Nic Veltroni — Portfolio

Industrial Design UX/UI Design

Brief

Develop an innovative startup project based on Health tech products. The team has to explore the market, user needs, and competitors to define an original concept, developed through a design thinking approach with a focus on functionality, sustainability, cost, and production processes.

Context

Power napping was our design territory and the sleeping pod the product most directly connected to it.

Rooted in Asian workplace cultures like Japan and China, power napping had become part of the conversation in modern work environments and big tech companies were increasingly open to integrating rest as part of productivity.

Problem

The cost and footprint of sleeping pods make them unscalable.

Cost makes products like MetroNaps impractical for most organizations. Companies were already building rest areas through hammocks, lounges, and comfortable areas — but without solutions that can fit them.

Insight

Pod sensory technology can be compressed into a form factor with no fixed footprint.

The release of Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro that year influenced both the aesthetic direction and the need to compress pod technology into something smaller, wearable, and flexible enough to fit existing rest spaces.

Pro Nap is a compact power nap headset that brings multisensory stimulation, controlled through the companion app, designed to guide the user into a restorative state in 20 to 30 minutes.

The geometry is clean and considered, with a strong tech aesthetic. The colorway was chosen for calm. Fabric surfaces were chosen for a precise reason: the moment you touch the device, it shouldn't push you away like a cold plastic or metal touch. A warm, soft material at first contact sets the tone for the experience before it even begins. The internal padding is memory foam, wrapped in cotton, chosen for prolonged contact comfort. The outer shell is ABS covered in polyester fabric.

Production

Designed for industrial production, with material choices, tolerances, and assembly logic driven by cost-efficiency and scalability.

Audio

Three microphones per earcup enable active noise cancellation, paired with acoustic foam for passive isolation.

Massage

Six micro-motors generate gentle vibrations on the temples, forehead, and cheekbones, relieving muscle tension. The silicone supports amplify the effect.

Light therapy

ten infrared micro-LEDs, the device provides a warm and gentle light therapy.

Heating

Two 12V coils release a constant warmth beneath the eyes.

The app is the control layer of the entire experience. Before each session, the user selects the type of rest they need: deep relaxation, stress reduction, or an energy reset; and fine-tunes the sensory inputs to their preference. The device responds accordingly.

After the session, a short optional prompt appears, a single question about energy, focus, or stress levels. One question, rotating, never intrusive.

Over time, these responses accumulate into a personal wellbeing history: a quiet record of how the users feels across weeks and months, visible only to them. The more Pro Nap is used, the more the picture becomes clear for the individual, and for the organization behind them.

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Product Design Service Design UX/UI Design Branding Graphic design

Client request

Design a product-service solution that responds to a specific dependency within the urban context of Milan

Context

50% of workers have lunch outside their houses.

Practicality and speed at the expense of nutritional quality.

Problem

5 milions Italians aged 18–34 consume junk food 2–3 times per week.

Ultra-processed foods are engineered to appeal to the senses and create addiction.

Insight

Regular consume of junk food increases +30% risk of colon cancer.

Metabolism changes depending on how it is nourished. The more junk food we consume, the less we want to eat healthy food.

Kit

P.Kit is a service designed to restore gut health and free the body from addiction to ultra-processed foods.
The Pack and the App together offer a new way to experience mealtime, making it more mindful, engaging and sustainable.

The pack was designed to optimise the speed of selection. Modular and stackable, it clearly communicates category hierarchy at a glance. Effortlessly portable, its reusable cord transforms into a personal accessory, a lasting tactile reminder to make mindful food choices.

Delivery

Users can intuitively and visually create their own combo meal. The interface makes selection immediate and fast.

Nutrition

We provide transparency and nutritional awareness, displaying ingredients, nutritional values, and health benefits.

Education

We integrate educational content to raise user awareness about the role of the microbiota and the importance of proper nutrition.

Program

The goal is to transform the user experience into a journey of awareness, where food choices are directly connected to personal well-being.

Lorenzo Casadei

Nutrizionista

Ristorante le presine volanti

Ristorante mediterraneo a Milano

Collaborations

To build a menu that genuinely supports gut health, we worked with a nutritionist to define the right balance of ingredients, portion sizes, and nutritional profiles for each meal.

For the menu development, we partnered with Le Presine Volanti, a Mediterranean restaurant in Milan. Their chef helped us craft a diverse, seasonal, and sustainable offering aligned with P.Kit's nutritional vision.

Food

Food design was born with the goal of merging it with the product into a single visual language. We studied cuts, shapes and colours to ensure functionality and visual balance.

