
Okta Product Designer Case Interview — Admin Console ‘App Integration Wizard’
This live case mirrors common Okta product design interviews, focusing on complex enterprise identity problems, security-by-design thinking, and cross‑functional collaboration with PM, Engineering, and Security. You will design an improved “App Integration Wizard” inside Okta’s Admin Console that helps an IT admin connect a new third‑party application to Okta using OIDC/SAML, set assignment and MFA policies, optionally enable SCIM provisioning, and safely roll it out to a pilot group before org‑wide launch. What the case assesses at Okta: - Problem framing and systems thinking for multi-tenant enterprise software (orgs, environments, groups, and roles). - Security and trust: MFA/step-up, WebAuthn/passkeys readiness, least‑privilege defaults, safe recovery and rollback. - Handling protocols and integrations at scale (7,000+ integrations), including extensibility, templates, and guardrails for misconfiguration. - Admin and developer experience: progressive disclosure for non-experts while keeping protocol power for advanced users; clear, testable setup. - Accessibility and reliability: WCAG 2.2 AA practices, error/empty states, auditability, and observability (logs, events). - Outcome orientation: measuring time‑to‑first‑value, assignment/adoption, and reduction in support tickets. Scenario prompt (you’ll work through it live): “You’re designing ‘App Integration Wizard 2.0’ for Okta’s Admin Console. An IT admin at a mid‑size enterprise needs to connect a new SaaS app for 500 employees. They must: choose protocol (OIDC/SAML), configure credentials/redirects/claims, test sign‑in, define who gets access (groups), apply MFA/step‑up policies for sensitive scopes, optionally enable lifecycle provisioning via SCIM, and roll out to a pilot cohort with monitoring and rollback. The wizard should reduce misconfigurations, surface security best practices by default, and support staged rollout across environments (sandbox → production).” Expected deliverables in-session (low‑fidelity is fine): - Clarifying questions that reveal constraints (org model, environments, regulated industries, existing app catalog vs custom app, success metrics). - Primary task flow(s): create integration → configure protocol → verify/test → assign groups → apply policies → pilot → monitor → scale. - Key screens/wireframes: protocol selection, credentials/redirect URIs, claims mapping, SCIM setup, test panel with live health checks, assignment & policy step, pre‑launch checklist, rollout dashboard with audit events. - Edge cases: invalid redirect URIs, clock skew, failed metadata import, missing group attributes, SCIM deprovision risk, rate limits, rollback and recovery. - Measurement plan: TTFA (time to first auth), percent successful tests on first attempt, pilot adoption, policy coverage, support contact rate. Evaluation rubric used by Okta interviewers: - Problem understanding (identifies personas: global admin, app admin; clarifies compliance needs; distinguishes Workforce vs Customer Identity contexts). - Security-first design (safe defaults, explicit risk tradeoffs, recovery paths, auditability, least‑privilege assignments, step‑up triggers). - IA and interaction craft (clear wizard stages, progressive disclosure, inline validation, guidance/tooltips, templates from app catalog). - Systems and scalability (works for 1 app and for hundreds; reusable patterns; localization/time zones; sandbox → prod promotion model). - Communication and collaboration (structures thinking, invites PM/Eng/Sec feedback, negotiates tradeoffs under time pressure). - Outcomes and metrics (ties decisions to measurable success; proposes experiment/guardrail metrics and logging needs). Interview format (live, collaborative): - 0–5 min: Warm-up, problem restatement, success criteria. - 5–15 min: Clarifying questions, constraints, personas, risks. - 15–35 min: Task flows + wireframes for the wizard; narrate decisions. - 35–55 min: Edge cases, security/policy handling, testing and rollback. - 55–70 min: Metrics, iteration plan, tradeoffs, brief Q&A. What great looks like at Okta: - Leads with trust and customer empathy; chooses secure defaults and explains why. - Makes protocol complexity approachable without dumbing it down. - Shows how the design reduces misconfiguration risk and speeds time‑to‑value. - Plans for monitoring, audit logs, and recovery, not just the happy path. - Articulates a scalable pattern that fits both catalog apps and custom apps. Common pitfalls to avoid: - Optimizing only for the happy path; ignoring rollback/recovery. - Treating admin and developer needs as identical; neglecting permissions and least‑privilege. - Over‑indexing on UI polish vs. systems, policies, and testability. - Skipping accessibility, localization, and compliance considerations. Materials you may request: brief org model overview, sample redirect URIs, example claims, policy examples (e.g., step‑up on financial data), and a short app catalog entry to ground assumptions.
2 minutes
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About This Interview
Interview Type
PRODUCT SENSE
Difficulty Level
4/5
Interview Tips
• Research the company thoroughly
• Practice common questions
• Prepare your STAR method responses
• Dress appropriately for the role