UX, UI, or product designer? That’s the question

We clearly have a communication problem.

Last week a recruiter contacted me through my website, he was intending to add one person to a team working on an app. We had a really interesting conversation about startups and their difficulties during this pandemic. Once we got to the actual job proposal he said: We’re looking for a UI designer.

I let him talk and eventually, he got to the job this UI designer would have to do, and that’s when my smile vanished.

The designer in question would have to: conduct user research, benchmark, and testing, design prototypes in high fidelity and test those with users, talk to the developers, develop the front-end of the app with them and constantly work with the business team and the IT team to make sure they’re all aligned.

I think I may have gasped. What their team wanted clearly wasn’t a UI designer, it was the whole product team. The recruiter kept on talking and we had a nice conversation, I clearly had to reject their proposal, and now that I reflect on it, if someone told me to do all of that some years ago I would’ve probably said “Yes!, no problem!”, and then I would’ve had to spend some hundreds of dollars on therapy because I would cry my eyes out every day, that’s for another post though, now…

What is it with the terminology in the tech industry?

This seems to happen to every role in tech, from “full-stack” developers who get forced to be a whole team, to a UX Writer that has to quickly learn Figma because they got told to make the button look nice.

Let’s keep in mind that there’s a point where it definitely becomes labor exploitation and we need to actively call that out but sometimes it seems to be just…lack of knowledge, maybe POs thinking the full-stack developer can and should do this entire feature or an HR person copying the job requirements from Google.

This gets to Design, and I’m specifically talking about digital design because outside of tech, everybody agrees on what’s a Typography designer, or an illustrator, or a branding specialist. But what really is a product designer?

I’ve been working in the startup's environment for not so long, but I hope this can be useful either for choosing which path would you like to follow, or just clearing your doubts on this subject, and if you’re a human resources person, this may get you some clearance.

What’s a UI designer?

It’s what you probably think it is. A user interface designer gets to design the actual look and feel of a digital product. They are concerned with colors, typography, spacing, grids, and prototyping. That’s who you call when the IT team has any doubts about the final prototype, both teams work closely. UI designers are also concerned with screen sizes and how the design can look on different devices. Their current main tool is definitely Figma.

Fun fact: This is the category where I fit in for now!

What about a UX Designer?

Probably the person conducting user interviews, testing, and making those grey prototypes. User experience designers are concerned with, well, user experience. They understand how users use their product and seek to give them the best experience possible. A term you’ll constantly be hearing from them is usability. Their role involves creating user flows, interviewing users, rudimentary prototyping, and constantly study the user needs, hence why they work closely with the business people and also with the UI team. In fact, most UX designers know a bit about UI design, and vice versa, they make the perfect duo.

And a product designer?

The term can be kinda vague, to be honest. It derives from industrial design but in our new normal it doesn’t apply to a designer who creates a really cool bottle of water, or a nice car. The term is commonly used to describe a “full-stack” digital designer, which involves UX, UI, a bit of coding sometimes, and mostly project management. While they aren’t the Product Owners themselves, they give important insights on the value that their product gives, often relating that to business terms, usability, or development.

It’s sort of a new role but highly required. If I had to sum it up it would be like this: They take care of the product, whether it’s in the UI area, user experience, the early launch, or handling the stakeholder’s needs, they assure the business’ needs are taken care of but never neglecting the UX/UI aspect of the product.

What do they have in common?

They all design digital products, they are different roles with specific chores to each one of them but they work very closely together and bring the best results to the team. In a fully established company you’ll often find a Product team and inside of it there’s a UI team and a UX team, they live within the same realm but take care of different responsibilities. As their title clearly suggests: They design, whether it’s a product, a visual look, or a full user flow.

If you’re in doubt about which one to go for, I understand. I’ve been working as a UI designer but I’m constantly thinking about mastering Product design itself, but you have to analyze why.

Why is it that you would rather think about the look and feel? Are you prepared to know everything about grids? Would you prefer to interview users with early prototypes? Do you enjoy analytics? Are you interested in talking about the outcome of your product to stakeholders?

These are all questions that can help you get some clarity and analyze what are the things that you prefer to do and in which ones you would excel.

I hope this has been useful whether you’re a confused graphic designer wanting to transition to tech, a developer who never got an explanation of the roles in the team, or a recruiter trying to Google the requirements for the job.

See you soon!