My best interview experience involved a past problem the company had. It was given to me several days in advance of my on-site interview and I was told not to spend too much time. A couple sketches showing one or more solutions would suffice. I really enjoyed that it was grounded in reality and not some made-up fantasy problem. I don't know why that's so hard.
Thank you so much for sharing this Mishti! This approach has always worked well for me and reading this is reminding me to lean into it more now that I'm figuring out my next thing. PS: This especially piqued my interest because I think details (actual emails, texts) are extremely helpful!!