Digital Product Design vs. Creative Design: What is the Difference?

Despite sharing the term “design”, digital product design and creative design are vastly distinct in terms of objectives, methodologies, and the benefits they bring to a brand.

What is digital product design?

Digital product design aims to create seamless user experiences and user-friendly interfaces for a range of digital products, such as websites, mobile apps, and bespoke digital platforms. This process involves a multidisciplinary approach that integrates various aspects of design, including but not limited to user experience (UX), user interface (UI) and interactive design, while also taking into account usability, accessibility, technical feasibility, and scalability. The ultimate goal is to provide users with a positive experience that meets the needs of both users and businesses.

What is creative design?

Creative design encompasses a diverse range of design disciplines, such as graphic design, motion design and others. The primary objective of creative design is to create captivating and cohesive visuals that align with a brand’s identity and business objectives. This process focuses on effectively communicating a brand’s intended messages, and ultimately serving as a critical component in shaping brand image and reputation.

Let’s take a further look at the differences between digital product design and creative design.

Difference in primary objectives

Digital product designers focus on solving functional problems for users, creating digital products that provide smooth experiences without glitches. By taking a user-centred approach, the process requires designers to empathetically understand the target audiences and address any potential issues that they might encounter. While digital product design requires creativity, it’s also an analytical and logical role that emphasises problem-solving and involves a continuous process of implementing user feedback to build products that deliver what users need.

On the other hand, creative design has a greater focus on visual appeal. Creators have a deep knowledge of design principles and an artistic flair to create aesthetically pleasing visuals. There is however still a problem-solving element: creative designers must figure out what the target user wants and address these pain points through art. They use graphic design principles to catch the eyes of target audiences, rope them in, and encourage them to keep looking with compelling designs.

Overall, the primary objective of creative design is to convey a message, while the primary objective of digital product design is to create bespoke functional products that provide users with a pleasant experience.

Difference in benefits

At the heart of digital product design lies the objective of crafting user-centred designs that are intuitive, user-friendly, and efficient. By fulfilling these objectives, brands can improve user satisfaction and engagement, which can help them achieve their business objectives. As products are designed to meet users’ needs, digital product design can lead to increased sales, improved customer retention, and better brand loyalty.

Furthermore, digital product design provides brands with the means to bring products to market swiftly. By facilitating the rapid prototyping, testing, and refinement of designs, businesses can respond more rapidly to market demands, stay ahead of the competition, and secure a larger share of the market.

Digital product design also offers greater efficiency by streamlining workflows, reducing inefficiencies by automating tasks, and integrating different systems and technologies. The result is a reduction in costs and an increase in productivity.

Creative design is a powerful tool that can help your organisation build a strong brand identity that resonates with your target audience. This can lead to increased brand awareness and differentiation.

Moreover, creative design helps your business stand out from its competitors by creating unique and memorable visual identities that foster a distinct brand image. This has the potential to attract more customers and generate greater interest in your products or services.

Finally, creative design can help your organisation engage its customers and stakeholders by creating visually appealing and compelling designs that communicate your message effectively. By creating designs that resonate with your audience, you can foster a deeper connection with your customers, leading to increased loyalty and advocacy.

Difference in processes

The digital product design process is more technically oriented and focuses on functionality, while the creative design process focuses on aesthetics and communication.

Digital product design process:

• Research: identifying the user groups and understanding their unique needs and wants.

• Ideation: generating sketches of wireframes and information architecture to delineate the layout and functionality of the product.

• Design: creating visual designs for the product, including creating a visual language, designing the user interface, and choosing colours and typography.

• Prototype: building a prototype of the product, which can be a low-fidelity prototype for testing functionality or a high-fidelity prototype for testing the design.

• Testing: conducting user testing to gather feedback to support designers in continually iterating the design to ensure optimal functionality and user satisfaction.

Creative design process:

• Research: understanding the target audiences and their preferences.

• Brainstorm: sketching creative concepts and mood boards, and creating style guides to guide the design process.

• Design: creating designs using various artistic mediums such as graphic design, photography, and motion, and applying fundamentals such as colour, typography, imagery, and composition to ensure the desired aesthetic is achieved.

• Review: presenting the design to stakeholders for feedback and incorporating their input into the final design.

• Production: finalising the output for distribution.

Difference in tools and techniques

Digital product designers rely on specialised software such as Adobe XD and Figma to create wireframes, prototypes, and interfaces. While design principles remain crucial, their main objective is to craft a visually appealing and user-friendly product. To achieve this, they collaborate closely with developers and possess knowledge of technical limitations and coding languages to communicate effectively with development teams.

Moreover, digital product designers need to have both qualitative and quantitative research skills to inform their designs. Conducting research on target audiences and their needs is a critical step in developing a digital product that aligns with specific objectives. Early-stage techniques like prototyping informed by research and user testing are also vital in refining the product’s design.

Creative designers employ a combination of traditional and digital tools to bring their artistic visions to life. In some cases, creative design jobs may also require skills in photography or videography.

The value of an expert digital product agency

A holistic approach to digital product design is the best way to create engaging and effective products, creating a digital product with an exceptional UX while simultaneously creating an interface design that is visually appealing and conveys the right message for your brand.

What’s more, specialised agencies can draw on previous experience, with access to expertise, resources, and a skilled and dedicated team. Digital product design and creative design go hand in hand when it comes to growing a strong online presence and hiring experts with skills in both is the best way to get digital products that speak to your users and help grow your business.

Adrenalin is a leading digital product and technology agency for Australia’s top brands and organisations. Stay informed about the latest digital product trends, strategies, and tactics by subscribing to the Adrenalin newsletter below.