What is the difference between UI/UX Design and Product Design? Are the two things the same or different?
“Design” has come a long way in technology, and it’s generally common knowledge that design is critical to the success of a digital product. Yet despite his progress, his discipline and responsibilities are still often misunderstood.
Many people assume that UI design, UX design, and product design are titles that are interchangeable and have the same purpose. But in reality, they are very different. And it’s not a harmless misunderstanding either, because the difference boils down to how they approach the design.
UI design, also known as user interface design, focuses almost exclusively on the look and feel of a product. UI designers are focused on creating a cohesive, fun product complete with animation, responsiveness, and a consistent style guide for the product to follow.
Where UI design fails, however, is the actual usability of the product. While it looks pleasant, the product experience is lacking: it may be difficult to navigate, or the information hierarchy is unclear so you can’t find what you’re looking for, or it’s difficult to actually complete your task. UI designers approach design as art, but fail to translate those beautiful elements into usable products.
UI design focuses almost exclusively on the look and feel of the product.
UX design emerged in response to the disconnection of the product view from the experience: UX designers are very focused on the needs, wants, and goals of the user. UX designers are constantly iterating and researching to understand their users’ problems, motivations and goals. They also take a step back to understand the user’s entire workflow, and where their product fits into the bigger picture.
UX design is still a very important and prominent discipline, but this devotion to the user has opened a deeper gap in the UX designer approach. A UX designer can create a fun product that is also a good user experience, but these days saying that your product has a good UX is like a chef saying the food is edible. This is no longer a differentiator; it’s a table bet.
Today, saying that your product has a good user experience is like a chef saying the food is edible.
Product design is about creating products that meet user needs and business needs. They ensure that problems that need to be solved for businesses turn into great experiences for users who also need troubleshooting. Product designers have a deep understanding of their users, just like UX designers do, but they also have a deep understanding of business goals, competitive landscape, and overall vision for the product. They are able to go beyond usability, using design to address the unique goals of adoption, conversion, retention, and business growth.
Product designers are critical to the success of not only the product but the business as well. Designers have the gift of being able to paint a picture of the future; show, not tell. By understanding the business impact of their work, they can think strategically, and lead product teams.
Providing visibility into the “why” means that the product designer understands and thinks about the impact of design on sales, marketing, development and overall strategy. This cross-functional visibility opens up growth opportunities that UX and UI designers never could because they see the bigger picture.
So, now you know the difference between a UI designer, a UX Designer and a Product Designer, right? Why should you know the difference between them? Because this is very important for you as a designer who wants to find a job in this UI/UX field, don’t let you choose the wrong job vacancy, because I’ve met several job vacancies where the job vacancy is listed with the title “UX Designer” but the job description is more directed towards “Product Design”.
This is a bit problematic for me because the salary range between UI/UX Designers and Product designers is also different. A UX Designer has a higher salary than a UI Designer, and a Product Designer’s salary is also higher than a UX Designer. The size of the salary is determined by the amount of responsibility carried by the designer.
📌 If you like this article, please like and don’t forget to follow to get updates on the content of the next article.
Thank you 😊
Read the full article here
