Sprint 7 :: What is Product Design?
by Dalia Kamel
The definition of product design describes the process of imagining, creating, and iterating products that solve user’s problems or address
specific needs in a given market. Product design is essential in creating the initial user experience and product offering, from pre-ideation user research to concept development to prototyping and usability testing.
Through Product Designers, who attempt to solve real problems for real people by using empathy and knowledge of their prospective customers’ habits, behaviors, frustrations, needs, and wants.
Ideally, product design’s execution is so flawless that no one notices; users can have an intuitively ongoing role in refining the customer experience and ensuring supplemental functionality and capabilities get added in a seamless, discoverable, and non-disruptive manner. Brand consistency and evolution remain an essential product design responsibility until the end of a product’s lifespan.
And it’s much more than just what users see on their screens. System design and process design are critical behind-the-scenes components that eventually drive users to see and interact with the interface design. Use the product as needed because product design understood their needs and anticipated their usage.
What does a product designer do? 🔎
User-experience and interaction designers (Product Designers) focus on refining a product based on how their research into user behavior suggests people will get the most satisfaction from using the product. They aim to increase users’ happiness.
The details of the product design process will vary from company to company, but these professionals tend to follow a similar philosophy or framework when it comes to Design Thinking which involves several steps:
1. Empathize with people 💬
2. Define the problem 🚩
3. Ideate a solution 💡
4. Build a prototype 🏗️
5. Test the solution 🧪
The design process doesn’t necessarily move in a linear path, although arranged linearly. Sometimes the results learned in a given step lead the team back to repeat or refine an earlier step.
The product design process never truly stops, even once a product reaches maturity. That’s because technology and how users interact with it keep evolving.
Product designers have had to keep pace with shifting usage patterns, bringing more and more functionality to smaller screens to meet the real-world usage preferences of customers. And with each new technological innovation, product design must determine its potential impact on the user experience and adjust accordingly.
What Types of Tools Do Product Designers Use? 🧰
Because it covers a broad range of disciplines, the role requires several different types of tools. Among these are:
Journey mapping apps
Wireframing apps
Graphic design apps
Prototyping tools
Research and data analytics tools (e.g., spreadsheets, sophisticated A/B testing apps)
CAD (computer-aided design) software
Project management apps (e.g., Slack)
Product roadmap apps (e.g., ProductPlan)
What makes a successful Product? 🔑
Good UI design comes from creating a sense of familiarity and ensuring that everything on a screen makes sense and works in ways that the user expects it to work by following some point:
1. Not reinventing the wheel (keep up to standards).
2. Knowing and understanding the target audience (users).
3. Keeping it accessible and easy to use (functional).
4. Using A well-organized information architecture.
5. Continuous user testing.
6. Visual hierarchy.
7. UI consistency.
8. Good use of colors and typography.
9. Keeping it minimalistic and easy to implement.
10. Making it responsive.
Importance of a good UI / UX (product) design ‼️
The key to successful product design is understanding the end-user customer, the person for whom the product is being created.
A good UI / UX design helps you get better results in the long run. It can help you generate more leads and improve conversion rates. This translates to better revenues for your company.
With a great UI / UX design, you can easily fulfill the needs of your clients, increase the customer’s willingness to pay, and increase brand loyalty.
According to Forrester, a leading global market research company, a great User Interface of a website can increase the conversion rate by 200%, while a seamless UX can increase it by 300% - 400%. These numbers are staggering and can revolutionize the life cycle of your customer’s journey.
Dalia Kamel & The Product Land ⛰️
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