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The differences between product managers and product designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a product manager, becoming a product designer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a product manager has an average salary of $111,729, which is higher than the $102,033 average annual salary of a product designer.
The top three skills for a product manager include product management, QA and product strategy. The most important skills for a product designer are sketch, visual design, and UI.
| Product Manager | Product Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $111,729 | $102,033 |
| Hourly rate | $53.72 | $49.05 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 125,678 | 98,465 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 39 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 4 |
A product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.
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 managers and product designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Manager | Product Designer | |
| Average salary | $111,729 | $102,033 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $152,000 | Between $68,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Netflix |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product manager and a product designer in terms of educational background:
| Product Manager | Product Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between product managers' and product designers' demographics:
| Product Manager | Product Designer | |
| Average age | 39 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% | Male, 74.2% Female, 25.8% |
| 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, 1.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 10.1% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 8% |