Most profit-seeking product people pile into the luxury market, creating temporarily-fashionable nonsense objects that rely on artificial scarcity. Those designers aren't solving any problem except their own, and that problem is "How do I get rich?"

Thankfully, there are still plenty of designers focused on the usability of humdrum, everyday objects. By making them even a tad easier to use, or more fun to interact with, or easier to maintain, they enrich the lives of everyday people in a small but collectively significant way. That, to me, is the true power of design.

Here are some of our favorite UX improvements—or experimental attempts at them, which still deserve credit—that came across our desk this year.

Better UX for Barbecue Grills: Burner Knobs that Indicate Temperature Using Color

An Ergonomic Scoop that Dispenses Ice Cream in Cylinders

Improving the UX of the Ice Cube Tray

Great UX Detail on Yamazaki Home's Floating Spoon

A Tippable Teacup with a Built-in Strainer

A Measuring Cup that Squeegees Itself Clean

Single Flippable Lens Eyeglasses for Applying Eye Makeup

A Rear-Entry Motorcycle Helmet That You Don Like a Mask

Better UX Design for a Helmet with a Protective Facemask

Japanese Overdesign: Bookends that Don't Let the Books Fall Over When One is Removed

A Future-Proof Wall Outlet with Easily Swappable Ports

HTX Studio Explores the Design of Smart, Roving Trash Cans

Rethinking the UX of the Kitchen Garbage Can

Craighill Improves the UX of the Key Ring

Obsessive UX Design Detail: A Bag Hook that Retracts

A Small Design Touch to Improve the UX of Ski Poles

Remedial Design: Industrial Designer Invents Better Solution for Drying Out Hydration Bladders

Remedial Design: A Bully Stick Holder That Prevents Choking

Fantastic Design Details in this Zilch Bike Pump

A Brilliant UX Detail on These Shinwa "Pick Up" Rulers

An Innovative UX Detail: A Pocket Knife with a Clip that Retracts

Horl's Scissors Have an Unusual Feature Designed to Make Sharpening Simple

Designing a Better Soldering Station, Garnering $500,000 in Pledges

A Snow Shovel Designed for How People Actually Behave

An Actually Useful Application for Gesture Control: Headlamp Activation

Better UX Than Roadside Flares: LED-Equipped Lizard Flares

Examples of Good/Bad Execution of a UX Improvement for Flashlights

Early UI Design: The World's First Keyboard was Invented for Deaf-Mutes in 1865

A Paradigm "Shift:" QwertyMax Keyboard Updates a 150-Year-Old UI UX Rethink: A Physical Timer with a Progress Bar

The Rivian R1T's Brilliant "Seamless Tailgate" Design Feature

Remedial Design: Touchscreen Backlash Prompts Aftermarket Control Knob and Buttons for Teslas

Apple's Unique Anti-Motion-Sickness Screen Animation Trick

What began as a site-activated installation during Goat Farm's SITE 2025 arts festival—first encountered by thousands over a single night—has evolved into a year-long public exhibition at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Plastic Reimagined transforms locally sourced plastic waste into full-scale seating prototypes, bridging design education, material research, and civic infrastructure at one of the world's busiest public sites.

Plastic Reimagined at SITE 2025, Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta.Credit: © Andrew Thomas LeePlastic Reimagined at SITE 2025, Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta.Credit: © Andrew Thomas LeePlastic Reimagined at SITE 2025, Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta.Credit: © Andrew Thomas LeeDiscarded plastics are shredded, pressed, milled, or cast into formCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeeDiscarded plastics are shredded, pressed, milled, or cast into formCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeePlastic Rocks – marbled HDPE and PLA form a monolithic, stone-like chair that reinterprets the Adirondack as a chiseled blockCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeeModu-Chair – Adirondack form built from PLA/HDPE cubic modules, echoing quilting patterns through stacked, interlocking blocksCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeeFramework – waterjet-cut lattice in recycled HDPE, translating Adirondack solidity into a modular, transparent structureCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeePlastic Lamina – tiled HDPE panels combining precision-machined frames with hand-rolled, patterned insertsCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeeVincent – hand-shaped recycled plastic forms fused into a sculptural Adirondack, with joinery hidden beneath swirling, marbled surfacesCredit: © Andrew Thomas LeeView the full project here

Artificial intelligence in design is no longer a future fantasy—it's a present reality. We already see real use cases where AI meaningfully extends a designer's capabilities. It acts as a force multiplier, enabling individuals and teams to generate ideas, iterate faster, and explore directions that might not have otherwise surfaced.

One of the clearest early wins is in concept generation. Tools powered by generative AI can quickly produce mood boards and product concept renderings. It's like having a team of digital interns ready to create visual alternatives immediately. This doesn't just speed up workflows—it expands the scope ofbroadens creative exploration, which leads directly to higher quality solutions down the road. And on the textual side, AI can now simulate something as fundamental as brainstorming. When I started in design in the '90s, it took eight people in a room for an hour to generate a wide set of ideas. Now, an AI collaborator can do that in seconds.

Drew Bamford, Citizen Designer

That's where AI excels in the design process: during the divergent phase, where the goal is quantity and variety. Accuracy at this stage isn't critical. After all, even human-generated ideas in a brainstorm are often messy, incomplete, or unviable. It's in the convergence phase—where concepts are refined and validated—that human judgment becomes essential. AI can suggest, but it's up to us to select.

Speed, in this context, isn't about cutting corners—it's about enabling more iterations. The design process has always been iterative; the more loops, the better the results. AI speeds up each phase, allowing for more cycles without expanding timelines. But with that speed comes risk. Shortcuts, if taken blindly, can amplify mistakes. Trusting AI output requires vigilance. Just as we verify the work of a new human colleague, we must vet the results AI gives us—at least for now. Trust is earned over time.

