UXMock: AI-Powered Whiteboard Challenge Simulator for Designers
Background
What’s UXMock, and who is it for?
UXMock is an AI-powered platform that helps UX & Product Designers practice whiteboard challenges through realistic interview simulations. It was built to make whiteboard prep accessible, repeatable, and confidence-boosting—especially for designers navigating today’s tough job market.
Role & Team
What did I do, and how did we work together to build it?
As the founding designer, I led product design from ideation through beta testing to launch. My key contributions included:
Product Definition
Defined product requirements and MVP scope with co-founder
Research
Led user research, competitive analysis, and early validation
UX & UI Design
Designed end-to-end user flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity UI
Design Implementation
Collaborated with engineers to implement design and refine interactions
AI Behavior Design
Worked closely with engineers to shape and tune AI behavior through design input and testing
Iteration & Improvement
Drove product iteration based on testing insights and user feedback
Though I worked alongside another designer, I took ownership of the core UX flow and design system while closely collaborating as a team player to align our vision.
The Opportunity
Why did we create UXMock?
As a designer actively preparing for interviews, I found it difficult to practice whiteboard challenges on my own. Prompts were hard to find, the experience felt unnatural without a partner, and there was no structured way to simulate the pressure of a real session.
Problem 1
Lack of prompts
Prompts are hard to find
Problem 2
Hard to practice
Realistic practice is difficult to simulate alone
Problem 3
Lack of feedback
Feedback is rarely available if you practice alone
After sharing this observation with fellow designers, I realized it wasn’t just my problem—many others felt the same frustration. This led us to run surveys across Slack groups, LinkedIn, and design forums. We confirmed high demand and willingness to pay, yet surprisingly found no existing tools that fully simulated whiteboard interviews.
That’s when we decided to build UXMock: a dedicated space to practice, improve, and feel confident before the real thing.
Research & Validation
How do we validate our assumptions?
Personal Frustration
Shared with Design Peers
Conduct Surveys
Validated Demand
MVP to Test Market
Competitor
Research
We started with a survey shared across design communities (Slack, LinkedIn, Red Note) to better understand designers’ needs, frustrations, and willingness to pay. The feedback was encouraging—many respondents expressed strong interest and a clear desire for a better way to practice whiteboard challenges.
Screenshot of our survey form
Screenshot of the survey result
We also conducted competitive research. Surprisingly, no existing tool fully simulated the whiteboard interview experience. Most alternatives focused on design challenges or portfolio reviews, but lacked realistic, timed interaction and meaningful feedback—key elements in a true whiteboard session.
This gap in the market felt promising—but also risky.
Was it an opportunity, or just a trap?
We needed to build a lightweight MVP and test the waters.
Insights
What have we learnt from the research?
Base on the research insights, we learnt what features are valuable to users:
1
Prompt Library
A curated set of categorized prompts to help users start practicing right away
2
AI Interviews
Real-time, conversation-based flow to mimic a live interview session
3
Wireframe Upload
Users can sketch on paper or use design tools, then upload their wireframes for review
4
AI Feedback
Automatically generated feedback based on user responses and uploaded content
Usability Testing & Iteration
Do the users like our idea?
To validate our idea, we built and launched a beta version focused on four core features—each designed to simulate the key moments of a real whiteboard challenge.
The core user flow was intentionally simple and structured to mirror real interview sessions:
Start with a Prompt
AI Mock Interview
Submit response
Get Feedback
We recruited beta users for testing and incentivized follow-up surveys with gift cards. We also conducted 1:1 interviews to dive deeper into user experience.
Part of the test survey result
Layout and UI improvements
Layout tweaks, improved prompt visibility, better session timer UX
Onboarding Gaps
Users felt lost on first entry, they don’t know what to do.
We redesigned onboarding flow with tooltips & sample challenges
Feedback Presentation
Over 2/3 of the users think the feedback section is one of the most important feature to them. However, our previous feedback section was too text heavy. Constructive, actionable feedback helped users reflect and improve, we fine-tuned feedback structure.
Prompt By Job Descriptipn
Users wanted to practice with their own prompts or job descriptions → we added “Custom Prompt” & “Upload JD” options
Emergent Use Cases
How did users surprise us, and what did we learn from it?
Through user testing, we uncovered new usage patterns beyond just interview prep:
Some young designers used UXMock as a daily design workout, asking for a faster, lightweight format, this inspired the idea of a 15-minute “speed drill” challenge.
During the tests, we noticed that the AI often behaved more like a helper, offering suggestions and trying to assist users in solving the challenge. While our original intention was build a realistic interviewing experience, so users says the current ai does helped them practice.
To accommodate these diverse needs, we introduced
15-minute option for quick daily practice
While this wasn’t our original intention (we designed the AI to simulate a neutral, realistic interviewer), many students and junior designers actually preferred this “mentor-like” tone. It helped them quickly become familiar with the whiteboard challenge format and lowered the entry barrier during early practice. We tuned the ai interviewer to be more realistic at this point, and also planning to launch in the future:
Practice Mode: With more AI guidance and support for early learners
Pressure Mode: Simulating a high-stakes, time-pressured mock interview environment for advanced users.
Final Solution
What does the final design look like?
We designed and built a flexible, AI-powered challenge platform that simulates real interviews, adapts to different experience levels, and gives designers the confidence to face the whiteboard.
“How might we help designers practice whiteboard challenges effectively, feel prepared, and improve over time—without needing a live interviewer?”
Practice Under Real Interview Pressure.
Answer follow-up questions, explain your thinking out loud, and get timed—just like you would in a real whiteboard challenge.
Paste a job description and watch it turn into a tailored whiteboard prompt.
Role-specific, fast, and focused—so your practice matches what the job actually asks.
Train with prompts modeled on real-world product teams.
Fintech, e-commerce, health, or SaaS—get challenges that mirror how these domains really work.
Upload your sketches and let AI do the first review.
Get fast feedback on layout, flow, and clarity—whether it’s a rough draft or a polished wireframe.
Each session ends with focused insights.
See what you nailed, where you hesitated, and what to improve—so your practice turns into progress.
Outcomes
What’s the impact so far?
80%
Plus
satisfaction rate from beta testers
Interview
Success
Several users reported successfully passing interviews with the help of UXMock
Organic
Signups
Gained organic signups through design community referrals
Reflection
What I learned
This project sharpened my skills in designing with AI in the loop and balancing user expectations across experience levels. It also reinforced the value of:
Lean MVP testing
Feedback-driven iteration
Designing for confidence, not just functionality
Open to
work
Let's Chat!