Perkins & Will UX/UI Designer interview questions & guide 2026

To help you prepare effectively, we have analyzed real interview experiences for the UX/UI Designer role at Perkins & Will. While questions are highly tailored to the specific team and project focus, they consistently fall into several distinct categories. Use these patterns to structure your preparation rather than simply memorizing answers.

Portfolio & Design Process

These questions assess your ability to articulate your design rationale, structure your workflow, and showcase your unique identity as a designer.

• Walk me through one or two projects in your portfolio that best describe your skills and identity as a designer.
• What was the core problem you were trying to solve in this specific portfolio project, and how did you validate your solution?

Preparing for an interview at Perkins & Will requires a balanced approach that highlights both your technical UX/UI expertise and your appreciation for physical architecture and spatial design. Interviewers want to see that you can collaborate across disciplines and bring a structured, user-centric perspective to complex physical-digital challenges.

Portfolio Storytelling – Your portfolio is the single most critical element of your evaluation. You must be prepared to go beyond showing beautiful high-fidelity screens; instead, focus on the "why" behind your decisions. Highlight your research, wireframes, user testing, and how you measured success.

Spatial & Technical Literacy – Because you will be working within an architectural context, demonstrating an understanding of space, scale, and environment is highly advantageous. If you have experience with 3D modeling, environmental graphics, or architectural workflows (such as Revit integration), make sure to emphasize these skills.

Collaborative Dynamics – You will routinely collaborate with professionals who do not speak traditional UX jargon. You must demonstrate that you can translate complex digital design concepts into clear, accessible language for architects, clients, and project managers.

Ambition & Goal Alignment – Perkins & Will looks for passionate designers who want to grow within the firm. Be ready to articulate your long-term career goals clearly, showing how you plan to contribute to the team's evolving digital capabilities without sounding overly transactional.

The interview process for a UX/UI Designer at Perkins & Will is highly conversational, professional, and heavily centered around your portfolio. While the exact steps can vary slightly depending on the specific office location (such as Atlanta, Chicago, or San Francisco) and whether the role focuses on internal design tools or environmental digital experiences, the overall structure remains highly consistent.

The process typically begins with an introductory call with an HR manager or a direct invitation following a career event. This is followed by one to three rounds of interviews, which are often conducted by a panel. You can expect to meet with a diverse group of stakeholders, including design principals, senior associates, architectural designers, and managing directors. The firm places a strong emphasis on culture fit, assessing both your technical competency and whether your personality aligns with their collaborative, studio-based environment.

The timeline above outlines the standard progression from your initial application to the final offer stage. While some candidates receive feedback and offers within a few days of their panel interview, others report a longer, more deliberate process that can take several weeks. Use this timeline to pace your preparation, ensuring your portfolio is fully polished before your first major presentation.

To stand out in the Perkins & Will interview process, you must understand the specific areas where you will be closely evaluated. The hiring team looks for a unique blend of digital design mastery and spatial awareness.

Portfolio Presentation & Design Rationale

This is the core of your interview. The panel wants to see how you think, solve problems, and structure your design process from concept to execution.

Be ready to go over:

• User Research & Insights – How you gather user requirements, conduct interviews, and translate those insights into actionable design strategies.
• Information Architecture & Wireframing – Your ability to structure complex information logically, ensuring intuitive navigation flows.
• Visual Design & Prototyping – Your mastery of typography, color theory, grid systems, and interactive prototyping tools like Figma.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Integrating digital UI with physical environmental sensors, designing for large-scale interactive screens, or creating accessibility-first interfaces for public spaces.

Example scenarios:

• "Walk us through a project where your initial user research completely changed the direction of your UI design."
• "How did you balance aesthetic appeal with strict functional requirements in your most complex project?"

Technical Competency & Spatial Collaboration

Because Perkins & Will is an elite architecture firm, your ability to understand and integrate with architectural workflows is highly valued.

Be ready to go over:

• Software Competencies – Your familiarity with industry-standard design tools and any exposure to 3D or architectural software.
• Digital-Physical Integration – How you design interfaces that adapt to different physical environments, lighting conditions, and hardware constraints.
• Developer Handoff – Your process for preparing design systems, assets, and documentation to ensure smooth implementation.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Building custom scripts or UI plugins for Revit or other BIM software to optimize internal design workflows.

Example scenarios:

• "Explain how you would design an interactive wayfinding kiosk for a large hospital campus, considering physical accessibility and varying light levels."
• "Describe your experience collaborating with technical teams to bring a complex interactive design to life."

Behavioral Fit & Studio Culture

The studio culture at Perkins & Will is highly collaborative and multidisciplinary. Interviewers will gauge your communication style, humility, and eagerness to learn.

Be ready to go over:

• Multidisciplinary Communication – How you explain digital design principles to team members from non-technical backgrounds.
• Receiving Feedback – Your ability to process constructive critique from senior design leaders and clients gracefully.
• Career Ambition & Values – Your alignment with the firm’s commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, and design excellence.