Editor's Note: This essay is part of a new series exploring how AI is transforming the way physical products are imagined, designed, and built. Hardware is the New Salt will spotlight several thinkers and makers at the intersection of AI and product design and their insights into this dynamic technology ecosystem. This series is supported by Enzzo, who offers an AI-first product development platform created to support the next generation of builders.

Beyond acceleration, AI also offers a path to greater personalization. By reducing the cost and complexity of the design process, it becomes feasible to create niche or even individualized products. Imagine designing a product not for a mass market, but for a market of one. That shift could dramatically improve how well products serve their users.

This opens up a larger, more philosophical question: do we want more products, or just better ones? AI has the potential to unleash a flood of new things, but it also risks contributing to overconsumption. We must embed the right values into the tools we build.
But whose values? These tools are being developed around the world, with differing cultural norms and priorities. There will never be a single, universal moral framework encoded into AI.

Still, there's an inspiring opportunity here: democratization. Just as the early web allowed individuals to become publishers, AI could make it possible for anyone to become a product designer. Pair that with rapid prototyping or additive manufacturing, and suddenly small businesses—or even individuals—can create meaningful products that corporations might overlook. That kind of empowerment could reshape the creative economy.

AI isn't the first tech transformation I've seen in my decades in design. I learned to draft by hand with a pencil. Then came CAD, which allowed for organic forms we couldn't previously imagine—some brilliant, others merely novel. With AI, we're likely to go through a similar period of exploration and excess before the tools are correctly integrated into practice. The long-term success of AI in design will hinge on how well we use it to augment our human strengths, rather than simply react to its capabilities.

AI might feel different because it's intelligent, or at least simulates intelligence. It doesn't rely solely on the designer's mind—it brings its own "ideas" to the table. That's a new paradigm. But we should remember that it's still a tool. And like all tools, its value depends on the hands and minds that wield it.

About the author: Drew Bamford creates products, experiences and high functioning teams at the intersection of human desires and bleeding edge technologies. Recently, Drew has been teaching government agencies and nonprofits to use the tools of Design Thinking to make change in local and global communities. Previously, Drew led the global cross-functional team of researchers, designers and prototypers who craft the Prime Video experience that delivers entertainment to hundreds of millions of customers in over 200 territories around the world. Prior to joining Amazon, Drew spent 15 years driving the transformation of HTC’s business from ODM to global smartphone brand to spatial computing brand by fostering a design and innovation culture.

All working industrial designers can benefit by seeing what their peers are up to. Thankfully we live in an age where ID firms freely post case studies online, allowing you to see their research, prototyping, and problem-solving processes. They also give you a look at product categories you may not have worked on yet. Have a look at the following, and see where your work does and doesn't overlap with theirs:

A Designey Concrete Firepit with Improved Manufacturability

Sunflower is a twist on the concrete fire pit, designed by Mexican ID firm Shift Studio.

A Better-Looking Brain-Computer Interface

A startup called Neurable had developed the technology, and wanted outstanding design for their first product, called Enten. They turned to industrial design consultancy Fresco for help.

A DC Fast Charger for EVs

A California-based company called MarsCharge is dedicated to developing EV infrastructure. To design their flagship product, a freestanding commercial charger that can top off two EVs at once, they turned to industrial design consultancy DesignStein Studios.

A Lightweight, Inflatable Travel Kennel

When NYC-based pet products company Diggs wanted to create a lightweight travel kennel, they turned to industrial design firm Pensa.

A Magic Handheld X-Ray Machine for Law Enforcement

Viken Detection specializes in harnessing detection technologies for use in security, law enforcement and public safety. To create their Raven product, a handheld X-ray imager, they turned to industrial design consultancy Sprout Studios.

This Beautiful, Tiny Bike Pump

This Featherforged: Nano is a tiny, elegant bike pump. It was created by an anonymous mechanical engineer, who posted the project online. ME credentials aside, this makes for a great ID case study.

A Parent-Invented Device for Tube Feeding and IV Infusions

The FreeArm is a portable, bendable device that serves as a helping hand for tube feeding and IV infusions. It was invented by Will and Misti Staley for their son Freeman, who was born with complex medical needs. They turned to industrial design consultancy Spanner to refine the design.

Tactile Helps Milwaukee Perfect Their Digital Level

Integrating digital tech into a tried-and-true analog tool requires careful thought, rather than just slapping on an LED readout. So when it came time to develop their flagship digital level, tool manufacturer Milwaukee turned to industrial design consultancy Tactile.

A Smart Litter Picker-Upper

San Francisco-based startup Rubbish worked with industrial design consultancy Hatch Duo on this smart litter-picker-upper.

An Experimental "Café Classroom"

London-based ID firm Pearson Lloyd wondered: With all of the changes in technology and society, isn't it time that spaces for learning evolved?

Dremel's Next Generation Power Tools

In recent years Dremel has rolled out a line of innovative power tools. The industrial design firm behind this new generation of stepped-up tools is Michigan-based Sundberg Ferar.

PDR Brings Dignity to Catheter Bags

This Shield concept is by PDR, an industrial design consultancy based in Cardiff, Wales. It aims to bring dignity to those who are required to live with catheters.

A Mobile Airport Lounge

While client work pays the bills, successful industrial design firms know that doing internal projects can keep the creative juices flowing. One such project is this Dovetail concept, by Atlanta-based Formation Design Group.

