What is Product Design? [Beginner’s Guide]

While UX designers and product designers are both user-focused problem solvers at their core, product designers and UX designers have different priorities. A product designer will focus more of their efforts on making a marketable and cost-effective product that is also easy to use. 

A UX designer only focuses on the user’s experience of a product that someone else has already deemed profitable.

The product designer role isn’t one-size-fits-all. Each employer will assign flexible responsibilities that can range from user experience to full-stack designer. Here are some responsibilities that a product designer may have in their job description:

• User experience (UX)
• User interface (UI)
• Coding
• Project management
• Problem-solving
• Team management
• Planning and conducting testing
• Wireframing

Product designers go through a process that closely parallels the design thinking process, which includes:

• Design and prototype
• Test with users
• Implement feedback
• Launch a product
• Measure and iterate the product

• Product designers rely on technical knowledge balanced with their creative ability. 
• They need a sense of visual and spatial awareness that’s balanced with commercial awareness, in order to know what looks good, functions well, and will be a viable product for business purposes. 
• A product designer will use software like Sketch, Figma, Adobe Illustrator and XD, and prototyping software to bring their ideas to life. 
• They use journey maps and user research, wireframes, prototypes, and high fidelity designs to inform their decisions and present their ideas.