The Differences Between UX and Product Design

With technology now taking over much of the world, businesses are looking for ways to make products more user-friendly and accessible with the help of UX and product design. But, what’s the difference between those two design disciplines?

In the age of digital marketing, UX designers help companies create more user-friendly websites or software applications. Product designers, on the other hand, work on improving consumer experience and next-generation technologies.

While these two types of design might sound very similar at first, 

UX and product design have some significant differences in how they operate.

Let's look at UX and product design and the contrast between the two disciplines.

 refers to the method design teams employ to develop products that offer meaningful and pertinent user flow experiences. UX design includes branding, 

, and functional components in obtaining and integrating the desired result.

UX designers work to create an environment for users that provides value and delivers a positive experience to users.

UX design combines various elements that determine how effectively products provide relevant user experiences. The following five steps of UX design help UX designers turn an idea into a working product.

Here are the different elements of UX design:

 At the surface level, user interface design includes all visual elements of an application. It consists of the images, buttons, and text on a web page or programming interface.

 The skeleton is the underlying structure of the product's static interfaces, such as a website, software program, or device, and is the structure that holds an interface together. UX designers must understand how to create a skeleton that doesn't decrease functionality.

 The structure defines how the various features and functions of the product fit together. User experience designers consider how their products interact with users. They look at how people perceive a product's usability and understand what elements need to get created for user navigation.

 The purpose of the scope of a product includes anticipating potential functions users will want and designing a product's structure based on its strategy that stays focused on those specified needs.

: At the strategy level, UX designers figure out how to align all the product's functionalities with a company's strategic vision. They must consider what the people running the product hope for and what the consumers hope to gain.

The goal is to create a practical, efficient, 

The UX design process also aims to increase customer happiness and loyalty by enhancing a product's interaction's utility, usability, and enjoyment.

Other advantages of UX design include that it increases the conversion rate for a business. UX is important no matter what product you’re creating, be it a 

If you have a bad UX, then it will result in fewer website visitors and fewer purchases. A lack of sales means your business will struggle to thrive and grow.

Next to UX design, there’s also UI design. UX and UI (user interface) designers use similar methods and techniques to create web pages and apps or other interfaces that are functional, easy to use, and aesthetically pleasing.

While UX design focuses on the user's experience when using a product, UI design primarily uses attractive images, graphics, and text to make it easy for users to interact with the sites or products. UX design looks at how well users can navigate a web page or application, while UI design is more concerned with aesthetics and how well the site performs.

One similarity between the two is that they both make use of 

 in a bid to ensure all the bugs are ironed out before launch.

The user experience of Amazon's website is great because its navigation has unique functions that enable you to expand the navigation panel, remove items from a shopping cart, or add an item to a wish list. The simple design of their toolbar helps Amazon users browse products, create lists, and check for prices.

Product design refers to how companies create products that solve consumer problems and satisfy user needs. Product designers interact with people, products, and the environment in the design thinking process.

The following three elements of product design help create products that meet consumer needs:

 Product designers consider how people will use a product and which features will help them accomplish the goals they set out to achieve. In designing products, product design teams focus on how well their products meet the user's needs. They also try to anticipate what functionality users are willing to purchase.

 On top of considering functionality, product designers try to create aesthetically pleasing products. They may incorporate 

, color schemes, and graphics into the product.

 Product designers must consider how much a product costs and determine whether the price is fair for customers. They look at how well a product could compete against similar products that are already available for purchase.

Product design focuses on creating a successful product that meets client needs with specific features and functions. Designers must consider the constraints of economic, legal, marketing, and user interfaces in the design process when creating a digital product.

Product design is important because it helps to shape the entire product experience into a positive one and triggers interest in the product. Having a great product design helps you to make sales and encourages customer loyalty.

Apple iPhone is an awesome product design example. Apple created a smartphone that brought a functional experience to the market and has dominated the market share since its launch.

The iPhone's user-friendly features include a simple interface, advanced features like Siri voice control, advanced security features such as FaceTime video chatting, easy access to email attachments via the mail app, and multitasking capabilities. Apple's focus on making smartphones intuitive has led to high customer satisfaction. 

UX design vs. product design: the differences

UX and product design are closely related and often use the same approaches to 

. However, there are numerous disparities between the two disciplines.

Here are the differences between product design and UX design in terms of:

UX designers are primarily concerned with 

 and interactivity features for websites, apps, and digital interfaces in the entire design process. They aim to create a user experience that functions well and allows users to navigate the product quickly.

 job focuses on meeting consumer needs by creating tangible products tailored to client needs.

