Sometimes these two job titles are used interchangeably; however, there are key differences between the two roles and they are not fully synonymous. Product designers also focus on users, but they generally inherit a product where UX designers have identified and fixed most usability issues. So, the product designers focus more on business value and keeping the product attractive and relevant. User experience designers study cognitive psychology and how this impacts design and interaction to make digital products more enjoyable for customers while identifying business value opportunities.
Even though these roles share some similarities, each has its own view and skills. Both of them bring a unique perspective and set of skills that contribute to creating a successful, user-friendly product. Consider your strengths, interests, and the type of design work that excites you the most. Read a few job descriptions for roles that may interest you and see what is most appealing.
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Once they know the problem, they start brainstorming solutions, usually kick-starting this process with an ideation session. Then, they start creating first-draft designs, which could include wireframes, sketches, mock-ups, and prototypes. On the other hand, if you were called a “Product Designer” up until a few years ago, you were most likely working as an Industrial Designer on physical products.
The product designer works to make the site better, more convenient, and more enjoyable than all these other options. Also, the designer would plot a common path a user might take to this specific solution and design the product to influence the customer journey at every touchpoint. Of course, other factors are involved too — but the user’s needs are their ultimate goal. This confusion is compounded by the fact that ten years ago, ‘product designer’ used to mean something else. Some product designers call themselves Information Architects (IA), User Experience (UX) designers, or User Interface (UI) designers — the list goes on. That’s not to say that a product designer does more work than a UX designer!
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They research user behavior, create user personas, and design the interaction between the user and the product. They prioritize the user’s needs and emotions, ensuring the product is intuitive, satisfying, and enjoyable. Product designers and UX designers what is ui ux meaning collaborate by sharing insights, exchanging ideas, and working together to align the product’s visual and interaction design with the user experience goals. They collaborate throughout the design process to ensure a cohesive and user-centered product.
- UI design (user interface design) focuses on the visual elements and interactive components that users directly interact with on a digital product or interface.
- Product design might be the right choice if you like having varied responsibilities and directly impacting a product’s end result.
- That’s eight times faster than an experienced UX designer using a popular vector-based design tool!
While they are similar — and many UX designers can thrive as product designers (and vice versa) — there are distinct differences, especially regarding how you will operate within the company. UX design jobs tend to spend time meeting with users or customers and conducting research into their behaviors, wants, and needs as related to products or services. Another con I often hear is that UX requires a lot of dedication and can sometimes feel overwhelming with all the information that is out there to absorb. But that’s also why UX designers are so valuable to the product development process. We learn how to come through the information and research process and present the findings in a way that is understandable and moves forward design decisions. UX professionals are responsible for user experience research, collecting and analyzing customer feedback, and studying user behavior.
The process of designing a public portfolio to land a job as a UX/UI Designer (Spring
According to various salary aggregate websites, product designers tend to have slightly higher average salaries than UX designers in the US. Now that we have a brief understanding of the design process, we can now understand how a product designer fits into everything. Product designers are responsible for leading the design and development process, making strategic product decisions, and ensuring that the product reaches business goals. There are a lot more similarities than there are differences between UX and product designers.
Below is an example of what a typical job description for a product designer would look like. Product designers and UX designers both work towards creating user-friendly and engaging designs. Product designers and UX designers, similar as they are, are only two roles in a wide field of other similar roles.
Since these closely related fields have so much in common, distinguishing between them can understandably cause confusion. Even experienced professionals within the industry sometimes blur the lines between user experience (UX) design and product design. Product designers also work with a lot of the same tools that UX designers use. For instance, it’s common for both roles to use wireframing tools like Adobe and Sketch to create websites or apps. If you’re pursuing a career in either of these fields, you may want to become familiar with this software.
“Our role is to imagine products that don’t exist and guide them to life.” Learn the difference between UX and UI design and discover how both roles wor… Even with that in mind, one has to take aggregate salary figures with a grain of salt. For example, LinkedIn makes a real distinction between Junior and Senior positions when calculating salaries, while Glassdoor does not.