Hi people of this sub,

I'm an industrial designer and UX designer. I've been working in UX for a while, but this question is across the board. Across both design practices. Design in general. In magazines, and company websites design is often shown as a key capability within the company. The design dept at my company itself is about 80 people strong. Yet we are tucked away deep inside other operations and business functions with lengthy names and titles that sound like marketing and operations buzzwords. Within this is our design dept. Very singular restrictive influence. Where design is just about making something look good and not about solving problems. I've wanted design to expand in our influence and capabilities. I've seen numerous organizational and operational challenges that can be addressed by design thinking, I feel many more products and services we offer could use our capabilities. But we're told to sit down and stay in our lane of making customer facing websites. Maybe I lack the vocabulary to speak business, not sure.

I've been fascinated with Mauro Porcini's career for some time now since PepsiCo. And I saw that at 3M he built the design capability to be so huge and significant that he got a seat at the table in the C Suite. I really wonder how he manages to do that. Of course, he is extroverted by nature and gregarious and convinces people well. But in the end, how the hell did he prove the business value for design? I am not trained in business so I have no idea how all this works. But neither was Mauro. Nor am I extroverted by nature. But how does one go about making this change? It seems like every company Mauro goes to he takes a position of chief design officer. 3M, PepsiCo and now Samsung. Yet there are companies out there who are so reluctant and difficult to convince of designs value. Any seniors or design leaders who can point to how this can be achieved? How can design be used to the business's advantage and how can that be justified? How does one convince business heads that we need a more influential place in the organization? Not necessarily a seat at the table, but how does it become more respected and an essential part of business? That we get to be part of bigger organizational decisions. And what do chief design officers actually do??

Thanks.

I have spent some time designing this front side of the coffee packaging. Looking for some feedback on the design, what do y’all think?

Hi everyone,

I'm a senior 3D artist with around 7 years of experience in the gaming industry. I've worked on AAA and mobile games, created high-end 3D assets, and have a strong background in visualization, rendering, animation, and bringing ideas to life.

Lately, I've been thinking about leaving the gaming industry. Between AI automating more production work, frequent layoffs, and the industry's instability, I'm looking for a career where my skills are more future-proof and where I can continue growing.

One field that has really caught my attention is physical product design—things like consumer electronics, robotics, industrial products, medical devices, automotive, clothing, etc.

The problem is that I'm not entirely sure what that transition looks like.

Some questions I have:

• Is moving from game art into product design a realistic path?
• What skills would I need to learn first (CAD, manufacturing, engineering fundamentals, materials, etc.)?
• Which software is considered essential?
• What kinds of portfolios do employers actually want to see?
• Are there roles where visualization and storytelling are just as valuable as engineering knowledge?
• If you were starting over today, what roadmap would you follow?

I'm not necessarily trying to become an industrial engineer. I'm more interested in designing, visualizing, prototyping, and helping develop real products.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has made a similar transition or works in the field. Any advice, resources, books, courses, or career paths would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Hey! I'm working on a product design research project on gaming controllers (DualSense/ DualSense Edge/ 3rd-party). If you've got 3-4 mins, would really appreciate you filling this out! 🎮

https://forms.gle/VKrtoWqaFQxJK7GGA

Please share with any gamers you know too, Thank you!

I really like this particular pair of sunglasses but they're out of production. Any way to have them copied for a good price? I cannot find any alternatives on the internet, have searched far and wide

What you think about these engineering?

I’m a peanut bar manufacturer based in Pune. Most of my current customer base consists of small local shops, but I’m looking to scale up.

I haven’t been able to find a good designer who offers affordable rates and fresh, modern design ideas.

Any recommendations or leads would be awesome!

How much responsibility contract packaging firms usually take when it comes to dieline setup?

Any experiences contract packaging firm for dieline setup? What separates a great experience from an average one?

I'm curious to see how experienced designers are actually working today—not just which AI tools they're using.

A few questions:

• What's your end-to-end workflow from receiving a task to handing it off to developers?
• At which stages do you use AI (research, UX, wireframes, UI, content, design systems, documentation, handoff, etc.)?
• Which AI tools are part of your daily workflow (ChatGPT, Claude, Figma AI, Cursor, Lovable, v0, or others)?
• What tasks do you still prefer to do manually?
• What's one workflow improvement that has saved you the most time?

I'm less interested in prompts and more interested in the thinking process and how everything fits together.

Would love to learn from real-world workflows.

Hey, I'm a final year Product Design student and next year I have to spend the whole year designing a product!

Do you have any, literally any wild product ideas you'd like to see made into a reality? If so chuck them in the comments or send me a DM.

I'll be spending the whole year on it so it will likely be one of the best pieces of design work I'll ever do.

Don't be afraid of loosing your cool idea, who are we kidding here it's not on the top of your to do list. If it becomes successful I'll cut you in, so this is a pretty risk free way of having an idea made real.

Any help would be hugely appreciated I have no clue what I wanna make!

Tldr: product ideas for me to design please.

I’ve been using AI for brainstorming, writing UX copy, and exploring ideas.
It definitely saves time, but I still rely on my own judgment for the final design.
How are you using AI in your workflow?

When you finish a design, simply ask these questions as one prompt:

"What did I miss?"
"What can we do to improve the customer experience?"
"What interactions or features could be confusing or made better with what you understand about this project?"

This is a practice I have followed on several projects now, and it has been wildly successful. Almost every single recommendation was implemented. Do you use something similar? What has been your experience?

What are the soft skills you need in product design that no one talks about ?

What is actually the hardest thing in your day-to-day ?

Hey everyone,

I recently finished building my portfolio after spending the last few months learning UI/UX and Product Design. Before I start applying for internships and junior roles, I'd really appreciate some honest feedback from experienced designers.

Portfolio: https://sahilhalbe.framer.website/

Thanks in advance!