Carrot dip

Cavolo che side

Fiber shot

Green dream beagle

Green nuggets

Herb bruschetta

Ring of flavor

Choco berry bliss

Choco fluffy

Cinnabites

Cruncky spicy nuts

Kimchi crush

Octobowl crunch

Olive twist

Purple n' mayo

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Sustainability

P.kit combines sustainability and innovation with a no food waste menu that minimizes leftovers. This way, we promote responsible nutrition while contributing to a more sustainable future.

Designed for both
user convenience
and logistical efficiency

+57%

Transport space
saved.

User Experience

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Personal project

Startup UX/UI Design Branding

Concept

Interact is a social discovery and networking app. The idea is simple: use your existing social profiles to align your digital identity with your physical presence, sharing who you are in real spaces and seeing who's around you. No dedicated venues, no awkward introductions — just the context you need to connect with people nearby who share your same interests and goals, wherever you already are.

Motivation

We give context for meaningful social interactions to happen in real places, naturally.

Interact was born from the desire to meet people who share our same interests and goals, not online and distant, but physically, wherever you are. We just wanted to give indications and more context, without interfering with the real interaction.

Validation and Prototyping

From research to interface, giving shape to the product through continuous iteration.

We ran interviews, mapped different user profiles, explored the competitive landscape, built a business model canvas, and iterated the interface multiple times, refining how proximity, identity, and discovery could work together in a single feed.

Feedback

Engaging with venture capitals and startup accelerators.

Engaging with Italian Founders Fund, Plug and Play, and Zest helped us sharpen the business model, clarify the product positioning, and understand what to prioritize.

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Hundreds of iterations across layout, interaction, and visual detail shaped the final interface. Every screen was revisited multiple times, refining how the feed balances density and readability, how the profile page prioritizes the content that actually drives behavior, how filters improve discovery. The result is a system that absorbed continuous change while keeping its core interaction model intact.

Interact and connect with people in your Area.

In the feed you are able to see all the people around you within 50m.

We deliberately avoided using a map view. Nearby profiles are presented in a scrollable feed that orders people by distance. Scrolling through profiles feels familiar and engaging making the experience more natural. This design keeps the interface intuitive and welcoming, encouraging profiles discovery without the pressure of constant geolocation tracking.

Select the connections that matter most to you with tailored filters.

Choose connections based on your preferences, ensuring you interact with the right people. With customizable filters, you can easily find and connect with individuals who share your interests and goals, in the places you frequent the most.

Showcase your Digital Identity effortlessly.

Bring your Digital Identity with you! This way can display all your essential links in one convenient location. Enhance your visibility. take control of your social presence like never before.

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Tolean: the Arduino-Powered Labyrinth Game for Teens and Adults

Two players face off in an intricate maze made of interchangeable tiles.

The labyrinth is crafted using advanced technologies like FDM and SLA 3D printing, ensuring precision and durability. Additionally, laser cutting on PMMA (acrylic) was used for the main structure.

The heart of the game is an Arduino module running a custom code that governs turn dynamics, board tilting, and random events. Players interact via four buttons that activate stepper motors to tilt the playing surface. The movement of the tiles is randomly conditioned by the Arduino, which dictates which color must be moved.

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Product Designer · 22 yrs. Based in Berlin

I'm passionate about turning bold concepts into reality, following the creative process end-to-end. I am fascinated by how new technologies can change designer's role, shifting designers from mere "creative clerks" to true builders and eliminating traditional production barriers. AI empowers designers to build directly and completely from their own ideas, becoming more independent. Yet, beyond this aspect, Design to me is an act of giving meaning. Beyond pixels and hardware, products are symbols that carry a story. I strive for a design practice that holds room for poetry, innovation, and generosity towards human experience.

Current Focus

AI & Direct Deliverability: Exploring AI-driven prototyping to build fully functional, end-to-end products from scratch.

Visual Identity & Storytelling: Directing visual identity and focusing on building the core narrative and meaning that define a Company true value and vision.

Areas of Exploration

Product Design UX/UI Design Branding Service Design Startup Speculative Research Artificial Intelligence

Skills & Tools

Software

Figma
Claude Code
Higgsfield, Midjourney, Krea, Magnific, Weavy
Adobe Suite
Blender
Rhinoceros 3D

Prototyping

HTML / CSS / JS
3D Printing
3D Modeling
Laser Cut
CNC
Arduino

Soft Skills

Team working
Idea generation
Empathy
Problem solving

Experience

Armet — Home office project using metal sheet

University project / 2023–2024

Avenade — Solving behavioural problems leading to addiction

University project / 2024–2025

Interact — Personal startup project

Personal / Ongoing

Education

IED — Istituto Europeo di Design

Milano / 2022–2025

Bachelor's degree in Product Design

Languages

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