Here at Core77 we love to showcase student work. Troll readers love it too, because they get to insult kids. ID students among you, don't listen to them. Design school is your time to explore, to experiment fearlessly. So build up your resilience now, and it will stand you in good stead when you eventually enter the workforce. (And remember that designers who take potshots at students probably aren't very good designers.)

Here's some good and great ID student work we saw this year:

A Chair Designed for Painters

By Teo Primo Frizzarin, an Industrial Design student at ECAL. It aims to consider the ergonomics of those working on a canvas rather than a desk.

A Rocking Chair Made from One Sheet of Plywood

It took "five months of struggle," but Pratt ID student Dashiell Schaeffer successfully achieved his material usage goal.

A Clothes Rack With Fixed, Collapsible Hangers

By Aleš Urbancík, an Industrial Design student at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic. Urbancík is rethinking the way clothes are typically hung on a hanger, and finds this method, for which he developed a mechanism, more desirable.

ID and ME Students Collaborate on Surgical Device

Auburn University partnered with KYRA, a medical equipment manufacturer, to task a team of both Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering students with designing a surgical device.

Turning Discarded Carpet Into Comfortable Furniture

By Weil, an Industrial Design student at ECAL. Weil sought to repurpose cast-off material as functional furniture.

A Walker for Seniors and Pets

This Toos concept is by Industrial Design students Jeoung Rae Kim, Shua Bong and Seunghee Lee, of South Korea's Hyupsung University. Collectively they call themselves Comma.

Emergency Housing from Simple PVC Pipes

This CINTRE project is by Baptiste Marx, done when he was pursuing his Masters of Industrial Design at France's ENSCI. Marx's pre-ID degree was in "composite materials project management," and both disciplines informed his approach to designing emergency housing.

A Measuring System for Festool

This project is by Ziyan Huang, an Industrial Design Masters candidate at Germany's Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences. Huang's Cursor Measurement Tool is a proposal for project sponsor Festool. The tool is intended to make it easier for tradespeople to transfer dimensions from blueprints onto the real-world spaces they're building or installing within.

Improving Firefighter Safety

This isn't an ID student project, but may as well be. It came out of a Design Engineering class at Harvard, and was executed by students Adrian Kombe, Meihan Liu and Sirinda Limsong. Tasked with using water to solve a problem, they replaced a $275,000 robot with a $750 solution.

Finding a Use for Bark in Furniture

This project was done by Denise Merlette, as her diploma project in Industrial Design at ECAL. Merlette seeks to turn what is considered by most furniture designers to be a useless part of the tree, the bark, into a useful resource.

Technical Clothing Made from Natural Materials

This excellent Avants project is by Industrial Design student Juliette Masson. Done as her diploma project at ECAL, the project expores the use of more environmentally-friendly materials for technical clothing.

Designing Connectors

We've seen so many blue-sky ID school assignments that this one, which focuses on practicality, is refreshing. It's from the "Basic Knowledge of Product Development" class at Germany's Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, run by professor Mathias Bertram. Three student projects were featured.

Sapna Tayal's Quilted Furniture

This Quilted Furniture project is by Sapna Tayal, an Industrial Design student at Carnegie-Mellon University. I'd give her an "A;" Tayal has imaginatively harnessed production technology, collaborated with non-ID-department bodies and produced a highly professional level of documentation.

Tayal's central question was: "How can we harness the unique capabilities of the overlooked CNC sewing machine, traditionally only used to make soft blankets, and expand its fabrication possibilities?" To get to the answer, she worked with researchers from CMU's Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) and Robotics Institute (RI). Tayal created four objects overall.

A Shovel That Helps Hikers Leave No Trace

This Hideaway shovel is by Wilhelm Berbig, done as an Industrial Design student at the Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien (University of Applied Arts Vienna).

In Austria, there are signposted hiking trails where you can bivouac in small abandoned sheds. Savvy hikers on multi-day treks bring their own toilet paper, but these sheds have no bathrooms. Berbig proposes stocking them with this shovel, in order that hikers can relieve themselves while leaving no trace.

An Elegant Space Heater Concept

This re-thinking of central heating systems is by Moritz Walter, done while pursuing his Master of Industrial Design degree at the Weissensee Kunsthochschule Berlin. Rather than relying on central boilers and radiators, Moritz took a cue from space heaters—minus the metal fins. Instead, Walter did testing with electrically-heated fabric, then experimented with a variety of elegant forms to support the fabric.

A Suggested Industrial Design Student Assignment: Design and Build a Minimalist Chess Set

I think a good Industrial Design student assignment, particularly for sophomores, would be: Design and make a set of minimalist chess pieces--no digital fabrication nor individual sculpting/carving (unless making the pattern for a mold) allowed. This would cover a lot of skills that industrial designers need to develop.

An Architecture Student Project Disaster and Recovery

Lastly, not ID students, but Architecture students. I think we can all remember in-studio disasters, and it's good to see the students pushing through it.

It used to be that we had a design category for cars, and another for bikes. But in recent years, automotive brands and independent inventors have pivoted towards "mobility"—ways to move people and objects that are neither car nor bike. Here's some of the wilder mobility designs we saw this year.

