An Overlap! Or? Product Owner vs UX Designer

Imagine this: somewhere in the product world, a product owner Amanda and a UX designer Olia work on a SaaS product together. But both sense tension. Amanda has just handed off Olia's design to the development team, pushing the feature into implementation. Olia, however, believes she should be the one curating the design process and working closely with the devs to ensure the user experience is properly executed. This isn’t the first time this has happened. And it’s starting to affect the product team’s dynamic.

Scenarios like this are more common than you’d think. In the fast-paced world of product development, especially within SaaS companies, the roles of a product owner vs UX designer often intersect in ways that create overlap and sometimes friction. So, what exactly does a product owner do? What are a UX designer’s responsibilities? Where do the roles overlap? And most importantly: how can teams turn potential conflict into effective collaboration?

At Eleken, a design agency specializing in SaaS products, our UX designers work closely with product owners every day. We’ve seen these tensions firsthand, and we’ve also seen how smooth collaboration can accelerate the product development process and increase business value when the roles are clearly defined. In this article, we’ll break down each role, where they overlap, and how to create a productive working relationship between UX and product management.

What does a product owner do?

If you ask Amanda, she'd define the product owner role as a person responsible for defining, prioritizing, and managing the product backlog. The role is typical for Scrum product teams and is usually not separated from the product manager's role. Product owner responsibilities cover only a part of the product manager's scope. Good product managers are product owners, and usually it's more effective when one person takes on these two roles. As a great product manager and product owner, Amanda has a profound understanding of all product aspects from technical feasibility and the ux process to aligning with business strategy and user experience goals.

Amanda's role is to "own" the product by managing and facilitating the team's efforts necessary to build a successful product. This means she constantly makes sure that everything stays on the product roadmap track throughout the entire product development process.

Turning the product vision into an actionable product backlog is one of the main responsibilities of the product owner. Another one is maintaining constant communication with users, conducting user interviews, and generating user stories based on real-world feedback and data.

Overall, Amanda works closely with developers, marketers, and business analysts,  but most of all with UX designers, to ensure the product designs meet real user needs while staying aligned with business goals and budget limitations. Her work sits at the intersection of product management, user experience, and strategic thinking, making her role essential for the product's success.

UX designer role

Olia is here to help us define the role of a user experience (UX) designer. She is a user experience specialist who designs products that are easy and enjoyable to use. UX designers are responsible for improving the user experience of software products and services through research, design, and prototyping. Their job is to ensure that everything about your product works well for the people who use it - from the way it looks to how intuitive it is to use.

To achieve that, Olia identifies user needs, conducts user research, and creates wireframes or prototypes based on her findings. The UX designer’s responsibilities include both UX research and UX/UI design, making her essential to the overall UX process. Her work helps connect the product vision to real-world usability, making sure the final product delivers real business value for both users and stakeholders.

She works closely with product managers, product owners, and developers to ensure that the design decisions are not just beautiful, but also aligned with the product strategy, business goals, and technical feasibility.

By the way, when you're curious to learn more, we have an article that explains UX designer responsibilities in more detail — including how they fit within broader product management and design teams.

The collaboration between product owners and UX designers

Product owners and UX designers collaborate most often during the product development process. And to be honest, one without the other is rarely effective. A well-balanced product team needs both to ensure the product delivers real business value while staying usable and enjoyable for real users.

The synergy between product owners and UX designers is crucial for the product’s success. Both roles involve gathering and analyzing information about user needs to inform product creation and ensure the product vision is executed in a way that solves real problems.

This is the case with our characters Olia and Amanda, who constantly cooperate and exchange information about the user.

The product owner is responsible for sharing the product vision, priorities, and constraints with the UX team to ensure that the designs align with broader business and technical goals. Meanwhile, the UX designer contributes ideas based on user research, UX design principles, and interaction patterns that support usability and accessibility.

Both roles typically participate in Scrum ceremonies like sprint planning, daily standups, and reviews. They also collaborate closely with the development team to ensure the designs are implemented accurately and that the final product meets user expectations while delivering business goals.

This kind of collaboration is a key part of any modern UX process, especially in agile environments. When a product owner and a UX designer understand their complementary roles, they form a strong partnership that fuels effective product strategy and great user experience.

Now that we've seen how product management and UX design combine forces, it’s time to look more closely at the issue of roles overlap in their work.

Why product owners and UX designers overlap

Amanda runs the product backlog, while Olia researches and designs user experiences. The difference between the product owner and the UX designer in terms of skill sets and scope seems clear. However, in real life, overlap happens all the time — and it's one of the most common challenges in product development processes.

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Identifying the overlap

Most of the confusion occurs during the product discovery phase or while iterating quickly on rapid design tasks. Both the UX designer and the product owner work with the user and aim to improve the user experience, which means their responsibilities can easily intersect.