UX designers are primarily concerned with how people interact with products, while product designers are concerned with how the product looks and its overall design. UX focuses on the practicality of a product and leads teams to create solutions.

Product design is more involved with aesthetics and style.

UX designers work to improve the user's experience with the product, while product designers must consider the design's cost, function, and overall usability. UX designers work closely together with other teams to create an end product.

Product designers usually work alone or as part of a team to create a design for a specific product.

UX designers must have design skills to create visually appealing and user-friendly designs. Product design requires technical skills in manufacturing, 

UX designers must have experience with graphic design software, prototyping tools (such as 

Product designers need to have experience with 3D modeling software, CAD (computer-aided design), or industrial design tools. CAD creates digital files of products that are ready for manufacturing.

UX designers learn about user experience design via digital web design programs and by attending a UX 

. Qualified UX designers often need a bachelor's degree in UX design or a related field and adequate experience in the design career.

Product designers gain expertise in product development from industrial design, mechanical engineering, or software development. Product designers must have a degree and technical training in engineering, manufacturing, or product development.

A UX designer's average salary is around 

 In contrast, a product designer's average salary is about 

The use of technology has influenced UX design, and we’ve seen a trend toward rapid and 

New tools designed for web design have made the process more efficient and attainable. Mobile apps and e-commerce sites continue to develop rapidly, creating a high demand for UX designers.

 in product design is the shift from a physical focus on making products to creating intangible digital products, such as websites or apps.

Product and UX design help create a product that satisfies the end user's needs in the ever-changing business world. Although the two may have similar goals, the differences between the two are huge and need to be taken into account when deciding between the two.

The main differences between the two are job responsibilities and the focus of the work.

UX designers are responsible for usability, whereas product designers ensure the product meets the consumer's needs. UX designers focus on the interactions within the product, and product designers focus on the overall aesthetics of the product.

Both the UX designer and the product designer roles are important for successful product development.

Looking to improve your UX design process? 

Some differences between UX and product design are subtle. Knowing them is vital if you want to break into the design industry or hire a designer for your company.

Smartwatch UX design has been steadily gaining in importance in recent years. As Apple's 

 such as the recent Apple Watch 8 have exploded in popularity, so has the need for powerful wearable apps. Prototyping plays a huge part in smartwatch UX design. It can arguably be more important for newer devices which require more care throughout the design process.

Let's take a deep dive into prototyping for the Pixel Watch, and any other WearOS device, and find out how to successfully create smartwatch prototypes.

What makes prototyping for smartwatches different?

Smartwatch UX design as a whole is quite different from web app or smartphone oriented processes. There are a number of restrictions to take into account when working on a smartwatch interface and the UX interactions. These restrictions do not only limit your potential smartwatch UX designs on the wearable device. In fact, they also open up new opportunities for smart UX designers to get creative:

Smartwatches have less than a third of the screen size of a smartphone

These wearable devices are powered by smaller chips providing less power for intricate UX designs

Wearable device users are generally looking for extended battery life

Smartwatch UX doesn't stop with the watch, it extends onto the paired smartphone app

How do smartwatch UX design restrictions impact prototyping for the Pixel Watch?

 and is submitted to the same restrictions, even if it is the only WearOS device made by Google themselves. This nuance may give them a slight advantage when it comes to Google's own apps and their performance, but that's about it.

 is a crucial part of the UX design process. In fact, Google uses third party prototyping tools to make sure their smartphone and smartwatch applications work as intended. The Pixel Watch has remained shrouded in secrecy since it's announcement in May of 2022. All the more reason to have some solid smartwatch UX design processes in place for your new apps.

What we do know is that the device will have a small, rounded screen, and will be powered by Google's WearOS. How well it performs compared to other leading WearOS devices such as Samsung's range of smartwatches remains to be seen. As does how your smartwatch UI designs will fit in the rounded screen.

There is a smart way to get around smartwatch UX design restrictions, especially the small screen size and limited power potential. In fact, this is the only realistic way to build smartwatch UX designs that will not leave your users dissatisfied by the performance, or the smartwatch UI.

Starting your design process with the mindset that your smartwatch and your smartphone are not two distinct screens, but a pair that work in tandem, is a game changer. This allows you to not only optimize the user experience, but to provide a sense of satisfaction that comes from having two devices work seamlessly together.

