https://uxdesign.cc/the-hardest-role-in-tech-product-designer-5485175d1ebd
Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash
I have always quietly thought to myself, that being a product designer requires the highest standards. Even though the job is fun, fulfilling, and impactful, it’s not for everyone. Or at least it’s not something that a lot of people can do well.
The “definition” of a product designer is always changing, and too many different titles were born out of that problem. Not because it’s a new and upcoming thing and people don’t know what to call them, it’s because being a good designer by nature has a lot of requirements. Why is that?
Because industry trends change often, and as technology improves, there are more possibilities for UIs. That means you need to always indulge yourself in the newest products and frequent the internet for trends. More and more tools are coming out, so if you can’t learn them all quickly, you’ll just get set behind.
To save companies some money, companies are saying that designers need to have other hard skills, like performing UX research. This is especially true if you’re on a one-man team, in which you probably also have to do UX copywriting. Plus, some companies now require that designers implement their own designs in code, or at the very minimum, understand how code works. It’s no wonder that UX/product design is a hard profession to learn.
You need to be a strong presenter to deliver your designs well, in some cases be client-facing, and still have enough time in the day after all your meetings to do actual work. The designer has to manage the goals of the user, business, tech capabilities, brand, and visual design. Between all those facets, the designer has to decide what design will best suit everybody’s needs. You’re like the juggling mediator.
I can already hear you now, “That’s exactly what Product Managers do! Now you know how hard their jobs are!” Yes, I do think being a PM is one of the hardest jobs, and I will always respect their roles. But I must point out that a designer is one step up because it’s also a technical job. “Ok, well, what do you think being a developer is then?” you cry angrily with fists in the air. I’m often envious of developers because even though their job is the most technical, they’re in such high demand that they don’t need extra skills on top to hold a position. I get it — it’s not true for all developers, the most successful ones definitely have more well rounded and soft skills, but you can probably agree that developers could get by with just technical skills alone. This is not true as a product designer.
Wait. So how do you define a product designer? Before we get there, let’s go through all the different titles.
I will preface by saying that these roles are not usually cut and dry like I’ve written them here. It’s usually some combination. However, there are some companies or agencies that do separate these roles very specifically.
There is a different definition for production designers in film, but here I’m talking specifically about the field of graphic design. Production designers prepare assets for different sizes, formats, and resolutions. They make sure that the quality is good and that the resolution is clear. This role is more common in magazine companies or print. Because their role can be mundane and isn’t as creative, they typically get paid the least and aren’t as acknowledged. Exporting for different files, checking them for issues, and doing that several times a day can easily equate to a fulltime job. Because design programs now allow for automated exporting where you can export a bunch of different sizes and file types in just one button, this job is becoming less prevalent.
A graphic designer is someone who designs a fixed amount of content in a fixed amount of space. The perfect example is a poster. This poster does not change size, and if there were different sizes available the designer would probably design them differently. There are some amazing graphic designers out there, and they are mostly famous for print work, such as posters, album covers, and books.
A common misconception is that all designers regardless of roles can design a logo. For a logo, you would want to find a graphic designer. The skills for a good graphic designer entail the traditional typography, hierarchy, composition, and color, all of which take years of mastery for a trained eye. Because of this, it is expected that all other design roles have their basics rooted in graphic design. However, traditional graphic design is also becoming less useful on the web as visual solutions need to be dynamic.