What is product design and how is it different from UI/UX

Step 1

Get the definition straight

According to Nielsen Norman Group's glossary, in the software industry product design means designing a digital product from end to end, with attention to business goals and product strategy as well as to users. Outside software, product design usually refers to designing physical objects. Figma puts it this way: product design sits at the intersection of user needs and business goals. A product users love that can't sustain a business won't survive, and neither will one that hits revenue targets but frustrates its users. So a product designer answers not only “what does it look like” but also:

• •which people's problem are we solving, and is it real;
• •how will we know the solution worked: what will change in people's behavior;
• •does it make sense for the business, and can it be built in reasonable time;
• •what to do first and what to postpone.

Step 2

Compare the neighboring roles

The boundaries between roles are blurry, and different companies call the same work by different names. Roughly:

• •UI designer: the visual side of the interface: grid, typography, color, components;
• •UX designer: how a person reaches their goal in the product: scenarios, structure, prototypes, research. Figma notes that UX designers often zero in on specific features or flows within the current sprint;
• •product designer: work similar to UX but focused on one product; per NN/g, in some organizations it implies more responsibility for the UI or a closer partnership with product management;
• •graphic designer: visual communication: branding, print, advertising, social media.

💡 Product design isn't the same as product management. Per NN/g, product management decides what product to build and why: strategy, roadmap and priorities. In the triad, the product designer is the authority on user needs.

Step 3

See what the process looks like

In many teams, a product designer works in a so-called product triad: design, product management and engineering, each an equal partner. NN/g explains that the product manager keeps the product aligned with business goals, while the designer keeps it aligned with users' needs across every touchpoint of their journey. A typical work loop:

• •problem discovery: interviews, analytics, support requests, observing people;
• •hypothesis: “if we do X, people will be able to Y, and we'll see it by Z”;
• •prototype: from a paper sketch to a clickable prototype in Figma;
• •testing: a test with users, and after launch, data on behavior;
• •iteration: change the solution based on results and test again.

💡 A product designer doesn't necessarily run research or analytics alone: larger teams have dedicated roles for that. But they must be able to ask the question and understand the answer.

Step 4

Check which skills it takes

Product design combines craft and thinking. Rate yourself on each point: what you can already do and what to work on:

• •interfaces: Figma, components, auto layout, prototypes: the foundation you can't skip;
• •research: run an interview and a simple usability test, draw conclusions from notes;
• •product thinking: frame a problem, a hypothesis and a way to test it; understand basic product metrics;
• •communication: explain decisions to a product manager and a developer, take feedback, agree on a compromise;
• •priorities: tell the important from the interesting and build the smallest version you can test.

💡 If you're just starting, master the UI/UX basics first: a starter plan is in How to become a UI/UX designer from scratch.

Step 5

Do a product exercise

The best way to find out whether you like it is to try. Take an app you use every week: delivery, banking, transport, learning. Then:

• •find one specific problem: a spot where you or people you know get confused, make mistakes or give up;
• •talk to a few people who use the app: have they hit this, and how do they work around it;
• •write down a hypothesis and how you'll know your solution beats the current one;
• •prototype the change in Figma and have five people do the same task on the old and new versions;
• •write it up as a short case study: problem, hypothesis, solution, what the test showed.

💡 Jakob Nielsen recommends testing with no more than five users at a time and running several small tests. For a study exercise, that's enough to see the main problems. Label it honestly in the case study as a concept, not work for the company.