The Pixel Watch is no exception. In fact, you will not be able to get the most out of a Pixel Watch without pairing it with a smartphone. Google has decided that this device will carry the same limitation as the Apple Watch 8: you will only be able to pair it with an Android device (against an iOS device for the Apple Watch).

Smartwatch prototypes need to be tested across devices

By treating the smartwatch and smartphones as a pair, cross-device testing becomes a necessity. The interactions between devices need to be fluid and logical, as they are most often initiated from the smaller device.

Whether prototyping the Pixel Watch, or any other Android smartwatch, you’ll need to specifically test at least the following:

Navigation between screens including cross device navigation

Your smartwatch UX design meets specific use cases

How the smartwatch UI fits on the specific screen format

Responsiveness and performance - especially when using media and animations

Some of these prototyping elements may seem obvious, but when working within the restrictions of smartwatch UX design, the tiniest of tweaks can make a huge difference.

Focus on the core functionality for your smartwatch UX

Before even talking about Pixel Watch prototyping, you need to make sure your Pixel Watch UX design process is adapted. You can read more about 

. In the meantime, we need to talk about core functionality.

When building your UX designs for smartwatches you need to design with purpose. Smaller screens, less power under the hood, and a need to preserve battery life are a handful of the reasons why smartwatch UX design is crucial. Go back to your initial ideation phase and ask yourself why. Why did you decide to explore creating this product? If you haven’t already, run some early stage usability tests on early prototypes and see if your ideas match with the users’ intuition.

Realistic prototyping for the Pixel Watch - test and iterate from day one

Does the idea of running early usability tests send shivers down your spine? If you’re trying to DIY your testing, then the idea of extra workload alongside your UX design is definitely a scary thought. You can change things up for your Pixel Watch processes, benefit from realistic prototyping, and never look back.

? Simply put, you take all of the benefits of high-fidelity prototyping, and execute them in a rapid prototyping environment. How? Magic. Well, software magic, and some great UX design workflow changes. ProtoPie allows you to build new UX design processes that drastically change your output. Instead of working in low-fidelity, and then moving onto high-fidelity prototyping, you’ll be empowered to build your dream UX designs early on.

By building realistic prototypes for your Pixel Watch, you can test sooner and with better prototypes. Your testers will provide real feedback, as they can test your smartwatch UX designs on the wearable devices themselves. In fact, you can set-up 

, and provide users with a Pixel Watch and a paired smartphone. They will get the full intended experience from your smartwatch UX designs, and you will get the feedback you need to identify the core functionality to focus on.

Watch out for information overload when building your Pixel Watch UX

You’ve identified your core functionality and are testing and iterating regularly. You understand what your target audience wants out of your product, and have established the core functionality you must build. How do you make this work within the restrictive environment of a smartwatch UI?

This is where being smart with information and how you present it within your Pixel Watch UI designs comes into play.

The great thing about ProtoPie is that you can test these designs on a real Pixel Watch, and not a simulation. Not only does this mean you get a real sense for size and scale, but you can also accurately judge the impacts on performance that your Pixel Watch UX design changes cause.

Displaying information is the most crucial part of your future Pixel Watch UX flows. Most popular WearOS apps either display or record data in a convenient way. This data then needs to be made readily available for the user, either on the smartwatch’s UI or on the paired smartphone app. Delivering great apps for your Pixel Watch users means:

Being able to choose which information is crucial

Displaying crucial information without distractions

Being able to put convenience ahead of everything else (sometimes)

Making the right decisions for your Pixel Watch UI designs

How can you test information display when Pixel Watch prototyping?

Depending on the app that you are building for your Pixel Watch, your test parameters will vary. But there are always some best practices to abide by when building smartwatch UX designs, which should translate into your Pixel Watch prototypes:

1. Evaluate if your smartwatch app is glanceable

We talk about interaction cost in more detail in our 

. If your Pixel Watch prototype is glanceable then, for the core information, you’ve managed to keep your interaction cost low. When seeking information on our wrist, we do not want to twist and turn or spend forever waiting for the right information to appear.

Make sure your Pixel Watch prototype displays core information that takes a few seconds to process. For any further information that can be judged as superfluous, do not display it on the Pixel Watch UI. Save it for the paired smartphone app, or keep it on a second screen that you can scroll to on the watch.

