Design assessments are a common fixture in creative hiring, but are they actually the best way to evaluate talent? It's a question that divides opinion, and for good reason.

This question was answered by Quan Payne, an industry leader with extensive experience building creative teams, who shared his candid take on why he avoids assessments altogether; Sharon Draper, a mental health expert who brings a people-centred perspective to the pressures of job seeking; and Andy Wright, host of Asking For A Friend on Never Not Creative, who offered practical advice for candidates navigating the process.

Why one industry leader skips the assessment entirely

Quan is direct: he doesn't use design assessments, and he hasn't asked candidates to complete one. His reasoning is grounded in fairness and practicality. Design is not a discipline with a single correct path, and the way one practitioner arrives at a solution can look completely different from another's, neither being wrong. Asking someone to complete a task against a hidden set of criteria risks penalising valid approaches simply because they don't match the assessor's own habits. Instead, Quan uses the probation period as the real evaluation, arguing it gives a far clearer and more honest picture of how someone thinks, works, and adapts.

What to do when you're given an assessment anyway

Of course, not every employer shares that view, and the reality is that many candidates will still face a task as part of their application. Andy's advice here is simple but easy to overlook: question the brief. Designers do this with clients every day, and there's no reason to abandon that instinct during an application. Asking who the audience is, what success looks like, or what problem is actually being solved demonstrates design thinking in action, not just in the final file. It also means you can articulate your decisions more clearly when you present your work, rather than simply handing over something and hoping it lands.

The bigger picture

Whether you agree with Quan's approach or find yourself completing a task brief at midnight, the underlying principle is the same: good design is about process, curiosity, and problem-solving, not just a polished output. Lean into that, and you'll show more of who you are as a designer than any single assessment could ever capture.