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Product Designer vs. UX Designer: The Difference Explained
Product designers are involved in the entire design process of a product, while UX designers focus more on the hands-on design portion of the process.
June 4, 2021
Article
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Explore articles about advanced UX design, product strategy, and user research. Learn about senior UX designer and UX lead roles, prototyping, usability testing, and how to advance your UX design career.

Grow your UX design expertise

Skills you'll gain: Responsive Web Design, Storyboarding, Wireframing, User Experience Design, UI/UX Research, User Experience, Usability Testing, Information Architecture, Presentations, Web Design, User Research, Design Thinking, Figma (Design Software), Usability, Design Reviews, Persona (User Experience), User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Web Presence, Interviewing Skills
★ 4.8 (100K) · Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months

Skills you'll gain: User Story, Information Architecture, UI/UX Research, User Research, Persona (User Experience), User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design, Design Thinking, Agile Software Development, UI/UX Strategy, Scrum (Software Development), User Centered Design, Design Research, Responsive Web Design, User Interface (UI), Figma (Design Software), Wireframing, User Experience, Adobe XD, Responsible AI, Prototyping
★ 4.8 (2.9K) · Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Skills you'll gain: User Research, UI/UX Research, Design Research, User Experience, User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design, Competitive Analysis, User Interface (UI), User Experience Design, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, User Flows, Interactive Design, Persona (User Experience), Qualitative Research, Usability, User Centered Design, User Interface (UI) Design, Experience Design, Wireframing, Human Computer Interaction
★ 4.3 (16) · Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Advanced UX designers deepen their expertise by designing for many products, at various stages of development. They ask good questions to reveal research gaps, deliver consistent work, and are collaboration experts. They might also take on more leadership and management responsibilities. Explore our free resources as you take your UX design career to the next level:
Find your career track: UX Career Paths: Explore Roles & Specializations
Discover your next course: Which UX Course Should You Take? Find Out in 1 Minute
Watch on YouTube: AI in UX Design: 5 Ways to Elevate Your Design Process
Ready to start learning? Explore our catalog of UX design courses or accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.
Senior UX designers make an median total pay of $181,000 according to Glassdoor [1]. These roles typically require five years of experience. Salaries only go up as you advance, so a Principal UX designer makes an average base salary of $241,000 [2].
Glassdoor. “Senior User Experience Designer Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/senior-user-experience-designer-salary-SRCH_KO0,31.htm.” Accessed September 19, 2025.
UX designers at any stage of their career are responsible for customer’s satisfaction and interaction with everyday products and services. Senior UX designers are able to deliver consistent designs quickly and efficiently, while collaborating with product and cross-functional teams with ease. They may even take on managing junior-level designers or lead a team of designers to design experiences that align with strategic business goals.
To advance into senior UX designer roles, you’ll want to demonstrate strong skills in prototyping, wireframing, and mockups in ways that align with user needs and business strategy. Collaboration and communication with researchers, developers, and writers is critical to your work, so it is also beneficial to expand your knowledge of UX research methodologies, coding, and information architecture. Many who start in junior-level roles can advance into senior roles as they gain experience.

