What you do think of when you think “Product Design”? What kind of product are we talking about? What are the skills involved in product designing? Is this the job of a single individual? What is the end result of product designing? These are a few things that come to people’s mind when they think about product designing.

What is product designing?

To start off with, when we talk about product design in the tech industry, we are talking about digital products. Products like music files, software, apps, e-books, web templates, vectors, etc. are all digital products. The beauty of digital products is that you make it once and you can sell it to multiple individuals and entities, and of course, there is no shipping or inventory requirements. So designing a digital product is not just about creating a rough sketch then adding design aspects to it and voila! you have a new product design. It takes a whole lot more to come up with a product design. Think of it from the point of view of a homeowner. This is just analogy to help understand the process. Suppose, you would like to design your home. What are the aspects you would take into consideration. There is budget and material sourcing of course. But let’s think of things like, how many people will be living there, the people who will be using the property and premises, what are their tastes and preferences? You might even test the paint on the wall to see which color looks the best. Once you have the house ready, you keep on finding ways on how to improve it further. How to make the appliances more accessible, so on and so forth. Likewise, designing is not just the art of making things look attractive. It goes way beyond just UI and UX. When designing a product, product designers need to conduct research to understand end user behavior, what the end user might be looking for. They then ideate and brainstorm and find ways to make a product that delivers what it promises a one hundred percent, that is easily usable by the end users, and above all provides value to the user and ROI to the product owner.

The various roles in product designing

In today’s world almost every role needs a good amount of specialization, product designing is no different. Product designing consists of the following roles: The designers: UX designers, graphic designers, animation designers, these are the people who render that captivating, great UI and UX into your product. They come with skills that turn your idea into a real and (digital) breathing product. With swift animations, fluid and responsive layouts, the designers make your thoughts come true and that too in a way so that your end users can make most of the product, too. The researchers: User researchers and data analysts are the people who study your end user behavior and find out what clicks with them best. They A/B test the product, to find out if the users prefer the menu button on the left or to the right, or if the CTA should be red or green in color. The prototypers: These are the people who create prototypes or wireframes which help you test your idea quickly before going through the process of creating an entire design, launching it, and then making changes to it once the feedback comes in. First impression is the last impression. That said, rolling out a product that has been beta-tested well-in-advance and developed on, increases your chances of being well-accepted in a market brimming with competition. Prototypers can have a rough model of your actual product ready in a month’s time. The strategists: As the name mentions, they are the ones who plan tirelessly to ensure that every task taken up by the team brings in value to the end user and conforms to the business goals of the organization or individual that came up with the product idea.

“Design is a fundamental human activity, relevant and useful to everyone. Anything humans create—be it product, communication or system—is a result of the process of making inspiration real. ” Maggie Macnab, Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design

Your business idea is your brainchild. When you come up with a disruptive idea in a way that can change the world or solve a problem, the end user might not be ready for it, yet. What you can hope to do is to make the transition from null to everything, in the most seamless way possible. Product designers help you do just that.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” ~ Henry Ford

A complex and larger-than-life design might or might not be the best design. The success of a design depends on how well it serves your business’s value proposition and the comfort of the end user while using it. Fluid, responsive, easy-to-use designs can very well be the definition of great design.

“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.” Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover

Have a product idea? We have the design team to bring your ideas to life starting with free wireframe in less than 30 days. Get in touch with us today, for a free consultation.  or contact Roars Technologis