Product Designer vs. UX Designer: What's The Difference?

Product design and UX design - These two positions may appear to be duplicative; however, they concentrate on various aspects of product development.

The contrast between UX design and product design is widely debated, given the wide variety of design positions that are currently available. Voters seem to be divided into two groups; some claim there is no difference between the two professions, while others insist they are entirely different careers with unique priorities.

There are undoubtedly a number of similarities between the two jobs. But they would have the same title if they held the same position, right?

On paper, product designers and UX designers actually perform very comparable tasks. It's one of the reasons why product designers frequently transition into UX designers and vice versa.

Although slight, there are distinctions between product design and UX design when it comes to methods of thinking, processes, and priorities.

What is a UX designer?

UX designers prioritise user pleasure and make sure the product meets users' needs in practice. They prioritise user engagement when designing, making sure to constantly enhance the product's usability and accessibility.

From research to ideation, a UX designer will take charge of the entire design thinking process while at all times keeping the needs of the user in mind. User testing and prototyping are essential to the role, as is adopting the user's perspective. In other words, they are in charge of making sure the product is as user-friendly as feasible.

What is a product designer?

Product design has been around much longer than UX design because it is derived from industrial design. Despite this, many people, sometimes even product designers themselves, are unable to accurately describe the anatomy of a product designer.

A product designer is similar to a full-stack designer, a multidisciplinary "jack of all trades" designer who performs UX, UI, coding, program management, and (possibly most significantly) problem-solving. A product designer's role is generally fairly flexible. A product designer, in essence, creates solutions to any issues that can crop up during the initial phase.

Product designers will put together teams to facilitate solutions, develop several test plans, construct wireframes, and go through rounds of A/B testing in order to tackle these issues. A product designer will assist the developers in the launch phase and collaborate with the marketing groups to ensure brand and product alignment.

In a nutshell, they are the product's guardians, ensuring it is the most pertinent, affordable, and useful product possible and that all the stakeholders are satisfied.

What is the difference between a Product Designer and UX Designer?

Product design and UX design are different in that the latter focuses on ensuring that a user's interaction with an app or website runs smoothly, whilst the former handles more of the physical aspects. Therefore, it is the responsibility of UX designers to make sure that it looks attractive, feels lovely to use, and otherwise facilitates a pleasurable user experience. Because they are designing how something functions, product designers avoid dealing with these issues (or even what it should look like).

The two functions cooperate. There is no such thing as product vs. UX design. Product designers have a bigger duty to consider how the many components of the product work together. When designing for a phone, this entails making sure that the OS works well with the power button on the side along with touch and motion controls on the screen; when designing for a laptop or desktop computer, the setup needs to be perfect so you can use all of the ports and connect screens without feeling overpowered by cables after unwrapping your new gadget.

Making ensuring that the user can accomplish their goals on the digital portion of the product is the UX designer's main duty.

Both product designers and UX designers employ several tools in the course of their work. For instance, although UX designs are often produced using Figma, Adobe Xd, or Sketch, product design is typically carried out in a CAD tool like AutoCAD.

Because they must take into account how all components will function as a single unit, product designers are more motivated to see the big picture.

What are the responsibilities of a Product Designer?

The job description for a UX product designer may include numerous areas of accountability. Below are some definitions that are specific to product designers:

• The way a thing looks and feels from every viewpoint is the responsibility of the product designer.
• They may employ wireframing, drawing, or other design tools to develop concepts that may turn into finished products.
• Graphic design, color theory, and typography are all skills that product designers need to be proficient in.
• KPIs must be measured in order to ensure that the product becomes what it should be.

What are the responsibilities of a UX Designer?

• User's ease of use and enjoyment of a product are the responsibility of UX designers.
• They make an effort to make sure everything is simple, clear, and understandable so that no one gets lost or confused.
• Usability testing, diary studies, interviews, field experiments, and other user research techniques are techniques that UX designers need to be familiar with.
• To make sure their designs don't overwhelm anyone who could use them, they also need to have a solid grasp of human-computer interaction concepts like cognitive load theory.
• Before developing any visual assets, a UX designer often works on wireframes during the early planning stages of a project.

Conclusion

Product designer and UX designer are two positions in digital product design that frequently cause confusion in people. In essence, both of these positions center on product creation and apply the design thinking method to resolve issues.