How to become a Product Designer

Becoming a Product Designer is an in-demand career path. It requires deep expertise in Product Design and a strong network to carry you along. Here are some resources to help you on your journey.

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Why should you become a 
Product Designer?

Product Designer

Demand for experts in Product Design is growing rapidly. Companies are looking for people with deep expertise in the field of Product Design to help them build their products and services.

As a result, Product Designers are in high demand and command high salaries. According to leading sources, the median salary for a Product Designer is $90,000 and a senior Product Designer can earn up to $123,000. Even entry-level positions can command great salaries.

No wonder that interest in a career in Product Design is growing rapidly. Explore the resources below to learn more about how to become a Product Designer.

Best books to build Product Design understanding.

A well-written and thorough book can be an amazing path to build deeper understanding and also act as a handbook as you discover the internet's vast resources.

These are our and our experts top picks to get started building career-relevant skills.

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us? Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Through consecu…

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation

In Change by Design, Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, the celebrated innovation and design firm, shows how the techniques and strategies of design belong at every level of business. Change by Design is not a book by designers for designers; this is a book for creative leaders who seek to infuse design thinking into every level of an organization, product, or service to drive new alternatives for busine…

The Laws of Simplicity

Ten laws of simplicity for business, technology, and design that teach us how to need less but get more. Finally, we are learning that simplicity equals sanity. We're rebelling against technology that's too complicated, DVD players with too many menus, and software accompanied by 75-megabyte "read me" manuals. The iPod's clean gadgetry has made simplicity hip. But sometimes we find ourselves c…

Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design

As a cultivated form of invention, product design is a deeply human phenomenon that enables us to shape, modify and alter the world around us – for better or worse. The recent emergence of the sustainability imperative in product design compels us to recalibrate the parameters of good design in an unsustainable age. Written by designers, for designers, the Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Pro…

The Art of Product Design: Changing How Things Get Made

Embrace Open Engineering and accelerate the design and manufacturing processes. Product development is a team sport, but most companies don't practice it that way. Organizations should be drawing on the creativity of engaged customers and outsiders, but instead they rely on the same small group of internal "experts" for new ideas. Designers and engineers should be connecting with marketing, sa…

The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition

Design doesn't have to complicated, which is why this guide to human-centered design shows that usability is just as important as aesthetics. Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: ma…

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Courses to deepen your Product Design skills.

These days, courses are no longer a sequence of videos. They are usually accompanied by projects and a learning community, keeping you accountable and on the path.

Our experts recommend these courses, from free selections to paid programs.

Learning SOLIDWORKS : For Students, Engineers, and Designers

For Basic and Intermediate Users

How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Learn how to design experiences users love. Uncover the secrets of businesses able to keep users coming back.

Complete Product Design From Home Course

At Home Engineering The Course has helped thousands of people worldwide to learn CAD and product design. This is the course to learn CAD, product design, and engineering fundamentals. I have over 8 years of experience designing and building in industry and research, and I have a Masters of Science …

RIT Design Thinking Capstone

The capstone course, part of the Design Thinking MicroMasters program, will be a cumulative experience incorporating all aspects of the design thinking process, from end to end. In this course, you will be asked to solve a problem using the design thinking process. You will demonstrate your underst…

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Getting Started with Agile and Design Thinking Course - Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

Get an introduction to agile product development and design thinking so you can build better digital products. Discover how to create useful digital products using agile and design thinking. Despite everyone’s good intentions, hard work and solid ideas, too many projects end up creating unneeded, u…

Product Ideation, Design, and Management Specialization

This Specialization is designed for aspiring and active product leaders seeking to pursue careers in product management, product design, and related roles. Through five practical courses, you will learn the fundamentals for designing and managing products. Upon completion, you will have created you…

Get the guidance you need to become a Product Designer

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

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Hi! I’m Billy and i’ve been in the digital product space for over 5 years. I’ve worked in startups, agency and now in-house, working for British Airways in London. I’ve mentored people at all different stages of their career and absolutely love it! From interview prep, portfolio reviews, and sorting …

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Hi there! 👋 I’m Heigi, and currently a Principal Product Designer at Capital One. I’ve been in different shoes in the UX industry — a career switcher seeking my very first UX internship, a sole designer of a 10-person startup, a lead designer managing a team of 5 designers, a …

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Hi, 👋 I'm Becca, currently a Product Designer at a Cloud storage company. Previously, I spent 2.5 years at Shopify on a Growth team. I have a psychology degree with 4 years of banking experience before pursuing a career in design. You might wonder how I was able to get …

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Yes, you can design your career. I've designed my career and helped over 300 mentees design and grow theirs. I mostly coach professionals across product/UX design, UX research, digital accessibility, and product management. Frequent topics I cover with my mentees are "how to stand out from the crowd" and "what's …

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I'm Ajay, a Senior Product Designer based in London. I have 7 years of experience across 3 companies. I started my career at Deloitte, consulting as a Product Designer for a range of companies across the public and private sectors. I then moved to Gousto - a late stage startup …

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John Rodrigues is a Senior Product Designer with 7 years of experience. Currently working at JPMorgan Chase on B2B products, he previously served as Product Designer Lead at Citi Bank. He was also recognized as a Top 10 mentor on ADPList, having mentored more than 250+ Designers. He successfully ran …

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The Product Design must-reads you shouldn't miss.

Key articles and posts of industry experts can help you get a better picture of what you are getting into.

In our opinion, these are some must-reads you really shouldn't miss.

The Ultimate Guide to a Product Design Career

The hottest design role is also the most misunderstood one.

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How To Become A Product Designer in 2022

Learn how to become a Product Designer with no experience in 2022. Get expert insights on how to launch your Product Design career.

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What does a Product Designer do?

A product designer is responsible for the design and development of consumer products. Duties of this position include improving existing product designs and analyzing working concepts launched by competitors of similar products to match quality and performance. Depending on the industry and company, product designers may progress to a senior, executive or managerial role.

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The recipe for developing your career as a product designer

Picture this: You’re a product designer with a handful of years on your career path. You’ve cut your teeth on a few big launches and earned your stripes as a solid “mid level” product designer.

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What is a product designer, and how is it different from UX design?

The role of the designer has changed massively over the past 20 years. What used to be a job primarily about arranging colors, fonts, and images has branched off into multiple disciplines — most of which focus on interactive design.

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Tips from the Product Design blog

Learn more about Product Design with our expert advice.

The Career Path Of A Product Designer

At some point in their lives, most people have thought about designing a product. Whether that be a passing thought, or something you’ve acted upon, it’s not an uncommon practice. However, this passion can be turned into a career that is highly sought after. In this article we explore the career path of a product designer. An overview of the job, salary and skillset can all be found below!

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