What is UX/Product Design?
UX Designer, Product Designer, Interaction Designer -- the role goes by many different names. In tech, UX/product designers ensure that products provide good experiences for users (solving pain points instead of making them worse) while meeting business goals. This typically includes some combination of user research, wireframing, prototyping, and iterating once a design direction has been chosen.
What Do UX/Product Designers Do?
Designers create experiences that make users' lives better. Most tech companies maintain an almost fanatical focus on user experience that rely on designers to deliver. Only the most intuitive, helpful, and delightful to use solutions entice users to come back -- and product teams turn to designers to make that happen.
Let's look at a few job descriptions.
"At Google, we follow a simple but vital premise: "Focus on the user and all else will follow." Google’s Interaction Designers take complex tasks and make them intuitive and easy-to-use for billions of people around the globe. Throughout the design process — from creating user flows and wireframes to building user interface mockups and prototypes — you’ll envision how people will experience our products, and bring that vision to life in a way that feels inspired, refined, and even magical." - Interaction Design @ Google
"We are looking for an extraordinary designer for tvOS, iOS, Watch, Mac, PC and Web. You are a natural collaborator and an excellent communicator, able to develop and present design ideas in a large team environment. You will work closely with cross-functional teams such as Engineering, Production, Product Marketing, and Senior Management. Prior experience working within a technical environment is a key requirement. You should possess extraordinary visual and user interface design skills, as well as user-centered design principles. You have an affinity for consistency, color use, typography, and a keen eye for subtle details. While exercising a good eye for aesthetics, you are able to grasp and distill highly complex issues and translate them into clean, focused, understandable solutions. Strong communication skills and ability to stay highly organized is critical. Interest in new technologies in web, mobile, and other devices is required. You should be a self-starter, self-motivated, able to work independently and perform multiple tasks under minimal supervision. The work that you will design will be seen and experienced by millions of people every month around the globe." - Product Design @ Apple
"As a product designer at Lyft, you will be involved at every step of product development, from brainstorming broad ideas to ensure design quality through launch. Using your full range of interaction, visual, and product thinking skills, you will lead and own an experience for our product teams. In a lot of ways we function as a startup, meaning we all work closely and collaboratively across organizations to align on product vision and ship product. Our Design and Research teams live and breathe user-centered process to create the best possible, end-to-end, experience for millions of Passengers and Drivers daily. We can be scrappy when we need to be, though we are always focused on quality and influence. As a qualified candidate, you have a track record of leading projects to successful outcomes for users and the business. You are a strong cross-functional partner, great communicator, and are able to take a solution from idea to implementation. You uphold a high quality bar and have a strong appreciation for the details. Above all, you approach problems holistically and create elegantly simple solutions to multi-faceted problems." - Product Design @ Lyft
Role Requirements
Overall, the UX/Product design skillset comprises a few big categories:
- Craft: You must be proficient in design methodologies, tools, and processes, including user research, wireframing, prototyping, and the overall craft of design.
- Communication and Collaboration: Designers collaborate constantly; you must be a strong communicator and collaborator, skilled in logical thinking and presentation, soliciting and incorporating feedback, and working in dynamic, cross-functional settings.
- Business Acumen and Product Thinking: The most beautiful and functional design in the world may still be a flop if it's not a good fit for your company or your user base. Product thinking and business acumen are often-overlooked in the product designer's tool kit, but they can be huge competitive differentiators for you -- allowing you to focus on the right problems to solve and down-selecting the best solutions, fast.
Traditionally, design candidates learned the craft of design via (at least) a bachelor's in fine arts. This path is still viable, but there are many alternate paths forward if you're interested in switching to design after beginning a career elsewhere.
Bootcamps like Springboard and the Design Lab have mostly self-directed programs ranging from three months to one year. Alternatively, career switchers with design-adjacent education and experience (like human-computer interaction, for example) are welcome in most tech companies.
Additionally, working at an agency or at a startup in a design role can accelerate your experience significantly. Both environments expose you to many different facets of design very quickly. If you work at a startup, you'll likely build experience in other product roles like product management or marketing. All of this will help you when you go to interview.