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Written byJessica Powers
UPDATED BY
Jessica Powers | Dec. 12, 2022
What Is a Product Designer? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.
Product designers work on the ideation and creation of physical and digital products. They work closely with development and engineering teams to bring products to life. Here’s what to know about a product designer’s needed skills, salary and how to become one.
What Is a Product Designer?
Product designers are a key part of creating and releasing both physical and digital products. They work on making necessary changes to bring a functional product to market.
What Do Product Designers Do?
Product designers collaborate with engineers, developers and other designers to create prototypes and wireframes of products as well as make necessary adjustments to products. Product designers also conduct A/B testing and gather feedback from users to develop a minimum viable product that provides proven value to consumers.
Product Designer Responsibilities
- Creating mockups, wireframes and prototypes of products.
- Establish design requirements.
- Develop user journey maps.
- Collaborate with engineering and development teams to bring products to market.
- Conduct A/B testing and gather user feedback.
- Conduct functionality testing.
- Research potential new products, materials and tools.
Types of Product Designers
Types of product designers depend on the industry they work in. For example, a product designer working in the software industry may design apps or software programs. A product designer working in the industrial sector may design components for machinery.
Product Designer Within a Company
Product designers are typically part of a company’s design team but they often work with engineering and development teams. Depending on the structure of the organization, a product designer may report to a product engineer, project manager or creative director.
Importance of Product Designers
Product designers are essential to the ideation and creation of the products a company offers. A successful product designer helps create and test products that provide value and functionality to users.
What Skills Are Needed to Be a Product Designer?
Qualifications to Be a Product Designer
- An understanding of UX and UI principles.
- Extensive experience with CAD.
- Ability to approach projects with a big-picture perspective.
- Ability to understand business needs and translate them into design for products.
- Receptive to feedback from users and fellow designers.
Product Designer Prerequisites
- Product designers usually have a bachelor’s degree in design, graphic design, product development or a related field.
- A strong portfolio of previous product design work showcasing a particular aesthetic and how business needs are met by design.
Product Designer Hard Skills
- Typography.
- Graphic design.
- UX research.
- Design thinking skills.
Product Designer Soft Skills
- Communication and presentation skills.
- Organizational and time management skills.
- Collaboration and teamwork skills.
Tools and Programs Product Designers Use
- Sketch
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Canva
- Figma
- InVision
- HotJar
- Miro
- Maze
- Marvel
How to Become a Product Designer
Product Designer Education and Experience
Product designers are usually required to have a bachelor’s degree in design, product development or a related field. Aspiring product designers should aim to build a strong portfolio through design experience for a range of products including digital products like apps, consumer products or even industrial products.
Product Designer Certificates and Courses
- UI Courses to Know
- Google UX Design Professional Certificate
- Product Design
- Product Ideation, Design and Management Specialization
Product Designer Career Path
Product designers may start their career as interns on design or development teams and eventually progress to graphic designer or mechanical designer roles. After becoming a product designer, some commonly held titles include designer engineer, project manager or creative director.
Product Designer Salary and Job Outlook
Product designers have experienced a 6 percent salary increase over the past several years, and the job growth rate is expected to increase 3 percent by 2028.
The full compensation package for a product designer depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average product designer’s salary.
Courses
Expand Your Product Designer Career Opportunities
Become a key contributor in your workplace by acquiring in-demand skills through Udemy’s online UX and design courses.
Certifications
Product Designer Certifications + Programs
Convince higher-ups that a promotion is long overdue by achieving online UX and design certifications with Udacity.
General Assembly’s Visual Design course helps you explore the art and science of visual communication and the process of creating beautiful digital products. Create a production- ready composition for a responsive webpage, conveying your vision through typography, layout, and color. You’ll learn to give and receive design critique and implement feedback to improve your designs.
What you'll accomplish
This is a beginner-friendly program with no prerequisites, although many students have used software such as Photoshop, Sketch, Figma, or Adobe XD* previously and may be familiar with basic design principles. Beginners will have access to optional tutorials to practice using software and boost their confidence ahead of class. Throughout this expert-designed program, you’ll:
- Conduct research to inform content strategy and design decisions.
- Create a digital design solution that balances client needs and user goals.
- Design digital layouts with industry-standard tools such as Figma and Sketch.
- Implement visual design best practices in composition, typography, imagery, and colors.
- Communicate design decisions to stakeholders and collaborators.
