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7 Types of Product Design

John Spacey, updated on February 25, 2024

Product design is the process of developing, planning and creating physical products. This involves marketing, visual design, engineering, information design, communication design and interaction design. This is often approached by measuring success and failure in terms of user needs, behavior and perceptions. The following are common types of product design.

Industrial Design

The design of products for production at industrial scale.

Cultural Design

Design that strongly aligns to a traditional or contemporary culture. For example, the design of kimono in Japan that is based on traditional materials and dressmaking with reinterpretations of historical patterns, motifs and colors.

Fashion Design

The design of clothing and accessories that are intended to make a fashion statement beyond being merely functional.

Craft Design

The design of creative and traditional items that are produced at less than industrial scale.

User Experience Design

Design that is rooted in user feedback and data whereby success or failure is measured in terms of user behavior and perceptions. For example, a scarf that is well designed if it is highly rated by customers or a smartphone that is well designed if it achieves high user engagement.

Product Engineering

Product design beyond product aesthetics and user interfaces in areas such as functionality, performance and quality. For example, a smartphone that is designed for its look & feel and usability also includes designs for the hardware and software that implement its functionality and non-functional characteristics such as reliability.

Packaging Design

The functional, marketing and informational design of packaging. Packages greatly influence sales, customer satisfaction and returns. They are also have significant implications for cost, merchandising, security and compliance.