UI vs UX vs PRODUCT DESIGN; A comparative analysis

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Design has come a long way and has made a huge difference in tech, it is generally certain that design is significant to the success of a digital product. But despite the progress and achievements, the discipline and its responsibilities can still be misinterpreted.

A lot of people think that UI design, UX design, and product design are alike and serve the same purpose. However, they are quite different and unlike in reality. And it isn’t an innocuous misunderstanding either, because those similarities all boil down to the very way they approach design.

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It started with UI design.

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UI Design, also referred to as user interface design, focuses exclusively on the look of the product. UI Designers are focused on creating a great and cohesive product with animations, and a style guide and also adding responsiveness to it.

However, UI design is limited in the actual usability testing of a product. Despite looking great, it's difficult to explore the goodness of the product, and also difficult to understand what the product is all about. It could be hard to navigate, or the information hierarchy might not be clear so you can’t find what you’re looking for, or you might find it difficult to complete your task. UI designers approach to design as art similar to graphic design but have their limitations in translating those beautiful elements into a usable product.

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Then came UX design.

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UX design came to fulfil the shortfalls of UI design, creating a connection and wonderful experience between the users and the product. UX designers mainly focus on user needs and goals. They are constantly iterating and researching to understand the issues, motivations, and goals of their customer. They are all about creating a user-centric product that would meet the needs and goals of their customers or users.

UX design has proven to be a prominent and significant discipline. However, it has its shortfalls. UX design only focuses on the user experience of a product. How the users navigate through a digital product, saas product or app, how the users complete a task and so much more. But are not business-oriented. They just focus on their users and hardly meet the needs and goals of the company.

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That’s where product design comes in.

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Product design is about developing a product that meets both the needs of the users and the needs of the clients, stakeholders, businesses or companies. They make sure that the problems and needs of both the users and business are intertwined and solved to satisfy and create exceptional experiences for both parties. Just like UX designers, product designers have a deep understanding of their users, but they also have a deep understanding of the business goals and needs, their competitive landscape, business mission and the vision for the product. They can go beyond the walls in terms of usability, using design to address the business’ unique goals of growth, conversion, and retention.
Product designers veer to take the lead. They are the ones assigned with captaining the entire design process of a product. They can squabble UX and UI designers, researchers, and business teams together to make sure all needs and goals of a product are met.

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