As the world grows more and more digital, product designers can be called heroes of this digitized world. They create the digital products, apps, and websites that you visit daily or will visit someday, or you do not know even exist! Irrelevant to the purpose of using these products or apps, the bottom line is that they ultimately make your life better. Good digital products enable people to connect with their physical and social environments. Yes, that’s a powerful statement right there, but it is true to its core! Human-centered design thinking is the base on which the product design stands tall. And so, this knack of a job breaks down problems of real-time users to develop efficient solutions for them.
Product design harnesses the power of innovation and sustainability to curate user solutions while maintaining a healthy balance between user needs, business goals, and technological advancement. While that seems pretty wholesome, the question still remains unanswered: how does it do it? Product designing focuses on the “WHY” aspect of the product, lending appropriate answers for why creators should create and the users should consume that product. That said, let us dive deep into understanding how product design can change the world.
Product design is synonymous with problem-solving in the modern world. Indeed, we owe product designers a large chunk of the credit every time we digitally solve problems just with a few taps.
Product Design Sees Things That Do Not Exist But CAN
Product designers have to wear different hats daily. For example, during the design building process, they become researchers, managers, analysts, team coordinators, etc. Therefore with an extremely varied skill set, the design framework of creating a product does not remain linear. Product designers have to invest a hell of a lot of time in mind mapping to gather innovative ideas for products that stand out. For starters, they locate problems and then devise products that can seamlessly solve them. Then, they put themselves in the users’ shoes and assess if the product they work for can solve their problems.
For instance, who would’ve thought women could rely on an app for their period issues? Yes, we are talking about ‘Flo’- A period tracking app that seeks personalized details from each user to understand their personal period problems. It then suggests appropriate measures to solve their problems and can even connect them with a health expert! This way, efficient products generate an emotional connection for their product and its requirements. Thus, product designers identify the need for digital products and develop their value proposition to produce something that previously existed only in imagination.
Product Design Upholds Principles of User Experience
User experience is all about how users interact with a digital product and their experience while navigating through it. UX involves the beliefs and relationships the users have with the product. Besides creating advanced and striking products, it is imperative for product designers to consider user experience. Product designers and UX designers have to work closely to examine the design’s psychological impact on users. Together, they emphasize the usability of the product on the interface.
UX is the key that sparks the emotional touch between products and users. And so, remains at the center of product design. Good products follow the fashion of fulfilling user expectations to deliver sustainable solutions and an excellent experience.
A user-oriented design forms a deeper connection between the product and the user by creating simple and clutter-free products. Good product designs track users and create their personas to offer them exactly what they need. Have you ever noticed how Zomato displays your favorite restaurant and cuisine right when you open the app without any clutter? Yeah! That’s because of the excellent product design of the app.
Product Design For Problem Solving
As said earlier, product design has become synonymous with problem-solving in the modern age. Product design fulfills the social and emotional needs of people, whether they use the product generally or relate it with their style or culture. Whether these needs are associated with beliefs that others consider good or bad, good product design emphasizes the fact that there is room for all.
These distinct beliefs have to be addressed in the various phases of designing. The final aim to address these beliefs is defined at these various levels of product design. Here, empathy is the principle that rules the game. Empathetic listening to users is vital to address problems and make people feel heard.
Of Course, to ace this task, product designers have to collaborate with the design teams actively and involve other stakeholders. This sincere collaboration with high regard for empathy produces highly efficient, sustainable, and pleasant products. And so, digital products are not only expected to meet user needs but also cherish a righteous belief system. With the rising competition for profits and markets, the belief systems can make it or break it for product designers. Giant corporations like Apple and Google promote principles of sustainability and minimalism to make the modern design language inclusive and fun.
Product design is moving to curate the righteous belief systems to target user problems empathetically. It encourages sustainable and minimalist design for better products and a clean future.
The Bottom Line
Great designs can disrupt the sustainable space we envision for the future. However, mature products that become a hit can stay in the game if they constantly optimize usability. Because these products have become an inherent part of the lives of billions of people, they can never go out of style unless they miss the usability aspect. They provide hope for the development and betterment of the future. They offer people the feeling of being more safe, comfortable, and happy. On the other side, when designers achieve the goal to offer solutions to user problems, they find peace as they provide pleasure. Also, to harness the power of product design to its best, infusing sustainability has become pivotal for designers. All these links intact, good product design can develop desirable products that make the world a better place.