Imagine product wants a major UI redesign shipped in four weeks, but you know from experience that the current frontend architecture and test coverage are weak. How would you approach planning and executing this work to minimize risk while still meeting business goals?

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VirtualInterview.AI · Accepted Answer

I’d start by reframing the goal with product: we want a visible redesign in four weeks without blowing up reliability. I’d propose a thin vertical slice approach. Week one, we pick 1–2 key flows (say, signup and checkout) and implement the new UI there end-to-end. While doing that, I’d carve out a small, better-structured front-end shell and add tests around those flows.

That slice becomes our pattern. We measure: visual parity, error rate, and cycle time. On a similar project, we cut regression bugs by ~40% just by adding smoke tests to the top 10% of traffic paths. In weeks two and three, we migrate the remaining high-traffic screens into the new shell, leaving low-risk legacy areas for last.

Throughout, I’d keep a feature flag so we can roll out to, say, 10–20% of users first, monitor metrics, then ramp up. That way business sees progress quickly while we quietly harden the foundation.

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