Just finished a Figma design interview loop for a product design role (mid-senior level). Wanted to write this up while it's fresh because the advice you find online is either too vague or way out of date.
Five rounds in total. The recruiter intro was standard. Then a portfolio review with the HM, which ran long because she kept asking me to go deeper on tradeoffs I made. Not in a gotcha way, genuinely curious. That surprised me.
The take-home was a product critique plus a redesign prompt for a feature I use constantly. They gave 3-4 hours estimated but I spent closer to 6 because I wanted it to feel finished. In hindsight the depth was the right call, because in the debrief round they asked me to walk through every decision point. Not just 'what did you build' but 'what did you try first and throw away.'
The panel had three people: another designer, a PM, and an engineer. The engineer's questions were the sharpest, honestly. He pushed on how I'd communicate constraints to eng, what I do when a design I love gets descoped. Real stuff.
What I wish I'd done differently: practiced talking through design process out loud before the call, not just having the artifacts ready. The thinking-visible part is what they're grading.
Overall, one of the better loops I've done in 7 years. They actually seem to care about craft.