Example scenarios:

• "Tell us about a time you had to defend a design decision to a senior stakeholder who preferred a different approach."
• "How do you stay inspired and keep up with emerging design trends outside of traditional tech spaces?"

As a UX/UI Designer at Perkins & Will, your day-to-day responsibilities will be highly dynamic and collaborative, differing significantly from a standard corporate tech environment.

You will be responsible for leading the user experience and interface design for a variety of digital and hybrid projects. This includes conducting user research, creating detailed user journeys, wireframing, and building high-fidelity interactive prototypes. You will regularly collaborate with architectural designers, environmental graphic designers, and project managers to ensure that digital elements enhance, rather than distract from, the physical spaces they inhabit.

Additionally, you may work on internal digital transformation initiatives. This can involve designing custom digital tools, dashboards, or proprietary software integrations (such as custom Revit interfaces) that help the firm's architects and engineers work more efficiently. You will act as the primary advocate for the user, ensuring that all digital touchpoints—whether internal tools or client-facing installations—are intuitive, accessible, and beautifully designed.

To be competitive for the UX/UI Designer position, you should possess a strong blend of digital design expertise, technical proficiency, and collaborative soft skills.

• Must-have skills – A highly polished portfolio showcasing end-to-end UX/UI design processes, mastery of Figma or Adobe Creative Suite, strong wireframing and prototyping capabilities, and excellent verbal communication skills.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience with 3D modeling tools, knowledge of architectural workflows or Revit, experience designing for physical installations (digital experience design), and basic front-end development knowledge (HTML/CSS/JavaScript).
• Experience level – Typically requires a bachelor's degree in Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Graphic Design, or a related field, along with 2 to 5 years of professional experience in a UX/UI design role.
• Soft skills – A highly collaborative mindset, the ability to thrive in an ambiguous and multidisciplinary studio environment, strong stakeholder management skills, and a genuine passion for the intersection of digital technology and physical architecture.

Q: How technical is the interview process for UX/UI Designers? A: The process is highly focused on design thinking, visual execution, and portfolio storytelling rather than intense coding or algorithmic tests. However, you should be prepared to discuss your technical workflow, software competencies, and how you hand off designs to development teams.

Q: What is the studio culture like at Perkins & Will? A: The culture is highly collaborative, creative, and professional, operating much like an elite design studio. It is characterized by multidisciplinary teamwork, design reviews, and a strong commitment to sustainability and innovation, though some candidates note it can feel quite corporate depending on the specific office location.

Q: Should I negotiate my salary offer? A: Yes. Real interview data indicates that initial salary offers can sometimes skew lower than traditional tech companies, but the firm is open to negotiation. Candidates highly recommend negotiating with HR before finalizing your acceptance.

Q: How long does the hiring process typically take? A: The timeline can vary widely. Some candidates receive offers within a couple of days of their final panel interview, while others report a process that takes several weeks or even months due to internal coordination across different offices and departments.

To maximize your chances of success, keep these practical, insider tips in mind as you prepare for your interviews:

• Curate your portfolio for spatial context: If you have any projects that involve physical spaces, installation design, wayfinding, or smart devices, highlight them. Showing that you can design beyond a standard mobile or desktop screen will immediately set you apart.
• Prepare for a highly conversational panel: Expect to present your work to a diverse group of 3 to 5 people, including non-digital designers. Keep your language clear, avoid overly dense tech jargon, and focus on the human impact of your designs.

• Be ready to discuss your tools: While Figma is standard, be prepared to discuss how you adapt to other software or how you might design interfaces that interact with architectural tools like Revit.
• Show genuine interest in architecture: Take time to research Perkins & Will's recent major architectural projects, sustainability initiatives, and design philosophy. Showing that you understand and appreciate their physical work will demonstrate strong cultural alignment.

The UX/UI Designer role at Perkins & Will offers an extraordinary opportunity to work at the cutting edge of digital and physical design. By joining one of the world's most respected architecture and design firms, you will have the unique privilege of shaping how people experience the built environment through intuitive digital interfaces. The work is highly collaborative, intellectually challenging, and carries a lasting physical impact.

To succeed in this interview process, focus your energy on polishing your portfolio presentation, refining your design narrative, and preparing to discuss your collaborative workflow in a multidisciplinary environment. Emphasize your ability to translate complex user needs into elegant solutions, and show a genuine enthusiasm for the intersection of technology and spatial design.

For more detailed interview experiences, salary insights, and preparation resources tailored to Perkins & Will and other leading design firms, explore the comprehensive community-driven data available on Dataford. With focused preparation and a strong presentation of your unique design identity, you are well-positioned to ace your interviews.

The salary data above provides an overview of typical compensation ranges for design professionals in similar roles. When evaluating an offer from Perkins & Will, consider the total rewards package, including benefits, studio perks, and opportunities for professional growth, and do not hesitate to negotiate professionally based on your experience and market value.