Why pre-screen haptic designers before the portfolio review
The failure mode is easy to describe: everything vibrates, none of it means anything different, and users disable haptics entirely within a week. Good work uses a small vocabulary consistently, respects what the hardware can produce, and gets tested by people who did not design it. A short screen asks what they removed from a design and why.
What actually matters when screening Haptic User Experience Designer candidates
- 01
Portfolio
Review shipped haptic work: waveform libraries for LRA or piezo actuators, in-car touch panels, controller rumble, wearables. Ask which effects reached production firmware and on what device.
- 02
Craft and rationale
Probe authoring craft: amplitude and frequency envelopes, sharpness versus roughness, latency budgets under 30ms, tools like Interhaptics, Lofelt Studio, Unity, or Apple Core Haptics.
- 03
Feedback and iteration
Test how they run tactile user studies: blind A/B bench comparisons, forced-choice psychophysics, participant vocabulary problems, and what they changed after subjects could not distinguish two effects.
- 04
Working with the brief
Assess collaboration with firmware, industrial design, and audio: negotiating actuator selection, mounting mass and damping, cross-modal alignment with sound and visuals, and delivery specs handed to engineers.
Pre-screening questions to ask Haptic User Experience Designer candidates
12 questions grouped by what they test. Ask the same set in every screen and score answers on a consistent scale, or send them as an async video screen and compare answers side by side.
Shipped in hardware
3 questions01Can you describe your experience designing haptic feedback for interfaces?
Listen forWork that shipped on real devices, with the actuator type and its constraints described.
Concept work only, or designs never implemented on the target hardware.
02Can you give an example where haptic design improved the experience?
Listen forA measurable improvement such as fewer errors or faster confirmation, tested with users.
Improvement asserted from design intent, or benefit described only as feeling premium.
03Tell me about a challenging haptic project and how you handled it.
Listen forA real constraint such as actuator limits, power budget or latency, with the compromise described.
Challenges described as stakeholder taste, or no hardware constraint they had to work within.
Feedback means something
4 questions04How do you differentiate between types of haptic feedback in your designs?
Listen forA small consistent vocabulary where each pattern means something distinct and learnable.
Many similar patterns used, or feedback that users cannot distinguish in practice.
05How does your approach differ between wearable and handheld devices?
Listen forSkin contact, actuator size and attention differences all accounted for between device types.
The same patterns used across device types, or contact and perception differences ignored.
06What is your process for adding haptics to an existing interface?
Listen forFeedback added only where it confirms or warns, with existing interactions audited first.
Haptics applied across every interaction, or added as a finishing layer without review.
07How does haptic feedback relate to the other senses in an experience?
Listen forTiming with sound and visuals handled carefully, since mismatch is noticed immediately.
Haptics designed in isolation, or synchronisation with audio and visuals not considered.
Tested with users
2 questions08How do you test and iterate on haptic designs?
Listen forTesting with people who did not design it, checking whether patterns are distinguishable.
Evaluation by the design team only, or patterns never tested for distinguishability.
09How do you use feedback and data to refine haptic designs?
Listen forSettings usage examined in the data, including how many users disable haptic feedback entirely.
No data on whether users keep the feedback enabled, or opt-out rates never checked.
Restraint and access
3 questions10How do you ensure feedback is helpful without overwhelming the user?
Listen forFrequency budgeted deliberately, with feedback reserved only for events that genuinely need attention.
Haptics on every interaction, or intensity increased to make feedback more noticeable.
11What do you consider when designing haptic feedback for accessibility?
Listen forHaptics used as an alternative channel for users who cannot see or hear a cue.
Accessibility limited to an intensity setting, or haptics duplicating visual cues only.
12What common mistakes do designers make with haptic feedback?
Listen forOveruse and meaningless patterns named, with examples they have corrected in their own work.
Mistakes described as technical limitations, or no critical view of their own past work.
How to score responses
Score every candidate on the same four criteria immediately after the screen. At this stage you are shortlisting for panel interviews, not making the final call.
Portfolio
35%5Shows named shipped devices or titles, plays back their own effect libraries, and explains the actuator and driver each was tuned for.
Craft and rationale
25%5Discusses perceptual thresholds and JND, defends waveform choices per actuator class, and cites latency and power constraints they designed within.
Feedback and iteration
25%5Describes an iteration where user testing killed a favourite effect, with the study design and the redesign that replaced it.
Working with the brief
15%5Translates vague briefs like premium click into measurable specs, and cites concrete trade-offs won or lost with hardware teams.
Everything vibrates, nothing means anything, users switch it off. A one-way video screen asks what they removed.
Try it on HirevireScreening FAQ
Process basics
How long should a pre-screening round for this role take?
Ten to fifteen minutes across eight to ten questions, answered async alongside a portfolio. Enough to test restraint, hardware understanding and testing practice before a deeper review.
What should I ask for besides the screen?
A device you can hold with their work on it. Haptic design cannot be assessed from a video or a document, because the entire output is something you feel.
Evaluating answers
What is the strongest signal when screening this role?
What they removed. Designers who understand the medium cut feedback that carried no meaning. Anyone who describes adding haptics everywhere will produce something users switch off.
How do I judge their hardware awareness?
Ask what the actuator can actually produce. Real answers cover the differences between actuator types and their limits. Anyone designing without that will specify effects the device cannot render.
Go deeper on this role
Sanat has been hiring since 2012 and watching the recruitment industry change up close ever since, and turned that screening process into Hirevire's video screening platform. LinkedIn