In Japan, Buses That Can Also Ride the Rails

Robots That Use Balls to Get Around

A Beautiful Prosthetic for Amputee Swimmers

An Electric Motorcycle That Can be Turned Into a Snowmobile

Hyundai's Three-Wheeler Concept, Designed for the Indian Market

World's First Self-Balancing Exoskeleton Allows People to Walk Again

Design Needed: These Mad-Max-esque Solar-Powered Bikes and Trikes

"A New Category of Personal Mobility:" Robot Horses

The Pivotal Helix: A Cute, Goofy-Looking Personal Electric Flying Machine

Modular Urban Mobility Solution: The EDAG CityBot

Infinite Machine's Cyber-Utilitarian Olto E-Bike

AEMotion's Designers Tackle the Challenge of an Oddly-Proportioned Vehicle

French Architect's Incredible Spider-Like Vehicle Now in Production

BMW's No-Helmet-Needed Electric Scooter Concept

An Innovative All-Terrain Stair-Climbing Wheelchair from China

A "Flying Suitcase" Personal VTOL Aircraft that Fits in a Car Trunk

A Honda Scooter with a Chinese Design Aesthetic

Yamaha Teases Unusual Mobility Design Concepts

Lexus' Bizarre One-Person Autonomous Luxury Taxi Concept

Minimum Viable Car: The NIUMM

Industrial Design Firm Intenxiv Designs a More Elegant Airport PRM Vehicle

Industrial Designer Invents Transformers-Inspired Folding Scooter

Even as our world becomes increasingly digital, physical tools have exploded in popularity. Though once the domain of tradespeople, modern tool companies now target both them and the consumer sector—not to mention the rabid EDC crowd—with a seemingly endless supply of new product. Here are some of the standouts we saw this year, placed into subcategories:

Beautiful/Designey

Once Known for Scissors, Fiskars Produces a Sought-After Demolition Tool

A Designey Divot Tool from Formawerx and Discommon Goods

A Beautiful, Bizarrely Tiny EDC Folding Knife

The Elegant Kinetic Driver, Designed by Giacomo Di Muro

If Dremel Went Designey? Hoto's SNAPBLOQ Precision Toolkit

Hozo Designs a Better Cordless Ultrasonic Cutter

Fanttik's Mini Chainsaw: A MoMA-esque Version of Stihl's?

Hoto's Designey Rotary Cutter Features Nice UX Touches

A Nifty, Terrifying Folding Axe Design

Cleverly Designed

A Torpedo Level That Changes Color When It's Level or Plumb

The Innovative Design Features of Dremel's New Drill

This Hammer Add-On Speeds Nailing for Homebuilders

ToughBuilt's Folding Japanese Pull Saw Protects Both Sets of Teeth

An Easy-to-Use 3D-Printed Solder Dispenser

Festool Designs Spirit Level with Nifty Storage Feature

The ChompSaw: A Benchtop Power Tool That's Safe for Kids to Use

ToughBuilt's High-Capacity Auto-Loading Utility Knife

Re-Grip: A Clever Design for Installing New Handles on Old Tools

A Much Smarter, Pivoting Design for Wheelbarrow Handles

Understanding the Brilliant Design of an Automatic Center Punch

How to Use a Router to Create a Sphere

A Clever DIY Jig for Repeatable Lathe Work

An Ironworker's Brilliant (or Crazy?) Improvised Climbing Solution

Wild

Mafell's Bad-Ass NFU 50: A Circular Saw with a 2"-Plus-Wide Blade

Mafell's Crazy Pull-Push Portable Table Saw

Brilliant Design for a Trailer That Unloads the Material For You

A Scissor Lift Dolly That Can Load Goods, and Itself, Into Your Truck

The InfinityCrane: An Omnidirectional Ceiling Crane That Can Adapt to Irregular Spaces

A Modern Rendition of an 18th-Century Frame Saw Design, in Use

Specialty

The IQ Vise Can Hold Anything in Any Position

A Better Tool for Cutting Corrugated Metal or Plastic

This Gizmo Cuts Plastic Bottles Into Neat Strips

The Cornervery: A 90-Degree Stapler

Powered Boxcutter Makes Short Work of Cardboard

Specialty Tool Design: A Rocket-Launched Rope Thrower for Emergency Rescue

Tool History

The Origins of the First Mass-Market Tool Chest

French Farmer's Hack Turned Into Enduring American Tool

And lastly, a tool you can skip as a stocking stuffer:

Testing Shows Automotive Glassbreakers Can't Break Modern Automotive Glass

Not every furniture piece will make it to the MoMA, and we always enjoy seeing the surprising, experimental swings that some designers are willing to take. Here are the pieces we saw this year that did things differently (for better or worse, you be the judge).

French furniture brand Maximum, whose raw material is municipal waste, creates this Bultan seating from discarded crowd control barriers.

NYC-based industrial designer Nik Bentel's Loopy Chair was inspired by city bike racks.

German industrial designer Friedrich Gerlach makes these self-supporting Lecrase stools out of leather offcuts.

Dutch furnituremaker DM Living built this contraption to make it easier to finish the undersides of their tabletops.

Belgian designer Peter Donders continues to astonish, with his Spherene Side Table. The piece was built to demonstrate the role that advanced computational modeling can have in material optimizationd.

This Bubble Stool is by Chinese design firm Studio Ololoo. It features a captured, inflated seat that you might miss at first glance.

British designer Paul Cocksedge's three-foot-tall Marble Bookmark, on the other hand, is impossible to miss.

Another British industrial designer, Sebastian Bergne, has upgraded the humble studio applebox into a furniture-grade object called Bevel.

Konstantin Grcic tackles casual seating with his THING_01.

Maybe not technically furniture? This window-mounted object invites birds into your home.

Furniture designer Aidan Reinhold's aluminum FoldSeat fits into a FedEx box.

Canadian company Bateman Labs' nifty Encore is a mid-century style chair with a magnetically-attachable worksurface, turning it into a stylish desk.

Hungarian industrial design firm Flying Objects plans to produce this F1 cockpit gaming chair.

New-Zealand-based design studio George & Willy developed these removable café tables.

Bene's PIXEL line, by Austrian architect Didi Lenz, is modular milk-crate-like furniture for working adults.