- Apply what you’ve learned to create a portfolio project: a production-ready mockup for a responsive webpage and a presentation deck to document your process.
Why General Assembly
Since 2011, General Assembly has graduated more than 40,000 students worldwide from the full time & part time courses. During the 2020 hiring shutdown, GA's students, instructors, and career coaches never lost focus, and the KPMG-validated numbers in their Outcomes report reflect it. *For students who graduated in 2020 — the peak of the pandemic — 74.4% of those who participated in GA's full-time Career Services program landed jobs within six months of graduation. General Assembly is proud of their grads + teams' relentless dedication and to see those numbers rising. Download the report here.
Your next step? Submit an application to talk to the General Assembly Admissions team
Note: reviews are referenced from Career Karma - https://careerkarma.com/schools/general-assembly
General Assembly
Learn the tools and techniques to design products that are equal parts useful, functional, and delightful. Focusing on both theoretical frameworks and practical applications, students in General Assembly’s User Experience Design course will develop a portfolio project of their choosing — receiving expert feedback along the way.
What you'll accomplish
This is a beginner-friendly program with no prerequisites, although many students are familiar with digital design concepts. Whether you’re new to the field or you’re looking to formalize your practice, our curriculum helps you gain fluency in end-to-end UX processes, tools and documentation and put them to work for you, your company, and your career. Throughout this expert-designed program, you’ll:
- Discover how to identify, ideate, articulate, and develop design solutions for UX challenges.
- Describe how UX designers work with product managers, developers, and visual designers.
- Explore the current UX design landscape through relevant, real-world examples.
- Develop and document personas, journey maps, user flows, and annotated wireframes.
- Utilize industry-standard tools to propose and refine design decisions.
- Apply what you’ve learned to create a portfolio project: a new or redesigned digital product experience.
Why General Assembly
Since 2011, General Assembly has graduated more than 40,000 students worldwide from the full time & part time courses. During the 2020 hiring shutdown, GA's students, instructors, and career coaches never lost focus, and the KPMG-validated numbers in their Outcomes report reflect it. *For students who graduated in 2020 — the peak of the pandemic — 74.4% of those who participated in GA's full-time Career Services program landed jobs within six months of graduation. General Assembly is proud of their grads + teams' relentless dedication and to see those numbers rising. Download the report here.
Your next step? Submit an application to talk to the General Assembly Admissions team
Note: reviews are referenced from Career Karma - https://careerkarma.com/schools/general-assembly
General Assembly
General Assembly’s User Experience Design Immersive is a transformative course designed for you to get the necessary skills for a UX Design role in three months.
The User Experience Design bootcamp is led by instructors who are expert practitioners in their field, supported by career coaches that work with you since day one and enhanced by a career services team that is constantly in talks with employers about their UX Design hiring needs.
What you'll accomplish
As a graduate, you’ll have a portfolio of projects that show your creative and technical ability to launch the next generation of successful apps, websites and digital experiences. Throughout this program, you will:
Identify and implement the most effective methods of user research to gain a deeper understanding of what users want and need.
Use interaction and visual design techniques to craft a dynamic digital product that brings delight and function to users.
Conduct usability testing to make product experiences more accessible for diverse user populations and environments.
Learn best practices for working within a product team, employing product management techniques and evaluating technical constraints to better collaborate with developers.
Produce polished design documentation, including wireframes and prototypes, to articulate design decisions to clients and stakeholders.
Prepare for the world of work, compiling a professional-grade portfolio of solo, group, and client projects.
Prerequisites
This is a beginner-friendly program with no prerequisites, although many students are familiar with common tools for graphic and web designers and some may have had exposure to UX concepts in the past. The General Assembly curriculum helps you gain fluency in end-to-end UX processes, tools, and documentation and put them to work on the path to a new career as a User Experience Designer.
Why General Assembly
Since 2011, General Assembly has graduated more than 40,000 students worldwide from the full time & part time courses. During the 2020 hiring shutdown, GA's students, instructors, and career coaches never lost focus, and the KPMG-validated numbers in their Outcomes report reflect it. *For students who graduated in 2020 — the peak of the pandemic — 74.4% of those who participated in GA's full-time Career Services program landed jobs within six months of graduation. General Assembly is proud of their grads + teams' relentless dedication and to see those numbers rising. Download the report here.
Your next step? Submit an application to talk to the General Assembly Admissions team
Note: reviews are referenced from Career Karma - https://careerkarma.com/schools/general-assembly
General Assembly
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