What is Product Design?

• The iMac is an example of a big company first discovering the importance of aesthetics.
• When the first Macintosh came out in the 70s, it wasn’t the prettiest thing ever. 
• When the iMac G3 came out in 1998, people fell in love. Then-VP of Industrial Design, Jony Ive, asked himself “What computer would The Jetsons have had?” As the first computer Apple were designing for the internet era, Ive wanted ‘the future’ to be reflected in the design.
• From there, product experts have been striving for the best product design, bringing together a number of criteria and components.

Product design professionals generally regard The UX Honeycomb by Peter Morville as the classic diagram for the seven essential aspects of UX.

• Useful: A product that fills a need.
• Usable: It reflects how easy it is to navigate your product. 
• Findable: Findable products have intuitive navigational structures.
• Credible: A product that deserves the trust of your customers. 
• Accessible: You want your products to be available to whoever needs them. 
• Desirable: Branding and storytelling + the overall quality of your product.
• Valuable: Your product needs to go the extra mile, to delight customers.

Generally, a Product Manager owns more of the product vision. They define the problem, have a deep understanding of their users, work with stakeholders, and own the roadmap.

A Product Designer has more of an artistic flair. They take the problem defined by the PM and create research-driven design concepts which will solve the problem. They collaborate with engineers to ensure that what’s being built matches the criteria of the UX honeycomb.

• UX Designers are focused on information hierarchy, flows, interactivity, and they’re helping you map that out.
• A Visual Designer helps your product design team make your product look like yours, and nobody else’s.
• Content Partner: Words matter, and you need a Copywriter to make sure the language of your product sounds natural. T
• Researcher: The people who tell you the what, why, and how to make sure your product is successful. Good design has to be data-driven. Your researchers will be able to tell you what works, what people like, and what users respond to.