From Australia, artist/designer Elliat Rich has a wildly different take on cabinetry.

Industrial designer George Davies' brake-formed furniture.

Istanbul-baesd Studio Lugo's Anachron Series: Agriculture-inspired furniture, with traces of Rietveld, the Bauhaus, Memphis and '80s Postmodernism.

Lastly, Portugese furniture designer Victor Manuel's "Geometric Chimera" style of furniture design is mid-century-modern-plus.

At the intersection of atoms and bits lies a growing frontier—and one venture studio is laser-focused on it. They aim to apply AI, sensory technologies, robotics, and advanced metrology to the physical world, tackling challenges across manufacturing, energy, human performance, medical devices, and industrial systems. They're not just incubating ideas—they're helping startups scale, bridging the treacherous "commercialization valley of death" that so often claims hardware-based ventures.

Amish Patel, founder of Conduit Venture Labs

The reality is, most innovation ecosystems aren't built for hardware. While software has enjoyed decades of iteration and support, the physical side—design, engineering, manufacturing—remains high-risk and under-supported. This studio's platform is about de-risking that process, empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs to navigate the most failure-prone part of building physical products.

AI is now reshaping that landscape. From CAD to DFM (Design for Manufacturability), hardware engineering tools have long stagnated. Legacy platforms like SolidWorks and Rhino dominate and are resistant to change in part due to entrenched workflows and highly structured supply chains. But that's starting to shift. Cloud-based platforms, like Onshape, are early signals of what's coming.

And AI? It's the accelerant.

Editor's Note: This essay is part of a new series exploring how AI is transforming the way physical products are imagined, designed, and built. Hardware is the New Salt will spotlight several thinkers and makers at the intersection of AI and product design and their insights into this dynamic technology ecosystem. This series is supported by Enzzo, who offers an AI-first product development platform created to support the next generation of builders.

Just as AI copilots now assist software developers, similar tools are beginning to emerge for mechanical, electrical, and industrial design. They compress timelines, reduce errors, and democratize access to specialized knowledge once guarded by senior engineers. AI won't just speed up design cycles—it'll allow younger, less experienced engineers to build with a level of confidence and efficiency previously reserved for seasoned veterans.

AI doesn't just make things faster—it enables more iterations, better simulations, and deeper compliance checks. Whether it's recommending wall thickness for regulatory compliance or simulating structural stress in real-time, AI acts as both a creative partner and a guardrail. The tools can now simulate extreme scenarios—from natural disasters to wear-and-tear —compressing months of validation into hours.

This isn't theoretical. The future of product development is already being prototyped in systems like NVIDIA's Omniverse or Autodesk Alias. Digital twins, advanced simulation environments, and generative AI are ushering in an era where the first version isn't final—it's just the beginning of a rapid evolution from prototype to scale.

And yes, AI is democratizing product design. The apprenticeship model of hardware—where skills are passed down from principals to interns—is giving way to something more accessible. AI tools now make it possible for a 25-year-old with no formal CAD training to explore medtech prototypes or embedded systems with nothing more than a prompt and curiosity. Knowledge, once siloed in agencies or engineering teams, is becoming increasingly distributed.

But trust is essential.

Unlike the freewheeling world of pure software, the physical industries already operate within mature regulatory frameworks—UL, FDA, IEC. These systems are now evolving to address AI's growing role in product development. While software may race ahead without oversight, the physical world demands accountability. When AI designs a bridge, we need to know who's liable. Who checks the model? Who signs off? These are active conversations, and forward-thinking leaders are already working with global standards bodies to define what certification in an AI-driven world should look like.

So, hardware isn't the new salt—it has always been essential. Software can only go as far as the hardware it runs on. The cycle is inseparable: advances in materials and manufacturing enable new software capabilities, which in turn spark new hardware innovations. AI is simply accelerating this feedback loop.

The ultimate impact of AI may not be felt in the digital realm at all—it will be in how it transforms the 70% of global GDP rooted in physical tasks and industries. From healthcare to energy to infrastructure, the convergence of AI and hardware is not a trend. It's the next foundation.

As usual we spotted a lot of new furniture this year, whether from famous designers or up-and-comers. We also looked back at at least a dozen classics, some well-known, others less so, that came across our desk.

Brooklyn-based furniture designer Matthias Pleissnig revealed the sketches behind his crazy steam-bent masterpieces.

Ronan Bouroullec's airy, elegant Ancora Tables gave concrete a new look.

Austrian designer Laurids Gallée's Tralucid Stools combine his signature love of both crispness and blurriness.

Ethiopian industrial designer Jomo Tariku's antelope-inspired Nyala Chair is meant to warn of that animal's extinction.

Italian brand Mavimatt's quirky Macaron features a hidden table surface.

Karim Rashid and Zachary A. Design collaborated on this Polli line of lightweight, stone-like furniture.

Todd Bracher has achieved timeless design with his elegant Trea series of chairs for Humanscale.

British designer Paul Cocksedge's Critical Mass table seems to have been inspired by soap bubbles, but was executed in marble.

Belgian designer Peter Donders' handcrafted Walnut Shelly chair is nothing short of astonishing.

Pepe is a saddle-inspired leather chair by Italian architect/designer Raffaella Mangiarotti.

Modern Industrial Furniture's steel Carnegie Media Cart is the antithesis of particle board furniture.

This Simple but elegant bent plywood MT Chair is by Spanish industrial designers Rafa Peris and David Guilmain.

Some blasts from the past:

This mid-century chair by Dutch manufacturer De Ster Gelderland contains an odd mish-mash of styles.

Also from the mid-century, we spotted this sweet adjustable drafting table by Sweden's Nike Hydraulics.

