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Ascend UX - What do you need to become a product designer?

What do you need to become a product designer?

Ascend UX

12/01/21 • 30 min

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Ep. 10 - What do you need to become a product designer?

[00:00:00] Jaivardhan: I think if it's a general interest about solving problems, it's a great place to be in because you will be solving problems. And a lot of times people question that how can somebody who just changes the shape of a button can change the world?" But you actually can do that.

[00:00:18] Evan: Howdy friends, this is the Ascend UX podcast. A show about the experience of user experience design. I'm Evan Sunwall.

[00:00:44] Ayan: And I'm Ayan Bihi.

[00:00:45] Evan: You know, the funny thing about UX and the design domain is the number of job titles out there, right? Have you encountered anything like this in your journey, Ayan, about the confusing world of design job titles?

[00:00:58] Ayan: Oh, for sure. There are so many titles, and you just don't know if it's a facade, or are people actually doing different things, or are we all just doing the same thing, but different titles.

[00:01:08] Evan: It's rather confusing. You have UI/UX designers, you have UX/UI designers, product designers, usability consultants, human factors engineers, information architects, UX engineers — there a ton out there and it's really hard to parse what is the right job for you, what are the right responsibilities that match up to your strengths and your interests? So we're going to start digging into some of these job titles. We're going to start digging into what people are actually doing in this role.

[00:01:36] Evan: And our first one today is a product designer. This is a flexible job, it has a lot of responsibilities and it can vary a lot across companies, but the responsibilities generally include facilitating or helping to define business objectives for new products and services or features — these folks typically have some domain knowledge or they understand a market or a customer fairly well. Perhaps not to the same level as a business analyst or a product manager, but pretty good. They all also focus on the user-centred design process. So that's everything from user research and interviewing users, prototyping, conceptualizing solutions, and testing them with those users and then iterating based on that feedback. And this is the part that typically encompasses the UX designer job.

[00:02:22] Evan: And then lastly, we have, the third part of the process, which is helping engineering put together and make these products a reality and that could be either delivering high-fidelity designs or maintaining style guides and reusable UI components that are commonly called design systems and so, they have a wide breadth of responsibility.

[00:02:42] Evan: In the industry, there is a common term called UX unicorns, which some people criticize or it's really contentious topic. And it really speaks to this mythological person who is business-savvy and user-centred and they're capable of designing in any fidelity. And they also can, code what they design. And if there was ever a job title that really embodies that idea, it is probably the product designer job.

[00:03:07] Ayan: So as we can't really travel today due to the current circumstances, Evan, we've traveled digitally to better understand not only this role, but also how people in different parts of the world are practicing it.

[00:03:18] Ayan: So for today's episode, we'll be taking you with us to Beirut, then to Barcelona, and lastly, we're going to New Delhi in India. There's going to be a lot of diversity in our discussion, not just geographically, but also in the roles, responsibilities and pathways of the product designer's job. So once again, we're traveling the world, pack your bags, hope you have your passport, and let's go.

[00:03:42] Evan: I'm excited! I got my tray table in the upright position. I buckled up. Let's do this!

[00:03:48] Ayan: Take off! So, Evan, our first destination is Beirut, Lebanon, where we'll be meeting Alaa.

[00:03:55] Alaa: I have a BFA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut class of 2009. I currently run a small design studio that's based in Beirut, in Lebanon. We try our best to focus on digital projects, mainly web design and animation, but we also take projects and branding and publication design.

[00:04:13] Ayan: Next we'll be making a stop in Barcelona where I'd like to introduce you to Marynes

[00:04:18] Marynes: I'm from Venezuela. But I've been living in Barcelona, Spain for 15 years. I call myself now a UX and circular economy consultant. The idea of circular design is to maximize the experience, the quality, the value of the product. So when we are designing, we need to th...

12/01/21 • 30 min

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