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The differences between product designers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a product designer, becoming a product owner takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product designer has an average salary of $102,033, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a product designer include sketch, visual design and UI. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Product Designer | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $102,033 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $49.05 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 98,465 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 40 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 10 |
A product designer's key responsibilities are to perform design research, selecting the best materials, and develop user storyboards for the client and users' best interest. Product designers usually work with a whole design team, documenting suggestions to deliver high-quality outputs or improve existing products to match the market trends. They must also communicate with other skilled professionals to enhance their ideas and consult clients for any necessary adjustments that would affect the total user experience. A product designer should also have extensive knowledge of the consumer's preference to make the design more appealing and engaging.
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 designers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Designer | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $102,033 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $152,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sacramento, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Netflix | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a product designer and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Product Designer | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product designers' and product owners' demographics:
| Product Designer | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 40 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.2% Female, 25.8% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 10.1% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 8% | 10% |