on daily to generate significant revenue for their brands. Because the platform handles immense scale and complex data sets, your design decisions must balance deep functionality with an approachable, consumer-grade aesthetic. You are not just making things look good; you are streamlining workflows, reducing friction in campaign creation, and ultimately driving the success of Attentive’s clients.

Expect a fast-paced environment where your strategic influence is highly valued. You will work closely with product managers, engineers, and fellow designers to tackle real business problems specific to various product verticals. The role demands a blend of high-level systems thinking and pixel-perfect execution, offering a highly rewarding opportunity for designers who thrive on seeing their work directly impact client growth and engagement.

Common Interview Questions

The questions below represent the typical themes you will encounter during your interviews at Attentive. They are designed to assess your practical experience, your design philosophy, and your ability to collaborate. Use these to practice your narratives, keeping in mind that interviewers are looking for structured, thoughtful answers rather than memorized responses.

Behavioral and Background

This category tests your cultural fit, your past experiences, and how you navigate the workplace.

• Tell me about your journey into product design and what brings you to Attentive.
• Describe a time when you had to advocate for a design decision that stakeholders initially disagreed with.
• How do you handle situations where you receive conflicting feedback from a Product Manager and an Engineer?
• Tell me about a project that failed or didn't meet expectations. What did you learn?
• How do you prioritize your work when managing multiple design projects with tight deadlines?

Design Process and Strategy

These questions evaluate how you approach problem-solving and validate your design decisions.

• Walk me through your typical design process from ideation to handoff.
• How do you incorporate user research and data analytics into your design iterations?
• Tell me about a time you had to design for a highly technical or complex user workflow.
• If you are given a project with very vague requirements, what are your first steps?
• How do you balance the need for a perfect user experience with strict engineering timelines?

The Collaborative Design Challenge

During the live 60-minute session, the questions will be conversational and focused on the prompt at hand.

• What are the primary user goals we need to solve for in this specific product vertical?
• Let's map out the user flow together—what happens if the user makes an error at this step?
• How would you adapt this interface if the client needs to manage 10,000 subscribers versus 100?
• Talk me through why you chose this specific layout or interaction pattern.
• If we had more time, what is the next thing you would explore or refine in this design?

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for the UX/UI Designer interviews at Attentive requires a strategic approach. The hiring team is looking for a blend of hard design skills and collaborative problem-solving abilities.

Focus your preparation on these key evaluation criteria:

Problem-Solving Ability – Interviewers at Attentive want to see how you untangle complex, real-world business constraints. You will be evaluated on your ability to ask the right questions, frame the problem accurately, and iterate on solutions that address actual client pain points within their product verticals.

Collaboration and Teamwork – A significant portion of the evaluation focuses on how you work with others. Strong candidates demonstrate active listening, receptiveness to feedback, and the ability to co-create solutions during live, collaborative design sessions rather than working in isolation.

Craft and Execution – Your visual and interaction design skills must be sharp. You are expected to demonstrate proficiency in modern design tools, a strong grasp of layout and typography, and the ability to visualize your design thinking clearly and efficiently under time constraints.

Communication and Storytelling – How you present your previous work is just as important as the work itself. You will be assessed on your ability to articulate the "why" behind your design decisions, explaining the business impact and user outcomes of your past projects during your portfolio walkthrough.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a UX/UI Designer at Attentive has been refined to be quick, straightforward, and highly communicative. You can expect a process that values your time, often featuring rapid feedback loops and dedicated prep calls from recruiters before major rounds. The company places a strong emphasis on making candidates feel comfortable, focusing on realistic scenarios rather than tricky curveball questions.

Typically, the journey begins with an initial HR screening where you will discuss your background and high-level experiences. From there, you will move into a virtual design challenge. This is a highly collaborative session with a member of the design team, focusing on a prompt drawn directly from actual business problems faced by Attentive clients. The final stage is a virtual onsite, which includes a deep-dive portfolio walkthrough and 1:1 meetings with design leaders and cross-functional partners.

