The Various Types of Product Design

Product design is often mistaken for a single discipline and job description. Yet, it is a complex and vast subgenre of design, ranging from UX design to industrial design of physical products. In this article, we’ll cover the different types of product design and what they entail.

Product designers strive to improve the user experience in the solutions they create for their customers, as well as support their brands by ensuring that their products are lasting and meet long-term business goals.

As professionals working to push innovation and solve common problems for the end-users, they work in many different design jobs dealing with product development.

Here are some of the many industries in which a product designer might find themselves, working to make it possible to create a successful product.

Areas of product design

The term product designer doesn't encompass a single skill set. Rather, there are several key areas in which different types of product designers work in. Here are some of them.

User experience design

In UX, designers will work on creating wireframes, production flow maps, high-fidelity designs and prototypes, depending on the product.

UX design nowadays mostly refers to the designing and development of websites, apps and other digital products. But, UX researchers also test the usability and experience of everyday objects.

User interface design

Whereas UX involves the experience of using a product, UI refers to the way it looks and it is organized.

Product designers working in UI create an interface that allows the end-user to easily and instinctively navigate through a system, with the help of backgrounds, symbols, movement between screens, color usage, etc.

User interface design is much more than the sum of visual elements that make it. It provides customers with a first impression of your business and later helps to lead them from point A to point B in order to complete their customer journey.

Industrial design

In industrial design, product designers create prototypes of physical products, journey maps of the final users, implement usability testing for their design ideas and work in connection with manufacturing, business development teams and product managers.

They have all the knowledge needed about the materials, supply and transportation, as well as the durability and complexity of the assembly of the final product.

The structural design of shared information environments is known as information architecture or IA. It's the application of the science of arranging and categorizing websites, private networks, internet forums, and software to make them more usable and discoverable.

IA is a field that focuses on applying design, architecture, and information science ideas to the digital world.

It usually entails an information model or notion that is used and applied to activities that necessitate explicit specifics of complicated information systems. Library systems and database creation are examples of these efforts.

The types of product design

The three main types of product design are system, process and interface design. They each have the goal of tackling different problems in the user experience but are equally important when it comes to the final design.

Here are the three types of product design, explained.

System design

The layout of a shop is a simple and popular example of a system design. The product designer of shelves is practically an information architect in a real-life marketplace with hundreds of items.

They will organize the items into logical categories (e.g. confectionery, snacks, cooking supplies, dairy, etc.), then assemble the different categories in a logical order (e.g. multiple types of food on one side, cleaning products on the other side of the store), and ensure that the things that customers should notice are highlighted (sale, new product on promotion, etc.).

The designer considers not just the customer's intuition and convenience of use, but also the market's commercial goals. Customers will go counter-clockwise and notice the heart-shaped chocolate boxes and flowers on the right side of the door, for example, during Valentine's Day.

Process design

In websites, such as e-commerce, process design is critical since it facilitates exploring, selecting, saving, adding to cart, and finally paying for things. But, let's return to a more concrete example: an airport.

Airports have a lot of waiting, zig-zag queues, and chambers that can only be entered and exited by one door, among other things. The reason for this is that there are a number of processes that are critical for safety and efficiency, including check-in, security checks, passport control, customs, and other procedures.

The zig-zag lines and doors that don't open from the inside once you've checked your luggage aren't part of the design. They're there to help passengers fit more people in a line and to keep passengers from adding or purchasing dangerous things after security has inspected everything they own. Airport layouts are complicated and unintuitive for a reason, and that reason is safety.

Interface design

Interface design is focused on the aesthetic experience of the product. It has a human-first approach: before looks and innovation, the interface is a touchpoint between the user and the product and its usability and it serves to solve their real problems. The idea is to help users interact with products instinctively, by providing familiar and clear queues.

Graphic design skills are the cornerstone of successful interface design. Instead of simply picking random colors and layouts, graphic designers have a firm grasp of color theory and basic principles of design, such as balance, contrast, hierarchy, etc.

This allows them to make informed design decisions, beyond mere “common sense”, and create products that look good, but are also functional. 

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What makes good product design?

Although there are many different types of product design, there are certain rules that always apply. Here are some important aspects of product design that should never be overlooked.

1. User-Centered Design (UCD)

Whether you’re creating a chair or a website, understanding the end user is paramount. 

Taking into consideration your users’ needs, behaviours and pain points will allow you to create products that meet their needs effectively. On top of that, UCD also means creating a positive user experience, for example easy accessibility and a positive emotional response. 

2. Aesthetics

Usability always trumps aesthetics in product design. Still, the way a product looks is far from irrelevant.

The product design process should be aligned with the brand vision and visual identity guidelines, if they exist. The aesthetic appeal is also important in creating an emotional response, thus improving user experience. 

3. Functionality

Functionality is concerned with the features and performance of the product. With digital products, this might relate to speed and additional functionalities that improve the product experience.

With physical products, these considerations might also include ergonomics (how comfortable a product is), energy efficiency, etc. 

4. Innovation

It’s pretty difficult to come up with something completely new nowadays. Nevertheless, innovation is one of the key aspects of product design. 

Think about products such as the smartphone or even a hair dryer. Although it took years and thousands of reiterations to get them to the current level, the products took off initially thanks to an innovative idea. 

5. Sustainability

Sustainability is definitely more important for physical products, for example, what type of materials are used and the environmental impact of the production process.

6. Feasibility

Before you go into the production process it’s imperative to conduct a feasibility study. This should determine how cost-effective a product is, how easy it is to manufacture and how much time you need until it can hit the market.

Sometimes even the most innovative products aren’t feasible because of technology or budget constraints. Be sure you understand the stakes before you have something to lose. 

Final remarks

We hope this sheds some light on the different types of product design. If you want to become a digital product designer, you’ll first need to learn graphic design. Of course, remember that this is a pretty long process, that takes professional designers years to master.

If you want to learn more about graphic design, check out our articles on graphic design history and this guide to different types of graphic design.