2. How many interaction layers does your Pixel Watch UI have?

When building a smartwatch app you want to be efficient and convenient. This also means keeping the number of layers low. Create a single purpose for each screen, and use scrolling or swiping to add extra information.

When prototyping your Pixel Watch app, run usability tests that specifically target these interactions and see just how well your Pixel Watch UX does. If you find your testers swiping for their lives in a bid to find some core information, your UX design may need more tweaking.

3. Use notifications to deliver time sensitive information without being too intrusive

Whether informing you of a payment you just made with your Pixel Watch, or letting you know you’ve managed to run 3 miles in a record time, notifications should always have a purpose. They are a great way to deliver core information in a timely way, and an amazing resource when building your smartwatch UX flows to gamify things.

A well timed notification will provoke a bit of a dopamine high, and have your users keen to repeat the process. There is also a great sense of satisfaction that comes with receiving expected notifications, such as a payment alert (especially when receiving a payment). When setting-up your usability tests make sure to include notifications as part of the experience. You can ask:

If the notifications were too often or not often enough

If the notifications were easily dismissed

If they felt any personal information was displayed

If the haptics accompanying the notification were useful or an unnecessary distraction

Pixel Watch Prototyping with the right UX design tools

UX designers and creatives who want to design amazing products deserve the best tools. At ProtoPie, we’ve built a solution that takes prototyping your designs to the next level. This includes Pixel Watch prototyping which you can take to the next level using ProtoPie for wearables and smartwatches.

Are you ready to tackle Pixel Watch prototyping?

Prototyping for smartwatches is once again being pushed to the forefront of UX design with the launch of google's new Pixel Watch.

Prototyping for the Pixel watch

As a product manager, you need to explore solutions, validate ideas and iterate fast. You probably have a list of tasks and objectives that you should have achieved 

But, making a dent on that list is easier said than done when:

You lack a simple way to test and share your work.

Your team members are struggling to collaborate and communicate their intentions with each other.

You spend a lot of time and money on coding to create prototypes that aren’t convincing your stakeholders.

—the tool that will make your life easier and your team more productive.

Making digital product development as easy as Pie

ProtoPie is the easiest, entirely code-free digital prototyping tool helping design teams to create realistic, high-fidelity prototypes.

Say goodbye to vague specs, mock-ups and static prototypes that fail to reflect the real, interactive experience of the final product. 

A simple and fast way to create highly realistic prototypes for mobile, web or tablets.

Shared project spaces that let you store prototypes and share instant feedback among team members.

A library of reusable interactions & components that you can add to your prototype in just a few clicks.

Simplified user testing that gives you access to meaningful insights and market data to justify your product roadmap choices.

It’s all possible with ProtoPie—here’s how.

A collaborative product design tool for every member of your team

When you add ProtoPie to your digital product design workflow, everyone in your team benefits. 

Due to our team collaboration and interaction recording features, communication between your 

All the better for your team productivity—and the success of your product, of course.

How ProtoPie solves product manager workflow challenges

At ProtoPie, we know that product managers are busy people with many responsibilities. You are facing many challenges that come with designing digital products in a time where software is becoming more complex. 

But, by adding ProtoPie to your design stack, prototyping for digital products can actually be quite simple.

Here’s how your product design workflow can benefit from our tool.

1. Experience prototypes on real devices with ProtoPie Player

The best way to fully understand interaction design is to experience them firsthand.

, which allows you to view, experience and test your prototypes on any device—including desktop, mobile, tablet and TV.  

As you can experience and test prototypes just like they will appear in the hands of the final user, there really is no better way to validate and iterate ideas.

2. Share prototypes easily and safely with ProtoPie Cloud

Want to share your prototype with stakeholders? Use 

Open prototypes on your smartphone, tablet, or desktop and experience it as if it’s the real product. 

The days of wondering which version of your prototype is the latest one, or scrambling to share iterations through clunky email threads? Gone.

3. Get meaningful, actionable insights with user testing integrations

The more realistic prototypes are, the more meaningful and actionable insights will be. With a high-fidelity prototype, researchers can conduct better and more realistic user tests. 

As a result, it is easier than ever to conduct both moderated and unmoderated remote mobile user testing.

4. Go beyond a single screen with ProtoPie Connect

Today’s digital experiences aren’t just limited to single screens or devices, which is why you need a prototyping tool that can integrate software with hardware. 

Build prototypes on various devices that connect to each other.

Prototype real-life scenarios involving multiple displays, devices, hardware and APIs.

Even software-hardware integration is simple with ProtoPie.