Overall, the process is designed to mirror the actual working environment at Attentive. Interviewers want to see how you perform in a team setting, how you handle realistic platform constraints, and how you communicate your design rationale to stakeholders.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression from the initial recruiter screen through the final virtual onsite. Use this to pace your preparation, focusing heavily on interactive, live-design collaboration for the middle stage, and refining your presentation skills for the final portfolio review. Note that the process is designed to move quickly once initiated, so have your portfolio and design tools ready from day one.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

Design Process and Business Acumen

At Attentive, your design process cannot exist in a vacuum; it must be tightly aligned with business objectives. Interviewers evaluate how well you understand B2B SaaS constraints and client-facing workflows. Strong performance here means you naturally inquire about the user's end goal, the business metrics at stake, and the technical limitations before you start designing.

Be ready to go over:

• Problem Framing – How you break down an ambiguous prompt into actionable design goals.
• User Empathy in B2B – Demonstrating an understanding of the marketer's daily workflow and pain points.
• Data-Driven Design – How you use analytics and client feedback to inform your iterations.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Designing for accessibility at scale, localization considerations for global messaging, and balancing enterprise customization with out-of-the-box simplicity.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through a time you had to design a feature that balanced a complex business requirement with a simple user experience."
• "How do you determine which metrics will define the success of a new product feature?"
• "Imagine a client needs a faster way to segment their audience for an SMS campaign. How would you approach this problem?"

Collaborative Live Design

The 60-minute virtual design challenge is a cornerstone of the Attentive process. This area evaluates your ability to think on your feet and co-design with a peer. Strong candidates treat the interviewer as a teammate, engaging in chit-chat, asking clarifying questions, and thinking out loud as they work through the prompt.

Be ready to go over:

• Active Collaboration – Inviting the interviewer into your process and asking for their input on your assumptions.
• Tool Proficiency – Navigating your design software (e.g., Figma) quickly while sharing your screen.
• Iterative Thinking – Showing how you move from low-fidelity wireframes or user flows into higher-fidelity concepts within a strict time limit.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Let's work together to design a solution for a client facing [Specific Product Vertical Problem]. How would you start?"
• "What assumptions are you making about the user in this flow, and how would we validate them?"
• "If we only had two weeks to build this, which parts of your design would you prioritize for an MVP?"

Portfolio and Storytelling

Your portfolio walkthrough during the virtual onsite is where you prove your historical impact. Attentive leaders evaluate your ability to craft a compelling narrative around your past projects. A strong performance involves clearly separating your specific contributions from the broader team's work, detailing the challenges faced, and highlighting the measurable outcomes of your designs.

Be ready to go over:

• End-to-End Execution – Showcasing projects from initial discovery through to final handoff and post-launch iteration.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Explaining how you worked with product managers and engineers to bring your designs to life.
• Handling Feedback – Discussing a time when your design was challenged and how you resolved the conflict.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Can you walk us through a project in your portfolio where the final outcome looked very different from your initial concept?"
• "How did you measure the success of this specific project after it launched?"
• "Explain a time you had to push back on a product manager's requirement because it negatively impacted the user experience."

Key Responsibilities

As a UX/UI Designer at Attentive, your day-to-day work revolves around deeply understanding the needs of marketers and translating those needs into elegant software solutions. You will be responsible for leading the end-to-end design process for specific product verticals within the platform. This includes conducting user research, mapping out complex user flows, creating wireframes, and delivering high-fidelity interactive prototypes.

Collaboration is a massive part of your daily routine. You will partner closely with Product Managers to define feature requirements and scope, and you will work hand-in-hand with Engineering teams to ensure your designs are implemented accurately and efficiently. You are expected to be a strong advocate for the user while balancing the technical realities of a high-scale SaaS platform.

