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The differences between senior designers and product designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a senior designer, becoming a product designer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior designer has an average salary of $102,058, which is higher than the $102,033 average annual salary of a product designer.
The top three skills for a senior designer include sketch, graphic design and human centered design. The most important skills for a product designer are sketch, visual design, and UI.
| Senior Designer | Product Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $102,058 | $102,033 |
| Hourly rate | $49.07 | $49.05 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 47,503 | 98,465 |
| Job satisfaction | 1 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 38 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
Senior designers are typically in charge of realizing design solutions that adhere to the business goals and marketing strategies of an organization. They should be comfortable managing graphics designers and making decisions. They must have extensive knowledge of styles, layout techniques, and graphic design while also managing projects and people effectively. Senior designers have a variety of duties, which include delegating tasks to junior designers, maintaining high-quality standards, and collaborating to improve digital creativity standards.
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.
Senior designers and product designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Designer | Product Designer | |
| Average salary | $102,058 | $102,033 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $143,000 | Between $68,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Lyft | Netflix |
| Best paying industry | Media | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior designer and a product designer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Designer | Product Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between senior designers' and product designers' demographics:
| Senior Designer | Product Designer | |
| Average age | 38 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0% | Male, 74.2% Female, 25.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 13% | 8% |