A hiring conversation is two-way. What you ask is as useful as what you present — it shows how you think, and it tells you whether the job is actually a fit.

If you work in UI and UX, use part of the time to test the product, the people you would sit with, how research really happens, and the day-to-day terms of the role. A polished case study will not save you from a team that cannot ship, or a product with no users in mind.

The product

1. What is the product trying to achieve over the next six to twelve months?
2. Which users matter most at the moment?
3. Where does the product, or the design team, keep getting stuck?
4. Is this a web product, a mobile app, or both?

How the team works

5. How is design organised here — a central team, designers inside squads, or a mix?
6. Would I own one area of the product, or move between features as needed?
7. Who would I spend most of the week working with?
8. Who would I report to?
9. When does research happen, and do designers take part in it?
10. Once a design is signed off, how do designers and engineers work together?
11. Is there a design system in place, and who keeps it current?
12. How does the team plan and track work?

Practical terms

13. Are hours flexible, or is there a core window when people need to overlap?
14. How often is performance reviewed?
15. Is this an employed role or a contract?
16. Does the company supply a laptop and tools, or should I use my own?
17. If the work is remote, is there any support for a home setup?
18. Do you track time in software?
19. Is there anything in my background you would like me to expand on before we wrap up?

This is not a script to read word for word, and it will not cover every company. It is the minimum I would want answered before I signed. Skip it, and you find out months later that the culture, the tools, or the expectations were never a match.