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The differences between product design managers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a product design manager and a product owner. Additionally, a product design manager has an average salary of $133,190, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a product design manager include product design, user research and sketch. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Product Design Manager | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $133,190 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $64.03 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 146,576 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A product design manager typically works with engineers and specialists in the joint effort to develop high-quality standard products. As a product design manager, they are responsible for managing product design teams, understanding and identifying a project's needs, performing research and analysis, setting objectives and guidelines, liaising with external parties, and presenting prototypes for client approval. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach product goals while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Product owners are at the forefront of an organization's development cycle. They have various duties and responsibilities, which include ensuring that the value of products created by the development team is maximized, creating a vision and defining the goals for development projects, and working closely with all stakeholders. As the product owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the development team maintains a consistent vision and overseeing the product backlog. You are also expected to supervise the actual product development stages and anticipate the needs of clients.
Product design managers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Design Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $133,190 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $91,000 And $193,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a product design manager and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Product Design Manager | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Business |
| Most common college | University of Wisconsin - Madison | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product design managers' and product owners' demographics:
| Product Design Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.2% Female, 33.8% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |