Product design is an expansive field that encompasses products and services as a product within its range. As design and technology integrate and sustainable design practices slowly become a norm, pursuing a career in Product Design in 2024 can be a rewarding choice. It offers students an opportunity to influence how users interact with products/ services along with an array of exciting career opportunities.
What is product design?
Product design is a field of design that involves the creation of new, innovative, and disruptive products that are aesthetically pleasing and functional. The practice is deeply engaged in analysing real-world challenges, visualizing feasible solutions, and designing tangible solutions. Product design today is a fine mix and balance of UX/UI elements, design thinking, user research, visual design, and core product development. It engages in producing functional and visually appealing products/ services.
In our tech-first world, product design is a cross-functional discipline that engages with the concepts of design, technology, and mechanics of a product. The application of product design spans across industries. Involving product designers to:
a. Understand the challenges faced by the users.
b. Envision potential solutions with a creative design thinking process.
c. Build a prototype of the solution(s).
d. Test: Rigorous and iterative testing to understand how the new design solves a user problem effectively and efficiently.
e. Re-develop and re-design: Based on user testing, a designer takes note of a user navigation journey. Identifies issues to refine the product till it is ideal for final manufacturing.
The entire process from ideation to execution demands product designers to work with multiple stakeholders. Scientists, educators, researchers, engineers, software developers, coders, web analysts, etc. Making the role of a product designer increasingly varied, creative, highly collaborative, user-centric, analytical, and strategic.
Why choose a product design course?
Technology is increasingly shaping how we interact and engage with each other, objects, and devices. Highlighting the significance of product design to shape user experiences across domains and product functionality. It is an increasingly popular design career that is focused on sustainability and social impact. Working to eliminate waste from design processes and re-think what happens to a product post-usage. In 2024, choosing a product design course can offer many benefits. Here are some key reasons to choose a product design course:
1. Versatile career pathways/opportunities
As a multidisciplinary field, product design graduates have a wide range of career paths. They can work across industries like IT, automobile, consumer goods (FMCG), furniture, interior, etc. It also has a multiple-career pathway as it skills students in design thinking, UX, UI, etc. Opening doors for students to join UX/UI career pathways or work as full-stack product designers. Within product design, graduates can choose from:
i. industrial product design
ii. service product design
iii. packaging designer
iv. UX/UI design
v. environmental designers
vi. gaming designer and more.
2. Rising demand for product designers globally
An article by Career Foundary reports that ‘In 2022, the product design and development services market was valued at $9.4 billion. By 2030, it’s expected to be worth $24.1 billion. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5%!’
Reflecting a steady rise in the product design career market and a high demand for skilled product designers. Organizations are growing to recognize the importance of product design for business success. Offering key strategic positions for product designers who are adept with emerging technology and sustainability trends.
The use of AI, ML, web3, Metaverse, etc is playing a critical role in defining the rise in demand for product designers. In new-age design programmes, Product designers graduate with trifecta learning of business strategy, tech integration, and design processes. Giving them a highly employable skillset.
3. Increasing demand for tech-driven digital product design(ers)
Emerging technologies have reshaped and re-defined product design into two broad categories.
i. One is physical product design. This means designing for tangible products.
ii. Two, service product design. This means designing for UX/UI and other digital product experiences.
Digital product design is defined by UX/UI design across websites, mobile applications, and interactive and immersive installation design. As we are stepping into the metaverse, expert product designers are in high demand who work on digital touchpoints and interfaces. Developing immersive experiences on digital real estate. A graduate with a specialization in digital product design will have a career edge and can gain more employment opportunities.
4. Skill development: soft skills and design skills
A product design graduate will gain multiple skill sets from the new-age product design course. These skills diversify into two broad categories:
i. Design Skills: A graduate will learn to engage with multiple design tools. Immersing in learning values skills such as sketching, prototyping, iterative testing, 3d modelling, CAD (computer-aided design), AI design tools, UX and UI design, material research, design management, project management, etc. Equipping them for many design career profiles.
ii. Soft skills: Considering the multi-disciplinary and cross-collaborative approach of product design, students acquire a vast range of soft skills. Solutions-oriented approach, creative problem-solving, effective communication, collaborative decision-making, empathy and listening abilities, time management, agility, and resilience are some examples.
Collectively, both skill sets empower students to work with global brands with confidence and etch technical know-how to persist in the face of challenges.
5. Rise in human-centric design
As climate change becomes a hard reality, our businesses are increasingly focusing on designing carbon-neutral capabilities. 2024 and beyond organizations are seeking designers who design products and user experiences that align with people’s and planet’s values and needs. These profiles demand skills that consider;
i. socio-cultural perspective, where designers work collaboratively with various stakeholders.
ii. inclusivity, accessibility, and overall ethical design.
iii. co-design capabilities, and more.
Joining a product design course in 2024 offers you an opportunity to become part of new-age pedagogy that focuses on ethical design, sustainable practices, tech in design, and positive impact.
For instance: The product design course at Strate School of Design, India, has a clear focus on shaping designers who design from the human-centric viewpoint. Prioritizing the social impact of design and contributing towards a sustainable future.
Product Design at Strate School of Design, India
Join the country’s leading product design programme at Strate School of Design. The schools bring in a tech-first and sustainability-first approach, harnessing the power of global pedagogy. Strate’s product design programme is focused on:
a. interdisciplinary learning with industry lectures and live projects, with leading industry partnerships such as Tata Motors.
b. global immersion with Strate Lyon and Strate Paris. Offering students opportunities for international student exchange and global immersion educational trips.
c. user-centric design/ human-centric design considerations,
d. creative and collaborative problem solving with ethical design approach and more.
Explore the dynamic Product Design courses at Strate School of Design:
b. Bachelors in Product Design
c. 5-year integrated Bachelor and Master programme
Want to Become a Designer ?
Strate is a unique design school that nurtures your talents as a designer by offering state-of-the art designing courses in Bangalore.
Join Strate