The Art and Science of Product Design

Ever found yourself wondering what it takes to become a top-notch product designer? Well, you are not in this alone. This episode of Dixre podcast will take you through the process of becoming a good product designer. 

What is Product Design? 

Product Design is the process of ideating, developing, and refining products that meet specific market needs and solve user problems.

Who is a Product Designer?

A Product Designer is a creative professional who designs new products with a focus on user experience and functionality. They combine artistic flair with technical know-how to create items that are both attractive and practical, working on everything from physical products like electronics and furniture to digital products like apps and websites.

Tools for Beginners

“I think it’s a really great time now to be a product designer because we have Figma. When I started, I was using Photoshop to design so everything was in one Photoshop file and I had groups of layers, each layer was an icon, and then the groups for Pages you have to hide and show them. It was a mess. But now there’s Figma and it’s free”- Alborz

There are several beginner-friendly product design tools for creating prototypes, wireframes, and designs. Popular options include Figma for web-based real-time collaboration, Sketch for macOS interface design, Adobe XD for web and mobile app prototyping, InVision Studio for interactive prototypes and animations, Axure RP for interactive wireframes, Balsamiq for wireframing, and Marvel for its simplicity and ease of use. Try out a few to find what suits your needs and workflow best.

How to Approach User Needs

As a product designer, understanding user needs is crucial for creating better products and ensuring user satisfaction. Conduct user research, define problems, brainstorm ideas, and create prototypes. Test with users, refine designs and oversee implementation and launch. Post-launch, collect feedback, and continuously improve. This approach makes users happy and you, a great designer.

How To Approach User Research

“The ideal flow is to talk to your existing customers. If you don’t have existing customers, and it’s a brand new product, you need to find customers of your competing applications and services”- Alborz

User research is essential at the start of every project. It uses various methodologies to gather valuable data on target users’ needs, behaviors, and pain points. This ensures designs solve real problems rather than relying on assumptions. Never skip the research phase!

How to Ascertain User Feedback

“It depends on the feature. If the question you’re trying to find an answer for is something really big, like product Market fit, I think you need to do a lot of research. You should definitely lean on the quantitative side of  research”- Alborz

When gathering user feedback, be clear on your purpose and what you aim to achieve. For small projects, use qualitative research to understand how people think and feel. For big projects, quantitative research can be used to gather numerical data that can be measured and analyzed statistically to quantify user opinions and behaviors.

Maintaining Consistency

“In Figma, it’s very hard to keep things consistent if you don’t have a design system. If you have a fully established design system in a company it is a lot easier to keep things consistent because you’re just dragging and dropping things from your design system and building pages. But if you don’t have a design system or are in the process of building it slowly with the front-end team, I think that’s where the real challenge is”- Alborz

Ensuring consistent design across multiple pages is key for a smooth user experience. Create a design system with a style guide and reusable UI components, use tools like Sketch or Figma, standardize typography, color schemes, and spacing, and ensure responsive design. Collaborate with your team and refine based on user feedback.

Job Market  For Product Designers

“For product design, it has never been easier. If you don’t love doing this, you’re not going to have the energy to push through all the down times and the hard times. The field itself is full of rejections on almost a daily basis, every time you design something, you’re exposing yourself to other people’s feedback and if you don’t love it, it’s going to hurt and it’s not going to be a good experience, build a tough skin”- Alborz

Always embrace criticism when it comes to your design because everyone would have an option on your work and that’s the only way to get better.

AI in Product Design

“I use chat GPT plus and I have different threads going on for the different types of design questions. I have a thread for user research, I have a thread for labeling things inside of the app, I have a thread for copywriting inside of the app and it helps me so much, I think it’s made me a better designer”- Alborz

AI is transforming product design by boosting creativity and efficiency. It helps generate new ideas, automates routine tasks, and speeds up prototyping. By analyzing user data, AI enables personalized designs and adaptive interfaces. It also optimizes material use and supports sustainability, leading to more innovative and effective products.

Future Tools For Product Design 

“There are some tools like Uizard, which is a similar tool to Figma, and with one line of text it can give you an entire app with layouts and buttons and even prototypes, you can click different pages. I think it’s only a matter of weeks before somebody makes a plug-in for the Uizard tool for Figma”- Alborz

Most product designers worry about AI replacing them, but AI actually makes design work easier and faster. The real concern is keeping up with those who master these AI tools. Always stay updated. Here are some AI tools for product designers: Uizard, ChatGPT, Khroma, Let’s Enhance, Attention Insight, Visily AI, and InVision.

Interested in gaining more insights into technology, business, remote work, and professional networking?

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