Product design vs UX—what’s the difference? Product designers are thinking about the full game plan, making sure the product fits into the bigger business strategy. UX designers, though? They make sure the product is intuitive for the user. In this article, we take a closer look at their differences and similarities. Let’s dive in!
What is product design?
Design is about solving problems. Product design though, is about solving business problems through design. Every successful product starts with understanding the user’s needs and ends with meeting the business’s objectives. Product designers think about the entire product lifecycle. The goal isn’t just to make a product visually appealing but to make it functional and effective, balancing user needs with market demands.
As an entrepreneur, if you want to make a product that stands out, you’ll need a product designer who can handle more than just the visual aspect of product design—they need to fully adopt a business perspective and use their design skills to help you solve those problems.
What does a product designer do?
A product designer can wear many hats. They start by doing some research about what the user may need. Then they help define the product’s key features and roadmap. They are generally required to work with cross-functional teams like engineers, UI designers, and marketers.
In many cases, they also play a role in product development, ensuring that the product not only meets user needs but aligns with business goals. This is where their ability to communicate becomes crucial. The ultimate goal is to create an end product that works as envisioned during the design phase. The best product designers know how to balance creativity with practicality, delivering an outcome that fits within both user expectations and business constraints.
What is UX design?
Unlike product design, which considers the big picture, UX design focuses on the experience a user has while interacting with a product. The core goal of UX is to make a product usable. It’s about reducing friction. User experience design is rooted in understanding how users behave and interact with a product.
Good UX doesn’t happen by chance. It’s built through careful user research, usability testing, and a deep understanding of the user psychology. While product design might deal with a broader set of responsibilities, UX designers only focus on making the user’s journey as smooth as possible.
What does a UX designer do?
A UX designer is responsible for crafting intuitive user journeys. Their job often starts with user research, where they gather insights about what users need and how they behave. From there, they move to wireframing and prototyping, creating rough drafts of the product interface that show how the user will move through the system.
Unlike product designers, who often think about market fit and business objectives, UX designers often zoom in on the finer details of usability. They focus on interaction design, usability, and ensuring the user interface is easy to navigate. UX designers must continuously iterate based on feedback, always aiming to improve the user experience. In the end, their role is to create a seamless interaction between the user and the end product.
What are the similarities between product design and UX design?
Both product design and UX design share one important goal: to create great products. While their approaches may differ, both design disciplines rely heavily on design thinking and problem-solving. They both use tools like wireframes, prototypes, and user research to make informed decisions.
What are the differences between product design and UX design?
Despite their similarities, there are clear differences between product design vs UX design. Product designers think holistically, often considering how a product fits into the company’s overall strategy. They care about market fit, product development, and balancing business goals with user needs.
On the other hand, UX designers are laser-focused on the user interface design and how the user interacts with the product. They concentrate on specific touchpoints in the user’s journey, such as reducing friction, improving navigation, and optimizing usability. The differences between product designers and UX designers become evident in their day-to-day tasks, with UX designers concentrating more on user testing and wireframing while product designers juggle broader responsibilities.
What skills do you need to become a product designer?
Product design is a multifaceted role that blends creativity with strategy. They ensure the product solves real user problems while aligning with business goals. That means your skill set must go beyond just knowing a design tool like Figma.
Essential skills:
• Problem-solving: You need to identify pain points and craft solutions that resonate with users and businesses alike.
• Market research: Understanding the product-market fit is crucial. You must determine how a product stands out and what value it offers.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Product designers frequently work with developers, marketers, and business analysts. Therefore, communication is key.
• Prototyping and wireframing: You’ll often create high-fidelity prototypes to test ideas before development. Knowing how to create a clickable prototype is essential.
• Project management: Managing timelines, deliverables, and stakeholder expectations is part of the job.
In short, a great product designer needs to be part strategist, part designer, and part manager.
What skills do you need to become a UX designer?
As a UX designer, your primary focus is the user’s needs. Your goal? To make sure every touchpoint in the user’s journey is intuitive. But here’s the thing: the best UX designers excel at more than just reducing friction. They create experiences that feel effortless and engage users in a meaningful way. You need to know what drives user behavior and craft solutions that keep people coming back.
Essential skills:
• Usability testing and user research: Understanding your users and how they interact with your product is key. You need to conduct tests that highlight pain points and suggest improvements.
• Wireframing and prototyping: These are your bread and butter. You’ll create wireframes to map out the flow of the product and prototypes to test interactions before development.
• User-centered design principles: This means putting the user first in every decision you make. From interface layouts to accessibility, your design must serve the people who use it.
• Accessibility and responsive design: Great design works for everyone, regardless of ability or device. Know how to design interfaces that adapt to screen sizes and assistive technologies.
• Collaboration: A smooth design handoff to developers ensures your vision comes to life as intended. Strong communication with other teams is a must.
Being a UX designer requires deep empathy for the user, who is at the heart of your design solutions.
Who earns more?
Let’s talk numbers. On average product designers earn more than UX designers. Why? It comes down to the scope of responsibilities. A product designer is often in charge of the entire product lifecycle. This broader focus generally commands a premium salary.
Product designer annual salary:
- United States: US$98,676
- Canada: US$63,610 (CA$84,732)
- Germany: US$65,846 (€60,000)
- United Kingdom: US$62,499 (£49,337)
Career paths: product designer vs UX designer
The career progression for both product designers and UX designers can look quite different. For product designers, the path often leads to leadership roles like product manager or even chief product officer. Why? Because they already think holistically, balancing user needs with business goals. Their experience in creating strategies that connect design with profitability gives them an edge when stepping into product management.
On the other hand, UX designers often become lead UX designers, overseeing bigger projects and managing design teams. Some might even pivot into UI design, where the focus shifts more towards visual design and user interface. Others transition into service design or more specialized fields like accessibility or information architecture, especially as companies become more user-centered.
Both career paths offer plenty of opportunities, but the decision to specialize in either role comes down to where your interests lie.
How to transition from UX design to product design (or vice versa)
Thinking of making the leap between UX design and product design? It’s definitely possible. In fact, many of the skills in both roles overlap, particularly when it comes to design thinking and understanding user experience. But if you’re a UX designer looking to transition into product design, you’ll need to expand your focus. Start by deepening your understanding of business strategy.
Conversely, if you’re a product designer who wants to dive into the nitty-gritty of user testing and interaction design, you’ll need to hone your skills in usability and user research. Get comfortable with the tools UX designers use every day—like wireframing tools and prototyping tools. But more importantly, shift your mindset to focus on the user journey in greater detail.
Whichever way you go, transitioning between product and UX design requires changing your focus. But at the end of the day, we talk about problem-solving through design.
Final thoughts
Here’s the reality: whether you’re a product designer or a UX designer, both roles are critical to building successful products. The key is understanding where the lines blur and where they don’t. Product designers must juggle business strategy, user needs, and functionality. UX designers, meanwhile, zero in on crafting seamless experiences that prioritize usability.
If you’re in a position where you’re deciding between hiring a product designer or a UX designer, think carefully about what your business needs most. Are you trying to nail the user journey and interface? Or are you focused on the big picture, including market fit and long-term product strategy?
In the end, a great product comes from the collaboration between both roles. It’s not about product design vs UX design. It’s about how these disciplines can work together to create something users love—and that performs in the market.
By the way, we are Realistack, a product design and low-code development studio that exclusively works with tech startups. If you want to launch your startup and need help with the building an MVP or designing a digital product, don’t hesitate to reach out and book a 30-minute discovery call.