5. Keep everyone on the same page with Project Spaces

 is a place for teams to upload, store and share prototypes conveniently. Using high-fidelity prototypes as the single source of truth for projects, it is the glue that holds the product team together. 

By ensuring that your designers, engineers and researchers are aligned at all times, it helps you stay organized and on top of deadlines. No more having to start building the product from scratch because design ideas weren’t communicated effectively in the first place.

Get your product team on board with ProtoPie

 is a collection of ProtoPie’s best Unique Selling Points, to help you persuade your stakeholders - designers, engineers, and researchers - to get on board with ProtoPie. Share this Pie 

 with your product team and help them discover the best of your favorite prototyping tool.

Faster and better digital product prototyping with ProtoPie

Discover how ProtoPie helps you streamline your product design workflow by booking a demo today! 

Find out why ProtoPie is the best digital product prototyping tool for busy product managers like yourself. 

Do Product Managers Use ProtoPie? Yes, Here's Why

 were the next big thing? At the time, it was revolutionary technology—people were certain that Google Glasses would change the status quo.

You know the rest of the story. Google Glasses were a cataclysmic failure. Consumers weren’t ready to wear cameras on their faces all day.

High-risk, high-reward failure comes with a heavy price tag. According to Startup Talkie, this particular failure cost Google a whopping $895 million. There’s a lesson to be learned here: companies can’t afford to make mistakes with every moonshot.

Of course, Google Glasses were riding the crest of a trending wave. Right now, the biggest, most influential tech companies are investing heavily in the world of virtual and augmented reality. Every financial quarter, 

 is investing billions of dollars into hardware for the Metaverse. Apple released Car Play, and more recently, Apple Watch Ultra. 

Moreover, Apple will soon release an AR/VR headset. Undeterred by the failure of Google Glasses, Google continues to dabble in the magic of VR. 

Immersive and dynamic user experiences are at our fingertips. The result? 

The horizon of UI/UX design is transcending the usual mobile and desktop interface. As Mark Zuckerberg aptly put it, virtual and augmented reality can do what phones and desktops just can’t do: “make people feel present with each other”.

The statistics speak for themselves. Over the last 4 years, there’s been a huge growth in wearables. Particularly, smartwatches. According to 

, the units of smartwatches increased by 100% between 2018 and 2022.

Clearly, virtual and augmented reality are changing the UX/UI design landscape.

 allow designers to speed up the product development cycle. Instead of building a whole product from scratch before testing it on users, designers can prototype high-fidelity products and test the look and feel of these products before investing millions of dollars into their development.

—a brilliant project by Dutch designer 

. In 2022, he resolved to solve the problem of the modern music listening experience.

Music is just a click away. There’s no sonic feedback. No haptic feedback. And the visual feedback is flat. 

Using ProtoPie, he prototyped a device that allows users to physically interact with the album artwork, move music by touch from the collection to the player, and read information about the music itself. In stark contrast to music streaming apps, Tiles “provokes a careful selection of music” along with elegant interaction. 

More to the point, Kay didn’t have to spend thousands, albeit millions of dollars to prove a concept as a viable product—he simply created a prototype. He combined it with a physical frame to explore its capacity for interactivity.

It’s no wonder that ProtoPie is already the backbone of high-fidelity prototyping at Google, 

 team use ProtoPie for usability testing in the field. Spotify designers use ProtoPie for core experiences and search personalization. 

BMW has been using ProtoPie to prototype the driver of the future’s experiences, encompassing multiple displays, hardware and voice interactions. 

When in doubt, look at the trend. Connected devices are becoming the norm now. As a result, designers will have to pay close attention to how users interact with the same product across different platforms and devices. As cross-device interactions continue to play a bigger role in the future—especially with the rise in 3D, AR and VR—the demands of prototyping will get harder and more complex. The tools we use must adjust to fulfill those demands in product design.

A heavy price tag once weighed down every moonshot. But 

 tools like ProtoPie have changed everything. Gone are the days of investing heavily into a moonshot before it’s even been labelled user-friendly. 

High-fidelity prototyping has made it possible!

How ProtoPie is meeting skyrocketing demand for high-fidelity prototyping. 

High-Fidelity Prototyping Is De-Risking Every Moonshot

User research is a critical component of the product design stage. Designers can expose problems and vulnerabilities early on by placing the prototype into the hands of real-life users. User hitches are uncovered, noted, and rectified.

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