Danish manufacturer Fredericia Furniture released a 75th anniversary edition of Børge Mogensen's Hunting Chair.

Did you know that the Eames Lounge Chair originally came with an exploded view drawing (lettered by a nun)?

Roman Modzelewski's radical RM58 chair, an industrial design classic from 1958 Poland, has been revived.

We covered a strange piece of furniture design history involving a sex scandal and Arne Jacobsen's No. 7 Chair.

We also learned of a funny story about Gaetano Pesce's UP 5 chair and a car accident.

Erik Magnussen's Z-Down Chair, a design classic from the 1960s, is just two pieces of tubing, two pieces of leather and two connectors.

Joe Colombo's Poker Table from 1968 is another of the designer's vice-friendly design classics.

An unrealized 1970s sofa design, French designer Pierre Paulin's Dune Sofa, has become a hit among celebrities today.

With Joseph D'Urso's Occasional Table, Knoll brings back an '80s design classic.

Also from the 1980s—though not re-released—is this Solid Chair, by Postmodern German artist Heinz Landes. It's ten pieces of rebar and a block of concrete.

Lastly this classic from the 1990s, which you can still find on eBay: Gaetano Pesce's collapsible Umbrella Chair for ZeroDisegno.

This year we saw a lot of new concepts, models, features and even vehicle types.

Mercedes-Benz's Vision Iconic concept showed off their new retro design language.

The company also unveiled their Vision V concept, a rather over-the-top executive transport vehicle.

Hyundai revealed their wild-looking, video-game-inspired Insteroid concept.

This Hipster concept, by Romanian automaker Dacia, is "A car that can be sketched in three strokes of a pencil," according to the designer.

Chinese automaker Chery's Journeo concept was presented as a sort of living room on wheels.

Bentley produced a rather strange-looking and asymmetrical concept called the EXP 15.

GM got in on the fun too, tasking designers at their new UK-based design studio with creating a concept Corvette.

Toyota revealed a concept for their next-generation HiAce, a Japanese work van.

We also looked at one throwback concept: This Italdesign minivan from the 1990s.

On the production side, Ferrari revealed the Amalfi, an "entry-level" model with a new, friendlier design language.

Electronics brand Sony started taking reservations for their forthcoming Afeela 1, which is so bland-looking, you have to wonder if that's what they're intentionally going for.

This Roadster by British EV startup Longbow Motors blurs the line between footwear design and automotive design.

Volkswagen previewed their forthcoming ID EVERY1, a €20,000 EV.

And startup Slate showed off their eponymous sub-$20,000 modular EV micro-truck.

Even Amazon is in the automotive game. This year their public robotaxi service, Zoox, rolled out in Vegas.

Wild stuff from Japan: The Hino Profia is a tractor-trailer with four-wheel steering.

Wilder stuff from Korea: Hyundai's incredible WIA autonomous car-parking robots.

Maybe the craziest production vehicle we saw this year was Toyota's forthcoming IMV Origin, which will be sold as unfinished vehicles in the African market, so that local markets can adapt them.

Not a car, but very strange: Pininfarina designed a tractor.

Artist Joshua Vides' real-world Pop Art cars popped up in Los Angeles and New York.

The Petersen Museum held an entire exhibition dedicated to wedge-shaped cars.

This year, research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded that modern automotive design is increasing forward blind spots.

Also on the research side, we looked at which popular cars get into accidents most frequently.

Lastly, if you want to see intentional automotive destruction at its finest, look no further than the Rockford Speedway Figure 8 Trailer Race.

When we talk about the rise of AI in product design, I like to think of it less as a checklist of right or wrong approaches and more as a framework. The transformations we're witnessing today aren't entirely new—disruptive technologies have been shaping the design landscape for decades. But of all the innovations I've encountered in my career, AI is easily the most disruptive.

Chris Wlezien, Senior Director of Product Design & Innovation

Understanding where we are today, it helps to trace the evolution of product design over the past 30 years. While the roots go deeper, modern product design came of age with companies like Apple. Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, and others helped shift design from functional to emotional—from utilitarian to desirable—anchored in deep consumer insight. Technology continued to evolve, but the fundamental process remained focused on making things that people love and that solve real, often unmet, needs.

The most significant prior inflection point was the dot-com era, which ushered in a transition from purely physical products to interconnected physical-digital experiences. Even then, the role of designers remained focused on translating consumer desires into meaningful physical forms.

Editor's Note: This essay is part of a new series exploring how AI is transforming the way physical products are imagined, designed, and built. Hardware is the New Salt will spotlight several thinkers and makers at the intersection of AI and product design and their insights into this dynamic technology ecosystem. This series is supported by Enzzo, who offers an AI-first product development platform created to support the next generation of builders.

Today's AI tools remind me of the early days of CAD—computer-aided drafting. When CAD was introduced, people worried it would replace drafters and engineers. In reality, it became a powerful augmentation tool. It allowed us to move away from drawing boards and toward spending more time on creative, high-value work. 3D printing followed a similar arc—cutting what used to take days or weeks into hours. AI fits the same trajectory: in the hands of experts, it accelerates discovery without replacing the human core of innovation. That's the real shift I see today — AI isn't changing the 'why' behind great design, but it's transforming the 'how' in ways that ripple through every phase of development.

What excites me most about AI isn't just speed, though that's a massive part. It's the quality of the speed. AI lets us simulate thousands of variations, test more concepts, and get better answers faster. In the past, we'd simulate two designs because that's all we had time for. Now, we can explore hundreds. It's not just about doing the same work faster—it's about doing a better job within the same window of time.

