Of all the disciplines under the design umbrella, web design and product design probably get mixed up in people’s minds most often. When you’re trying to get a project completed, this can cause a lot of confusion because the knowledge, expertise, and responsibilities are very different between product designers and web designers.
In previous blog posts, we’ve clearly explained the differences between UX design and UI design, and service design, UX, and HCD, and today, we’re tackling the differences between web design and product design.
Topics we’ll cover:
- What web design is
- What product design is
- The differences and similarities between web design vs product design
- When to hire a product designer vs a web designer
Let’s get into it!
What is web design?
Web design or “website design” is just as it sounds — it means designing websites! As a discipline, it encompasses the look and layout of a site’s content, as well as its navigation and experience. Effective web designers will make it easy to search and find the content you need when you visit a website, drawing on the fundamentals of UX design.
This means having a solid information architecture and also having a clear understanding of your users. You’ll need to know who the intended visitors are for the website and what their primary goals and motivations are. (Building user personas is a great way to do this!) For example, a homepage for a local 24/7 plumbing company will serve a very different purpose than the front page of CNN’s website, which shares breaking news.
There are SO many different types of websites that serve a plethora of varying purposes… but websites are primarily designed to create an online presence and to connect organizations with potential clients, customers, or users. They can be used for explaining or selling a product or service, providing a company overview (Think: about page!), generating leads, promoting events, product discovery, sharing news, upcoming events, information, and more.
Websites tell the whole world what your company is about and serve as a digital avenue for helping people find the information they need. That’s why you want to start out on the right foot with a seasoned web designer who goes beyond fonts and graphics and understands the importance of a website visitor’s experience.
What is product design?
Product design involves the design of mobile apps, web applications, IoT devices, desktop applications, and more. The purpose of product design is to create a digital tool that supports users in accomplishing their goals, whatever those goals might be.
Usually, when we talk about UX (user experience) design or UI design, we’re referring to product design or digital service design. Product design involves the creation of a product roadmap that will help you monitor project progress, achieve your goals and, after all of that hard work, ensure that your product release goes smoothly. Product design includes steps like conducting user research (such as interviews, observations, and diary studies), creating user flows, designing wireframes, finalizing the visual design, conducting thorough user testing, and so much more.
Product designers are required to wear many different hats to make sure they have a full understanding of the product in question. Successful product design involves comprehensive communication and cross-functional knowledge of several disciplines. Depending on who the product designer is working for and the resources allotted by the company to build out a team, product designers are often in contact with people like product owners, copywriters, communication designers, information architects, service designers, UX researchers, project managers, data analysts, marketers, and customer support representatives!
It’s also essential that product designers remain in constant communication with their project stakeholders and they’ve gained buy-in for their work. The overall user experience of the product should always be guided by the business goals and objectives held by the product owner or organization in charge.
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What’s the difference between web design and product design?
Product design and web design share a few key similarities, but they also have many distinct differences. Web design is dedicated to the planning and presentation of website elements, while product design shapes the user experience of a web-based product.
In other words, design applies to the design of any digital product, while web design refers to the design of websites. Product design helps users accomplish a task-specific goal, while web design helps users learn about an organization. The project scope and responsibilities of a product designer also tend to be broader than those of a web designer.
With highly effective digital products, the work of digital transformation is never fully done — there will always be new feature releases or updates to improve the user experience and/or accommodate business roadmap changes! With websites, there might be added page types here and there as your services grow, but the overall structure and look of the website only needs to be designed once. (Unless your organization does a rebrand.)
One thing that can cause confusion between these disciplines is the fact that product design includes designing “web applications.” The word “web” makes some people think of web design BUT, really, all apps live in the digital space and are accessed through the web. So, it’s better to think about web design as website design specifically.
Check out the chart below to visualize these differences. You’ll see that the tools and team members involved in web design and product design differ, too.
Examples of Web Products vs Websites
Another great way to distinguish product design from web design is the task intensity associated with each. When dealing with a product, the goal your user or customer is trying to achieve is generally more task-intensive. When dealing with a website, their only job is to browse the web pages and understand a company’s services and pricing.
Here are some examples to help with this comparison:
- In the case of a social media planning tool app like Later, the tasks associated with using their product (uploading your media, visually planning out your Instagram feed, writing out your captions and implementing a hashtag strategy) are also more intensive than just glancing over Later’s website to understand their pricing plans and subscription models.
- Let’s use Squarespace as another example. It’s a product that offers a web application for building customized websites. Although Squarespace is a product, it also has a website where you can learn about what Squarespace offers its users, check their pricing, see examples of their product in action, browse their library of website templates, read about the company’s history, etc. Using Squarespace’s web product to build out an entire website is much more task-intensive than scanning their website to learn more about Squarespace as a company.
- What about Shopify? Same deal. Shopify is a product you can use if you’re an entrepreneur looking to build an eCommerce website, ship, and sell your offerings. Shopify is also a website where potential customers can check out what they have to offer before purchasing an item.