In some teams, the UX designer is responsible for UX research, conducts user research, and collects user feedback through usability testing or user interviews. In other teams, the product owner may take over that responsibility. The overlap usually occurs when no one clearly defines which team member does what — especially in early-stage or rapidly scaling SaaS companies.

Another example of overlap is the collaboration with the development team. It’s often unclear whether the UX designer or the product owner should curate the implementation of designs. Both roles work closely with developers, and both want to ensure the final output aligns with user expectations and business goals. But without clear boundaries, things get messy.

In such cases, you may need to revisit your team structure or make small but important process improvements. Clarifying ownership over specific parts of the UX process or product development cycle helps reduce misunderstandings and improve collaboration.

This situation isn't rare. A study by the Nielsen Norman Group confirms that this type of overlap is common in UX and product management roles. The reason is simple: both roles are focused on defining, creating, and optimizing user experiences. When your job involves user needs, research, and defining solutions — as it does for both Amanda and Olia — role overlap becomes inevitable without solid leadership.

The reasons for the overlap

According to Nielsen Norman research, the primary reasons behind product owner vs UX designer overlap include:

• Lack of leadership within the product team
• Poor understanding of UX roles and product owner responsibilities
• The belief that team members have the specialized skills to handle others’ tasks
• The shared desire of all team members to do the right thing

While well-intentioned, this lack of clarity often leads to confusion, duplicated efforts, and even slowed progress. That’s why defining who does what — and when — is not just a process task, it’s a strategic move that boosts productivity and creates more business value.

How to deal with "product owner vs UX designer" overlap? Strategies for effective collaboration

It's easier to resolve the product owner vs UX designer overlap than you might think. Often, the key isn't more tools or meetings — it's clearer understanding, better communication, and strong team leadership. If your product team is experiencing repeated friction between roles, start by acknowledging the issue and implementing the following collaboration strategies.

1. Clearly define roles in your product team

First things first: get everyone aligned on what each role entails. Make sure your UX designer's responsibilities—like conducting user research, creating wireframes, and improving the user experience — are clearly separated from those of the product owner, who should focus on product vision, managing the product backlog, and aligning the work with broader business goals.

When responsibilities are defined and agreed upon by the whole team, you reduce ambiguity and build trust.

2. Assign responsibilities to each role

Even if you’re working in a flexible or Agile environment, assigning ownership over specific tasks like user interviews, UX research, or feature prioritization can prevent misalignment. For example, while the UX designer might conduct user research and synthesize insights, the product owner can translate those findings into actionable user stories that feed the product roadmap.

Each role should bring their strengths to the table. The UX designer brings deep empathy for users and mastery of the UX process. The product owner brings product management experience, business acumen, and a clear understanding of stakeholders’ expectations.

3. Make it clear who is to take leadership

Who makes the final call when trade-offs arise —nsay, when a new UX design direction might conflict with a business requirement? That decision point should be defined upfront. The product owner usually leads on business value, but the UX designer should lead when the decision relates to usability or the user journey.

Clarifying this leadership balance early on avoids gridlock when quick decisions are needed.

4. Make roles and responsibilities explicit for the whole team

It’s not enough that Amanda and Olia know who’s doing what — the development team, project managers, and even other team members should understand where responsibilities lie. Shared documentation (like a roles/responsibilities matrix) can help everyone stay aligned.

When the entire product team understands where boundaries lie, collaboration improves naturally.

5. Encourage frequent and effective communication

The best way to keep UX and product ownership aligned is through constant, open communication. That means:

• Regular check-ins between Amanda and Olia
• Clear status updates across functions
• Using tools like Figma, Jira, or Miro for visibility
• Participating in Scrum ceremonies like sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives

By maintaining a shared view of the product vision, the team minimizes miscommunication and maximizes shared momentum.

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Bottom-up change is still change

Even if your organization lacks clear top-down role structures, don’t wait. You and your team members can begin implementing these collaboration practices from the bottom up. Proactivity breeds clarity—and a more productive partnership between UX and product management.

Once your roles are defined and your UX designer and product owner are truly in sync, you’ll start to notice less overlap and more synergy. And that kind of collaboration is what drives the product’s success.

Bringing product and UX together for your product’s success

At Eleken, we know that a product’s success often hinges on the collaboration between product owners and UX designers. When these roles align — sharing the product vision, respecting each other’s responsibilities, and communicating openly — the whole product team benefits.

Our UX designers don’t just hand off mockups, they conduct user research, support the product development process, and work closely with product managers, developers, and stakeholders. This flexible, embedded approach ensures every design decision supports both user needs and business goals.

As Kate, product owner at Habit app, put it:

“We communicated every other day and had regular calls with design updates. The workflow was smooth... I’m really impressed by Eleken designers’ quality of work and their design leadership.”

If you're navigating the overlap between product and UX, drop us a line. We'll match you with a dedicated UX designer who understands the product owner vs UX designer dynamic and integrates seamlessly into your product team.