As I become more senior in the field of UX, I have more business related decisions. How does UX Designer, Product Designer, and Product Manager all fit together?
I think of a Product Designer as someone who is focused on a specific product or features of a product. For example, in my own career history, when I was working at VMware and TripIt, I was focused on specific products. Those products spanned multiple devices and delivery mechanisms, but I only focused on the products themselves. When consulting, there is a more holistic view, and then I consider myself a UX Designer.
Don Norman's original definition as to what a UX Designer is helps clarify:
"'User experience' encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products."
When worthing with different clients, I take into account both users and business goals, customer interaction with the business, etc.
There are a lot of articles about being a Product Designer. One I read recently tracked the traits required for the job of Product Designer by analyzing 30 job descriptions. These are the top 10 traits that the author came up with:
In order of popularity and skill importance:
Interaction / UI Design
Visual Design
Communication /Articulation
Collaboration
UX Design
High Work Standards
Efficient
Decision Making
User Research / User Testing
Customer / User Focus
However, there is no definition offered of UX Design in the article. It is lumped under foundational design knowledge. There is also no mention of the method used to collate the chosen job descriptions, location of jobs, or company type. Therefore, I cannot make an informed decision about this person's opinion, about whether I consider them "correct" or not.
I define myself as a UX Designer, not a Product Designer.