There's a strategic shift happening. Some organizations are shrinking timelines. But the most insightful teams are maintaining their timelines and using AI to explore more, iterate deeper, and raise the bar. However, acceleration without discipline is dangerous—this newfound speed always comes with trade-offs.

Every project has constraints—months or years—and there's pressure to cut corners. AI can reduce friction points, particularly in concept generation or research. But it doesn't give you speed for free across the board. It's critical to recognize where quality can be preserved and where it can't.

And while those risks are real, most organizations aren't even at the point of hitting them yet. We're still in what I'd call 'AI 1.0' in the product development world. Most teams I encounter are just beginning to explore the tools. Very few—maybe less than 5%—are using AI at a truly proficient level. We're not yet at maturity. Adoption is early, fragmented, and in many cases, still experimental.

But that's precisely where the opportunity lies.

One of the best ways to drive adoption is to allow people to explore. Don't wait for enterprise-wide implementation plans. Let individuals or small teams pilot AI on a single part or phase of a project. If it adds value—faster timelines, better insights, or cost savings—expand and build on it. You don't need a massive system migration like switching from Oracle to SAP. You need a culture of experimentation and structured learning to find the best opportunities for AI in your unique business.

To that end, I advocate for making everyone an AI champion. Create safe sandboxes where team members can test tools without fear of failure or data exposure. Have experts review all outputs. Trust doesn't come from AI itself—it comes from building processes where human validation is part of the loop. AI should generate the options; experts should make the calls.

AI also has the potential to democratize product design. We ran an exercise developing a new robotic concept in which even our sales and marketing teams used image generators to express their ideas. The results were remarkable—not because the images were production-ready, but because we all suddenly spoke the same visual language. It bridged the gap between creative and technical. That kind of cross-functional input wouldn't be possible without tools like this.

And yet, we need to be clear-eyed about limitations.

AI is fundamentally retrospective. It excels at aggregating and remixing everything humans have already discovered–but it doesn't truly imagine. It won't dream up the next revolutionary idea out of thin air. That's still a uniquely human skill. I see AI as an "ambassador to the past"—an expert at pattern recognition and synthesis, but not a creator of the next frontier.

That's why I think the future of AI in product development will arrive gradually, over the next 5 to 10 years. It will integrate more deeply into workflows, automate more of the mundane, and open up new efficiencies. But it won't eliminate the need for human imagination, intuition, or judgment.

I wholeheartedly support that hardware is essential—maybe even more essential than we've appreciated. For all the talk of software eating the world, hardware is where we live. It's how we interact with the digital. Whether it's your phone, car, or VR headset, software has no place to live without a physical form. It's the same reason that fusion reactor concept still excites me — because whether it's a world-changing energy system or the phone in your pocket, every breakthrough ultimately lives in a physical form.

Personally, I find enormous satisfaction in working on purely mechanical, digital-free products. Something is enduring and meaningful about designing things people can touch, hold, and love. As AI and software continue to evolve, my hope is that hardware gets its due recognition, not just as a platform, but as the soul of product experience. If AI is the accelerant, hardware is the vessel. One without the other can only go so far. Together, they can turn what's possible today into what's real tomorrow.

About the author: Chris Wlezien is a seasoned Senior Director of Product Design & Innovation with passion for turning groundbreaking ideas into tangible, market-ready products. With over 15 years of experience and 30 patents he has a unique expertise at the intersection of innovative product development, cost optimization and strategic business implementation. His particular interest lies in creating solutions that not only innovate but also make a substantial positive impact on society through innovative designs enhanced by efficiency and sustainability.

Worldwide, two-wheeled transportation is growing in popularity; depending on who you listen to, the market for two-wheeled transportation—bikes, scooters, motorcycles—is growing by 6% to 11% per year. Cities are taking note, and adding bike-friendly infrastructure. Manufacturers are also taking note, and piling into the market with new bikes and bike accessories.

This Choppy Bicycle, by Latvian design brand Stum, is made of plywood. You'll notice it lacks pedals; this bike is designed for kids who don't know how to ride a bike yet. As they propel themselves around using their feet, their bodies naturally gain the required balance.

Or maybe you don't want your kid riding a bike, because you think it's too dangerous. No prob. This Ultra Mobile Vehicle (UMV) by the Switzerland-based Robotics and AI Institute can do BMX tricks while your kid watches.

E-bikes are expensive, and not everyone wants to cough up the cash to switch over. That's probably why this Kamingo gizmo, which turns regular bikes into e-bikes, was a crowdfunding smash.

Not content with disrupting the truck market, Rivian spun off a company, Also, to disrupt the e-bike market. Their TM-B is a modular e-bike that they say has a "vehicle-grade" battery.

E-bikes need to be charged, of course. Dutch startup Tiler reckons a convenient way to do it is through the kickstand, resting on one of their charging plates.

Italian industrial designer Danilo Petta and Turkish architect Öznur Pinar Cer developed an interesting concept for charging a two-wheeler. Their Solaris concept unfurls two solar panel arrays like wings.

The barrier for starting a bike company is high, but getting into the accessories game is a bit easier. Cyclists need kit, and a rash of companies are eager to supply it. This EXO MAX bag, by German company Red Rebane, is designed to carry oversized objects.

Yet another German company, Flectr, designed this CargoMate bike rack. It doesn't look like much, but is a design feat: It can be installed in 30 seconds on any bike, without tools.

This FliteDeck is a set of bicycle handlebars with a digital dashboard. Designed by German automotive engineers, it was successfully crowdfunded through OnlyFans.

Also from Germany, manufacturer Personomic 3D prints personalized bike saddles that fit your specific butt perfectly.

Chinese tool company Hoto sells this compact and designey Air Pump Pocket.

