What is Product Design?
Product design means identifying user problems and coming up with innovative solutions to create a usable product that satisfies customers’ needs. It involves imagining, creating, and iterating products that solve user problems or fulfill specific market demands.
Design thinking, an approach for solving problems in a creative way, is the foundation for Product Design. Understanding the end-user, or the person for whom the product is being built is critical to a successful product design.
Since product design is about creating usable and functional products through designs, there are some very common expectations that are however, quite different from the reality of what product design truly entails.
What are Some Misconceptions About Product Design?
There are quite a number of misconceptions about product design. Here are some very common misconceptions that people have about it:
Never ask WHY:
It is commonly believed that as a Product Designer, you’re just supposed to design what is expected of you without questions.
In reality, a Product Designer should always ask questions about the product or feature to be built, to make sure that it is actually solving a problem. In his book The Design of Everyday Things, Dan Norman states that, “The secret to a successful product, is to understand what the real problem is”. Understanding what the real problem is gives you a better grasp and understanding of how to go about solving the problem for the end-user.
It’s all about building features:
Product Design is NOT all about building features for a product, no matter how cool the features are.
As a Product Designer, it is your duty to create functional products that actually solve problems for the target audience, while also helping the business achieve its vision, goals and objectives. Before designing features on a product, there are some important questions you need to answer:
-Does this feature solve any problem?
-Will this bring our business closer to its goal?
-Will this product add any sort of value to our end-user?
If the answer to these questions is no, then that feature is absolutely not necessary.
Every product must have an innovative feature:
It’s great to come up with creative and innovative solutions, but don’t forget that you are designing for humans. Because of this, the design needs to be user-centric.
Generally, humans feel more comfortable using things that they are familiar with. In your quest to be creative with the user interface of your products, ensure that you do not confuse the users. Sometimes, using tried-and-true methods will produce better outcomes than coming up with brand-new, “creative” ones.
This means that fonts, icons, and buttons should be very clear. It is important to not leave the users guessing, especially when it prompts for a call-to-action.
Great products require large teams:
While this may seem to be true, it actually isn’t. In fact, the reality is far from this. Keeping your team small can play a huge role in the success of your product.
It’s a common misconception that you need a bigger canvas to get a better picture. This is inaccurate, and every creative person needs to be aware of it. Too much freedom can result in mediocrity. When you give a problem too much freedom, too many people, and too many resources, the result will be an overdesigned, overworked, overbudget, and under-focused final product.
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