UX vs Product Designer: The Differences in Data

I analysed 200 job listings from the UI & UX Designer Jobs Board to find the differences between UX & Product designers in data.

Key Takeaways

I analysed keywords from 100 Product Designer & 100 UX Designer job listings, looking for similarities & differences between the two.

Keywords related to general design & deliverables, as well as research, appear a bit more frequently on UX designer job listings.

Business-related keywords appear with roughly the same frequency in both.

Overall, the difference between the two job titles is thin.

Key takeaway: Do not limit your job hunt to specific titles, apply for both roles!

If you are interested in the details, continue reading:

UX vs Product - What the Literature Says

Most literature on the topic suggests that product designers consider both business & user needs, while UX designers focus on user needs only.

In addition, discussions I've had with designers have suggested that Product Designers do more interface design than UX Designers.

To find if these statements are true or false, I analysed keywords from Product Designer & UX Designer job listings*.

UX vs Product - General design & deliverables keywords

General design & deliverables keywords appear more frequently in UX job listings which could indicate that UX involves more hands-on design tasks.

Keywords such as "wireframe", "mockup" & "user interface" appear more frequently in UX listings. This goes against the idea that product designers do more interface design than UX designers.

Notably, "wireframe" appeared more than twice as much in UX compared to Product listings.

The only keyword with higher frequency for Product jobs is "design system".

UX vs Product - Research keywords

Research keywords, such as user testing & user research, appear more frequently in UX job listings. Indicates UX Designers might be more focused on UX research than Product Designers.

UX vs Product - "Business" keywords

There doesn't appear to be a big difference between both listings in business-related keywords. This goes against the narrative that a Product Designer is more business-oriented.

Keywords such as "problem" & "project" appear similar times in both listings, indicating there isn't a difference between project-focus & problem-focus between the two job titles.

Conclusion

Outside of this analysis, I have read hundreds more UX & product designer job listings for work reasons. And honestly, while some companies do make a clear distinction between the two, most do not.

* Consider that job descriptions may not always align precisely with the actual responsibilities of a role.