- One more example is MailChimp: a web application that’s also a product, but (you guessed it!) MailChimp also has a website.
Before we move onto example scenarios for hiring web designers or product designers, let’s take a look at one more diagram that compares these two disciplines:
As different as product design and web design are, there’s definitely some overlap between these disciplines, including the need for UX and UI design skills. Some other similarities between web designers and product designers include being able to harness creative and analytical thinking and exhibit strong communication skills. And they’ll both work closely with developers day-to-day.
Both types of designers can be employed just about anywhere! Their skills are needed across so many fields, from tech to healthcare, to fashion, food, literature, etc. Choosing the right ones for the right scenarios can help you build highly effective design teams.
Hiring a Product Designer vs Web Designer
Planning on doing some design hiring? Not sure which professional you’ll require or what work you need to do for your next project? To help you decide whether you’re looking for a web designer or a product designer, or both, we’ve created five real-world scenarios to help you understand who you need and when.
When You Need a Product Designer
You need a product designer when you’re building or improving on a web-based tool that enables users, customers or employees to achieve a task-based goal. See two example scenarios below.
Scenario 1:
You manage a building complex in Seattle with over 1,000 occupants, and your current communications systems are inefficient and not serving their purpose.
Recently, your building experienced a little electrical fire in one of the break rooms, so you sent out a message to the occupants to ensure everyone was properly informed. Much to your surprise, not everyone received it (or the previous messages from weeks prior, for that matter). This busted communication system is a safety hazard! You haven’t had success with the other communications systems you’ve tested, so you’ve talked to your management office and decided to create your own custom system.
You’ll need to hire a product designer to help you design a new communications system tailored specifically to your needs. They’ll study the communication challenges, compile any necessary user research, and put their expert design skills to use to create an ideal communications system solution from scratch.
Scenario 2:
You work for an international oil and gas company that has existed for over 20 years. The company employees use a variety of internal tools for HR requests, posting bulletins, and tracking schedules. The kicker is that none of these sites have been updated in over 10 years. The systems are robust, complicated, and outdated, so you suggested a company website revamp to management. They’re interested, but first, they need you to show them the specific areas that can be improved upon.
In this case, you should hire a product designer to perform a content audit and suggest improvements. Information architecture is fundamental to great product design! Content and clutter gradually build up over time which can interfere with user experience if they aren’t properly handled.
A product designer will perform a content audit to map out all the information on your website and determine the best user experience solution moving forward. You want your users (in this case, the employees!) to be able to find whatever information they need as fast and as easily as possible.
(If you’re interested in a real-life example, check out the way we helped redesign an employee experience for a client.)
When You Need a Web Designer
You need a web designer when you’re building or improving the information architecture and content presentation of a website.
Scenario 3:
You’re looking to position yourself as a subject matter expert where you’ll constantly provide fresh content to grow a loyal following, so you’ve decided to start a personal blog around your brand.
You’ll need a web designer to set this up for you. These days, many individuals and organizations (like us!) have a blog, and thanks to products like Squarespace and WordPress, it’s relatively easy to create one! A web designer will help you set it up and show you how to regularly update it with posts, images, and videos. Alternatively, if you don’t have the time, you can keep a web designer on a retainer to make those updates on your website for you.
Scenario 4:
Your firm sells legal services to small and medium-sized businesses. You want to create a website that clearly and professionally explains your services and includes a contact form to get in touch with you.
A web designer can help you carry out this project. They’ll be able to create a website for your firm that articulates your services, showcases your professionalism, and easily integrates contact forms and a newsletter sign-up function.
(Quick side note: Looking for more practical tools and insights to help you manage your next design project? Check out our popular and 100% free newsletter, the Weekly Wit.)
When You Need a Product Designer and a Web Designer
There are many scenarios where you might need both a product designer and a web designer. Generally, these scenarios will involve creating and promoting a new idea for a product or service.
Scenario 5:
You feel like there’s an opportunity for an ultra-convenient and seamless convenience store delivery service, so you decide to create one. The twist is that you also need a platform to market this great idea. You’re assembling a team to bring your ideas to fruition, and so far, you’ve brought on board a full-stack developer, a UI designer, and a budget for at least 3 more team members. Who else will you add to the team to bring this idea to life?
In this case, you’ll need both a product designer and a web designer. The product designer will help design the delivery service, while the website designer will create the website where the service can be marketed and utilized.
If you found this post because you were unsure of the difference between these two disciplines, we hope you found some clarity! This is a very popular topic, so you’re definitely not the only one who has this question.
PS: At Outwitly, we focus on staffing for product and service design. But we’re not your average UX recruiters — our mixed staffing and training model sets us apart, and most importantly, it sets teams up for success.
Get in touch if you’re looking for help with your next product design challenge.
