Analysis from a big company! Advantages and difficulties of the three positions of UI, interaction and product manager

Many readers want to switch from UI to interaction and ask me how to systematically learn interaction design. My answer is basically: there is no need to switch to interaction, UI is good enough. If an interaction designer asks a product manager friend, he may also answer that interaction is good enough and there is no need to switch to product manager.

This article is my personal understanding of the advantages and difficulties of the three positions of UI, interaction and product manager.

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UI

Compared with the other two positions, UI design has the highest entry threshold. It requires high professional skills.

Essential skills for UI: aesthetics, configuration, layout, color matching, C4D and even AE animation. There are two skills that are difficult and must be mastered in UI, one is aesthetics and the other is configuration. UI requires good aesthetics. There is no innate talent for aesthetics, it is acquired, and you can improve your aesthetics by constantly looking at pictures every day. There is no shortcut. Configuration is the secondary creation ability of the abstract ability of entities, and the more common ones are illustrations and icons.

The reason why many UI designers want to switch to interaction is that the UI is designed based on interaction drafts, which limits the UI designer's room for creativity.

The work of an interaction designer gives the UI designer a very simple feeling, and there are no requirements for aesthetics, configuration, color matching, C4D, etc. Most UIs are restricted by these aspects and cannot be broken through. I hope to end this bottleneck by switching to interaction design.

In the eyes of some UI designers, the salary of interaction designers is generally higher than that of UI designers. This is also one of the reasons for changing careers. In fact, there is almost no difference in salary between UI and interaction. The reason for this illusion is that most interactions are in large companies. The average salary of large companies is higher than that of small companies, so the average salary of interaction designers is higher than that of UI. In large companies, the overall average salary of UI and interaction is similar.

Advantages of UI Designer:

The implementation cannot be replaced. For C-end products, UI designers are ultimately required to produce design drafts and implement them through development. In this process, UI designers cannot be replaced, which also highlights the importance of UI designers.

On the B side, some products are developed through ant design. If the product requirements are low, even after the product manager completes the prototype, the development is directly carried out using ant design.

The UI designer’s dilemma:

In the downstream role, product planning functions, interactive planning processes and page layout. When it comes to UI, the space for visual design is limited.

The Internet industry has a short lifespan, and UI has a shorter lifespan than interactions and products. Relatively speaking, product managers have a longer tenure.

The upper limit of UI designers is design directors. Of course there are exceptions, but the probability is relatively low.

Interaction Designer

In companies with standardized processes, interaction designers receive product requirements, engage in interaction prototype design, and define processes and interface layouts. Interaction designers become an indispensable part of the workflow.

Advantages of being an interaction designer:

In a company with a standardized experience process, an interaction designer can become the role of connecting the entire design party. Interaction designers have become an indispensable link, and at the same time, they have more to do in design and can give full play to their design ideas. Compared with product managers, interaction designers are not restricted by industry. They can work in any industry, and there is more room for choice.

The Dilemma of Interaction Designers:

In companies without standardization, interaction designers may not be a necessary part, which makes interaction a dispensable role. Among these three positions, the most vulnerable one should be the interaction designer, because interaction designers are easily replaced. From the perspective of workflow, the product manager's product documents can be directly submitted to the UI designer. After the UI designer completes the design, it will be implemented in development.

Product Manager

The entry threshold for product managers is relatively low, and the industry has a huge demand. Compared with interaction designers, product managers are the most indispensable role in a company. They connect users, demanders, development, and design.

Advantages of Product Manager:

In terms of positions, product managers have higher future development prospects and broad career prospects. If the upper limit of a designer is design director, then the upper limit of a product manager is the upper limit of the company, which is VP or even CEO.

The success of a project is achieved by the product manager together with the designers, demanders and developers. The ultimate person in charge is undoubtedly the person who takes the lead, and this person is the product manager.

The Product Manager’s Dilemma:

It is very difficult to be a good product manager. You need to have a good understanding of the business and various professional skills, as well as excellent communication skills. Product managers are easily bound to an industry. If they don't like the industry they are in, it will be much more difficult to jump out of it and work in other industries. The industry attributes of product managers have high requirements, which also leads to fewer job opportunities, and generally they will not change jobs easily.

Summarize

These three roles have always been in the siege: UI designers want to do interaction, interaction designers want to do product design, and even B-side designers want to do C-side design. Product managers are also imprisoned by the industry.

Regardless of the position, whether it is C-end or B-end, if you do well in your position, you will have a bright future. I used to work on the B-end, but I felt that I didn’t feel fulfilled enough, so I switched to the C-end. However, my colleagues who are engaged in B-end design and product are now doing well in the workplace. Every position and every end has problems, and you don’t necessarily need to change careers to escape the current predicament. Sometimes it’s not the problem of the position, but our own problem.

The above is my personal opinion on the three ends. If you have other different opinions, please leave a message in the comment area.