Cracking the MakeMyTrip Design Interview
MakeMyTrip (MMT) is India’s largest travel portal. Designing for MMT means balancing massive amounts of information (flight times, baggage rules, hotel amenities) on a tiny mobile screen while ensuring the user doesn't abandon their cart.
The Interview Stages
The interview process heavily focuses on information architecture, conversion rate optimization (CRO), and building trust with the user.
Round 1: Information Architecture (IA) Check
Travel booking is complex.
- Question: "How would you redesign the flight search filter screen?"
- The Approach: MMT cares about hierarchy. Do you put "Non-stop flights" at the top? How do you handle pricing sliders? You must justify your layout based on what a stressed traveler cares about most.
Round 2: The Take-Home Assignment
- Scenario: "Design a feature for users to seamlessly split the cost of a group holiday booking among 4 friends."
- The Execution: They want to see the full flow.
- How does the user invite friends? (WhatsApp integration).
- How do you handle the edge case where 1 friend doesn't pay in time? (UX writing is critical here to avoid anxiety).
- The final visual UI should be clean and trustworthy (travel involves large payments; the UI cannot look cheap).
Round 3: UX Research & Data
- Question: "We moved the 'Book Now' button, and conversions dropped by 2%. The UI looks much cleaner though. What do you do?"
- The Answer: Revert the design. At MMT, metrics rule. Discuss how you would conduct user testing or heat map analysis (Hotjar) to understand why the cleaner design failed.
Round 4: Product & Culture Fit
- "Tell me about a time you simplified a very complex user journey."
- MMT values designers who can take a messy, legacy backend process (like airline cancellation rules) and make it easily understandable for a 60-year-old user booking from a Tier-2 city.
Pro Tip: UX Writing (Microcopy) is heavily tested. When designing your assignment, do not use "Lorem Ipsum." Write actual, reassuring copy (e.g., "Don't worry, your payment is secure" or "Only 2 seats left at this price") to show you understand travel psychology.
