The overarching goal of product design is to ensure that a product meets human needs. Typically, a Product Designer is very much like a project manager in that they see a product from end-to-end. This begins with identifying the problem, brainstorming solutions and eventually producing a final product that fits customer needs.
Product design speaks to the concept of creating usable products with seamless experiences for customers. This begins by identifying real problems faced by users and coming up with workable solutions.
What does a Product Designer do, typically?
A Product Designer is integral to every step of the product development process. They need to have an entrepreneurial mindset and be good communicators as well as problem-solvers. A Product Designer has an ability to empathize with the user, understand all aspects of the design process and (in most cases) manage a team of developers and designers to ensure a successful final product.
Here are few of the daily responsibilities a Product Designer may have:
- Concepting, designing, and implementing a product by working with developers, designers and other team members.
- Creating style guides, recognizing patterns and building documentation with team members.
- Coding, prototyping and testing products.
- Speaking to users to understand what they want to accomplish with a product.
- Collaborating and meeting with team members to give feedback and improve processes.
Common misconceptions about Product Designers
A frequent misconception about product design is that it’s a role focused purely on aesthetics, when it’s really more of a leadership role. While art is an important element of product design, it’s the problem-solving that is most important for a Product Designer to have, along with an ability to help team members work together cohesively.
Product design is not just about design, but rather, the entire process of creating a user-friendly product from end-to-end.
Important metrics for a Product Designer
Churn
Also known as retention rate, churn refers to monitoring which users are coming back and why and looking at drop-off rates to better assess what could be improved.
Support tickets raised
Analyzing what users are seeking help with, identifying patterns and clarifying where the product needs to be fixed.
Usage rate by feature
Looking into which features are used the most versus the least to understand what is working well to further optimize the product and develop better product strategies in the future.
