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Product designer vs user interaction designer

The differences between product designers and user interaction designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a product designer and a user interaction designer. Additionally, a product designer has an average salary of $102,033, which is higher than the $82,651 average annual salary of a user interaction designer.

The top three skills for a product designer include sketch, visual design and UI. The most important skills for a user interaction designer are UI, sketch, and UX.

Product designer vs user interaction designer overview

Product DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Yearly salary$102,033$82,651
Hourly rate$49.05$39.74
Growth rate3%13%
Number of jobs98,46554,146
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4037
Years of experience44

What does a product designer do?

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.

What does a user interaction designer do?

A User Interaction Designer works with product management to develop and implement innovative solutions for product direction and visuals. They execute all visual design stages.

Product designer vs user interaction designer salary

Product designers and user interaction designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Product DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Average salary$102,033$82,651
Salary rangeBetween $68,000 And $152,000Between $59,000 And $114,000
Highest paying CitySacramento, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonCalifornia
Best paying companyNetflixGoogle
Best paying industryTechnologyAutomotive

Differences between product designer and user interaction designer education

There are a few differences between a product designer and a user interaction designer in terms of educational background:

Product DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Product designer vs user interaction designer demographics

Here are the differences between product designers' and user interaction designers' demographics:

Product DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Average age4037
Gender ratioMale, 74.2% Female, 25.8%Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3%
Race ratioBlack 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, 6.5% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 16.0% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage8%9%

Differences between product designer and user interaction designer duties and responsibilities

Product designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage PDM system, updating technical, fit and design information.
  • Lead front-end QA of all major releases, filing, prioritizing and fixing bugs myself.
  • Manage all aspects of production including QC, packaging needs, and adherence to worldwide product standard protocols.
  • Lead FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) team and DVP (design verification plan) prove-out for system.
  • Provide responsive html layouts using bootstrap and hand code CSS.
  • Design and develop high-fidelity user interface prototypes in HTML, JavaScript, and VBScript base on product requirements.
  • Show more

User interaction designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and implement all code changes via SVN.
  • Work closely with ASP.NET developer to attain refine results.
  • Used CSS3 media queries to achieve the responsiveness of the user interface.
  • Lead a remote team of web designers and developers to redesign brands and websites for local small businesses.
  • Manage few mobile iPhone App projects on iOS6 and iOS7, some of which seamlessly complement desktop applications.
  • Used SVN as source control management giving a huge speed advantage on centralize systems that have to communicate with a server.
  • Show more

Product designer vs user interaction designer skills

Common product designer skills
  • Sketch, 23%
  • Visual Design, 7%
  • UI, 7%
  • User Research, 6%
  • User Experience, 6%
  • Interaction Design, 5%
Common user interaction designer skills
  • UI, 16%
  • Sketch, 14%
  • UX, 6%
  • Html Css, 4%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • Visual Design, 4%

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