UX Design vs. Product Design: What’s the Difference?
As the app development field expands rapidly, UX design and product design jobs are in high demand. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, web development and digital design jobs will grow by 13% by 2030, a faster than average rate among all occupations. Unfortunately, applicants searching for jobs often find that UX design and product design are interchangeable. The two careers indeed share similarities, but they also have distinct differences.
What is Product Design?
Product design varies depending on the field. For example, product designers often serve as project managers in web and app development. They are involved in all aspects of development, from brainstorming sessions to marketing. Since the role relies on collaboration between different teams, successful product designers need to be well-versed in various areas, including UX and UI design and coding.
While they also have a user-first approach, product designers must also be aware of business-related goals. They ultimately have to find a balance between users’ needs with their company’s financial and strategic objectives.
Tips To Get Into Product Design: if you have background experience in UX design and proficiency in UX tools. Figma, Sketch, Balsamiq, and Adobe XD are the most used in the industry.
Starting Salary for Product Designers: Junior product designers have an average national salary of $67,692 a year. However, compensation can vary depending on location and experience level.
What is UX Design?
UX, or user experience, is how a user interacts with a product, system, or service. UX designers have a user-first approach with emphasis placed on creating products that are pleasant to use and easy to navigate. Their responsibilities are more specific to the design process than product designers.
UX designers may specialize in a particular area such as front-end development, wireframing, visual design, and user research and planning. In addition, they typically only work on a project until it’s released, whereas product designers have to monitor products on the market to make sure they’re still relevant and functional.
Tips To Get Into UX Design: Aside from UX tools, show your ability to conduct user research and apply findings to your development process.
Starting Salary for UX Designers: Junior UX designers have an average national salary of $64,121 a year. However, the pay can vary depending on location and experience level.
Which One is for You?
There are similarities between UX design and product design. Both focus on design and the needs of users. However, product designers are involved in the entire production process. UX designer and product designer roles are very much the same before a product is released. After launch, UX designers tend to move on to new products in development, though they sometimes revisit it if extensive updates are needed. However, product designers continuously work on the product post-release to keep it updated and marketable.
Which career is best for you? That depends on your interests. If you want to focus on creating a user journey, a career in UX design is likely your best path. On the other hand, if you like to collaborate with other departments and have additional interests beyond development and usability, consider a role in product design.
For more information on career paths in design, check out Yellowbrick’s UX Design Foundations and Product Design Essentials online courses.
