Devvista is a software development company that builds both the design and engineering sides of digital products, which gives a somewhat different perspective on hiring a UX designer than a design-only agency would offer. A polished portfolio tells you a designer can make things look good. It does not tell you whether they can actually solve your specific product problems. Here is what to check instead.
01 Ask Them to Walk Through Their Process, Not Just Their Output
Have them explain how they approached a past project from problem to solution, including what research they did, what alternatives they considered and rejected, and why they made the choices they ultimately made. A designer who can only show you the final polished screens without explaining the reasoning behind the decisions is showing you output, not the underlying thinking that actually matters for your project.
02 Check Whether They Understand UX and UI as Distinct Skills
Some designers are strong visually but genuinely weak on the structural, flow-based thinking that UX actually requires to be effective. Ask specifically about a time they had to redesign a confusing flow, not just execute a visual refresh, since the answer reveals whether they think in terms of user behavior or primarily in terms of aesthetics alone.
03 Ask How They Handle Disagreement With Engineering or Product
Good product design involves real, ongoing tension with technical constraints and business priorities that a designer cannot simply ignore. A designer who cannot describe how they have navigated that tension productively in the past may struggle in a real product team environment where design does not get to win every single argument regardless of other constraints.
04 Look for Evidence of Measuring Design Impact
Ask if they have ever tracked whether a design change actually improved a specific metric, such as conversion rate, task completion, or support ticket volume, rather than relying purely on subjective impressions of whether something felt better. Designers who think in terms of measurable outcomes, not just deliverables handed off, tend to produce work that genuinely moves the needle rather than just looking finished in a portfolio piece.
05 Give Them a Small Real Problem, Not a Generic Test
A short paid trial project using a real, small problem from your actual product tells you far more than a portfolio review or a generic design challenge unrelated to your business. It reveals how they communicate, how they handle ambiguity, and whether their working style genuinely fits your team's culture and pace.
06 Evaluating Portfolio Quality Beyond Visual Polish
When reviewing a portfolio, look past whether the screens look attractive and ask what specific business or user problem each project solved, and what evidence exists that it actually worked once shipped. A portfolio full of beautiful but unexplained screens is a weaker signal than a smaller portfolio with clear problem statements and honest discussion of what worked and what did not on each project.
07 Determining Fit for Your Specific Stage
An early-stage startup needing rapid iteration on an unproven product benefits from a different designer profile than an established company refining a mature product with a large existing user base. Ask candidates directly about their experience at a stage similar to yours, since design priorities and working pace differ meaningfully between these two contexts.
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