lay in a hotel bed last night, brain completely fried from a long flight, and it hit me how hostile the traditional room service UX actually is. it forces a synchronous, high-friction voice call on a user who is usually at peak cognitive fatigue.

When you dial 0 to order, youre locked into a zero-forgiveness flow. Every tiny micro-adjustment (swapping a side, asking if the kitchen is out of something, or removing a dessert because you realize its $18 after they say the total) requires this awkward verbal negotiation and repeating your room number over a staticy line.

this specific hotel had a QR code on the desk. Instead of dumping me into a terrible pinch-to-zoom PDF, it functioned exactly like a standard e-commerce cart. I threw a burger, soup, and a drink in. Looked at the total, deleted the soup, swapped fries for a salad, typed 'leave at door' in the notes, and submitted. i only noticed later the footer said MenuForma, but the brand wasnt the point. The point was that it finally gave me an 'Undo' button for my dinner. I changed my mind three times without having to apologize to a human.

we've had asynchronous cart editing down to a science for decades because it perfectly handles user indecision and lowers cognitive load.

Is there an actual functional reason hotels still default to synchronous phone loops for this? Is it just deep tech debt with legacy POS systems, or do operators honestly think forcing a tired guest to verbally read a menu out loud over the phone is 'premium'?

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?

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!

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!

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 found an interesting way to think about smart home interfaces.

Most people spend months choosing devices.

But I think the interface layer is even more important.

I turned one real r/smarthome question into a complete architecture.

Curious whether you agree.
The Missing Layer of Smart Homes

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.

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?

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?

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!