French company Strong Locks has invented this V-160, a quick-action bike lock that automatically snaps shut.

Industrial design firm Goodwin Hartshorn designed this hide-away bike toolkit for client Brompton.

Another industrial design firm, Dutch studio APE, designed this Headfirst helmet. It has a special adjustment mechanism that allows users to achieve a perfect fit.

Meanwhile this Release Layer System helmet greatly reduces rotational forces during an impact, thanks to an inner layer of ball bearings.

For those of you who ride muddy, Canadian company Ridalco makes special sinks specifically for washing bikes (or dogs).

Here's an accessory you can't buy as a cyclist. Subaru has designed an airbag specifically to protect any cyclists that the driver happens to hit.

Here's an accessory you can buy, if you've got the money. Australian trailer manufacturer Stockman produces this Trekka 01, a camper trailer with a charging garage for e-bikes.

This unusual ride is by French company Cyclauto. They've revived a design for a cargo bike from the 1930s.

Belgian mechanical engineer Benjamin Declercq has invented an e-bike that quickly transforms into a cargo bike.

This AfricroozE bike has been designed with features specifically tailored for the African market.

This one here is more bike-adjacent: Honda's Fastport, an electric quadricycle, uses bike lane infrastructure to deliver packages.

And here's a scooter worth a shout: Chinese manufacturer Omoway is releasing this OMO X, which boasts a bold design language.

Going even bolder is Czech carmaker Škoda, who unveiled this Slavia B electric motorcycle concept.

Lastly, we took a look at some of the wild 2-wheelers created for Mad Max: Fury Road. All 47 of the bikes made for the movie ran.

This year brought its fair share of over-the-top architecture projects. Top-of-the-list is Saudi Arabia's Shebara Resort, a net-zero facility with stainless steel pod villas.

In Brazil, this VIW Building is also for people that want to be near the water. The apartments all have in-balcony swimming pools.

In Albania, Dutch firm JA Joubert Architecture and local firm UNS Architects teamed up on this Zig-Zag resort. The idea was to work with challenging terrain, rather than against it, while providing spectacular views to guests.

And this year saw the debut of this retro-futuristic building in Los Angeles. The Tesla Diner is an eatery, entertainment complex and the world's largest Supercharging station.

Over in Milan stands San Siro, Italy's largest stadium. Fans access the structure via helical walkways, and when a match lets out, it looks as if the towers are rotating:

Of course, the biggest problem architecture could help solve has nothing to do with fancy resorts and buildings. As the global housing crisis continues, Boxabl unveiled their Baby Box, a $20,000 unfolding tiny home.

In the Netherlands, Rotterdam is planning to build floating neighborhoods in response to the housing crunch.

And in Texas, Icon is attempting to provide affordable housing with their 3D-printed homes.

The company is also 3D printing houses for the homeless.

Also in Texas, which seems to be a hotspot for 3D-printed structures, German company Peri 3D has 3D-printed a Starbucks.

Meanwhile, researchers continue to find ways to execute conventional construction more efficiently. Lotte Scheder-Bieschin, a PhD student of Architecture at ETH Zurich, designed a brilliant, reusable folding formwork system called the Unfold Form. It can be used to build vaulted concrete structures that use less concrete and far less steel than conventional structures.

Over in Myanmar, bamboo is a lot easier to come by than concrete. Yangon-based architecture firm Blue Temple developed an economical system for building houses by bundling together thin pieces of bamboo. The initiative is called Housing NOW.

And in sweltering India, architect Monish Siripurapu developed a passive cooling system for buildings called CoolAnt. It uses terracotta and water as low-tech air conditioning.

In China, a company called Ombra is building pergolas that are cooled by the sun. The roofs are covered in solar panels that power the HVAC.

In Austria, researchers at the Graz University of Technology are looking into alternative wall- and floor-installation (and de-installation) methods. Their ReCon Project proposes a hook-and-loop fastening system for wall and floor surfaces.

In Sweden, Kiruna Church is one of the country's largest wooden structures. It was also in danger of being swallowed up by the earth, thanks to nearby mining activity. Thus Dutch engineering firm Mammoet was hired to move the entire building, intact, to a new location.

Some architectural landmarks have sustained damage over the centuries, and others were never completed. Thus Dutch creative team Studio Drift collaborated with drone show company Drone Stories to visually complete structures like the Colosseum and the Sagrada Familia.

Lastly and sadly, Los Angeles lost a lot of homes this year during the wildfires. We looked at the architecture choices that allowed surviving houses to remain unscathed, even as the ones next door burned down.

Here's what we looked at this week:

The Cylindric UX1 is a handsome, designey USB-C charger from Sweden.

Montezuma's Triangular Toolboxes, designed for rough transport.

Roof's Djagger, a rear-entry motorcycle helmet that you don like a mask.

Industrial design firm Intenxiv designs a more elegant airport PRM vehicle.

Germain Verbrackel's split-torus Clock & Roll concept.

A Dutch furnituremaker's specialty production machine yields better quality, with less labor.

An Industrial Design student updates a design classic, and gets a production deal.

This beautiful Ridge line of wooden door handles is by Milan-based industrial designer Keiji Takeuchi.

This Lazy Lighting app makes projection mapping easy.

Ottagona, by architect Giulia Foscari, is a designey, compact gym-in-a-closet.

The MagCable, a magnetically self-coiling charging cable, is like an old-school retractile telephone cord.

The Loop Living Cocoon is a mushroom-based coffin grown in just seven days. Unlike regular coffins, it won't poison the soil.

Artmor's Aircrate: A reusable bubblewrap alternative where you provide the air.

Specialty tools: Häfele's long range cabinet feet leveler is easier on the back.