I interviewed for a senior product designer role at Wells Fargo's design team in Phoenix last fall. Posting this because UX interview content for financial services is basically nonexistent online and I found the process genuinely interesting.
The loop: Recruiter screen Portfolio presentation (45 min + 15 min Q&A, three interviewers) Design critique round (30 min) Behavioral/values panel (two rounds, 30 min each)
Portfolio presentation. They asked me to prepare 2-3 case studies. They were explicit that they wanted to hear about the process, not just the output. Constraints that shaped decisions mattered. Trade-offs mattered. Results mattered. One of my case studies was a checkout redesign for a fintech company I'd consulted for, and that was the one they dug into deepest. They asked: how did you test with users, how did you handle disagreement with product stakeholders, what metrics changed and by how much.
They were very focused on accessibility across all three case studies. One interviewer asked specifically whether I'd done any WCAG compliance work. I had, on an earlier banking project, and we ended up spending 10 minutes just talking through screen reader testing workflows. That was apparently a differentiator based on the debrief feedback I got later.
Design critique. They showed me a live WF product screen (mobile deposit flow) and asked me to critique it. No trick. Just genuine: what would you improve, how would you prioritize, what would you need to know before making changes. I focused on cognitive load in the confirmation step, contrast issues on secondary actions, and the unclear error states. They asked follow-up questions about how I'd validate my hypotheses.
Behavioral panel. Very STAR-heavy. Tell me about a time you worked on a design that had to balance business requirements with user needs. Tell me about a conflict with a PM. Tell me about a project where you had to simplify something complex for users who weren't technical. All stuff you should prep for any senior IC design role.
Offer: base $140k in Phoenix, annual bonus, standard benefits. Not Bay Area comp but Phoenix COL is quite different. They were also genuinely flexible on remote/hybrid for this role, which was a factor for me.
The culture felt slower-paced than startup design culture but they seemed to have real design maturity. Multiple design systems teams, dedicated accessibility specialists, and they mentioned a quarterly design review with VP-level stakeholders. Felt like a place where design has earned real influence.