You will also drive initiatives that improve the overall design system and user experience consistency across the Attentive ecosystem. Whether you are redesigning the campaign builder, optimizing the analytics dashboard, or creating new conversational flows, your deliverables will directly influence how brands communicate with their audiences.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be a competitive candidate for the UX/UI Designer role at Attentive, you need a strong mix of technical craft, business acumen, and collaborative soft skills. The team looks for designers who can seamlessly transition from strategic whiteboard sessions to detailed interface execution.

• Must-have skills – A strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end product design, proficiency in industry-standard tools (Figma, Sketch), experience working closely with cross-functional teams (PMs, Engineers), and a proven ability to solve complex, data-heavy UX problems.
• Nice-to-have skills – Previous experience in B2B SaaS, a background in marketing technology or e-commerce, and experience contributing to or managing robust design systems.
• Soft skills – Exceptional communication and storytelling abilities, a highly collaborative mindset, receptiveness to constructive feedback, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
• Experience level – Typically, candidates need several years of dedicated product design experience, with a track record of shipping impactful features in a professional tech environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult is the interview process? The process is generally rated as moderately difficult. While there are no trick questions or curveballs, the collaborative design challenge requires you to think quickly and communicate your rationale clearly in real-time. Thorough preparation and a strong grasp of your own design process will make it highly manageable.

Q: What is the format of the design challenge? It is a 60-minute virtual session with a member of the design team. You will be given a prompt based on actual business problems faced by Attentive clients. It is not a take-home assignment; it is a live, collaborative exercise where they evaluate how you work with others to solve problems.

Q: How fast is the turnaround time between interview rounds? Attentive is known for having a quick and responsive interview process. Candidates frequently report receiving feedback and moving to the next round very shortly after completing their design challenge or onsite interviews.

Q: What makes a candidate stand out during the portfolio walkthrough? Successful candidates tell a clear story. They do not just show pretty screens; they explain the business problem, their specific role, the constraints they faced, and the measurable impact of their final design. Clarity, brevity, and business acumen are key differentiators.

Q: Will I receive guidance before the interviews? Yes. Attentive recruiters are highly communicative and often schedule brief prep calls before major interview rounds to ensure you know exactly what to expect and feel comfortable heading into the session.

Other General Tips

• Treat the design challenge as a real working session: Do not just put your head down and design in silence. The interviewer wants to see what it is like to have you on their team. Ask questions, validate assumptions, and invite their feedback constantly.
• Focus on the "Why": Whether in your portfolio presentation or the live challenge, always articulate the reasoning behind your decisions. Attentive values designers who can defend their choices using logic, user empathy, and business goals.

• Showcase B2B SaaS understanding: If you have experience designing for complex platforms, enterprise tools, or marketing software, highlight it heavily. Understanding how to design for professional users who spend hours in a tool is a massive plus at Attentive.
• Structure your portfolio presentation: Do not try to show everything you have ever done. Pick 2-3 highly relevant projects and structure your walkthrough using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to keep your narrative tight and impactful.

Summary & Next Steps

Joining Attentive as a UX/UI Designer is an incredible opportunity to shape a high-impact platform in the booming space of conversational commerce. You will be tasked with solving complex, large-scale problems that directly influence how the world's top brands communicate with their audiences. The role demands a high level of craft, but equally important is your ability to collaborate, communicate, and align your designs with real-world business objectives.

This compensation data provides a baseline expectation for the role. Keep in mind that total compensation at Attentive often includes a mix of base salary, equity, and benefits, which can vary based on your seniority, location, and the specific team you join. Use this information to anchor your expectations and prepare for offer stage conversations.

To succeed in this interview process, focus on mastering the collaborative live design challenge and refining the narrative of your portfolio. Practice thinking out loud, defending your design choices, and demonstrating deep empathy for the B2B user. The process is designed to be straightforward and respectful of your time, so approach it with confidence and a collaborative spirit.

You have the skills necessary to excel in this role. Take the time to practice your storytelling, get comfortable designing in a live setting, and review additional interview insights on Dataford to refine your edge. Good luck—your next great career move is well within reach!