I dreaded this question in school. I had this exact conversation more times than I can remember:
“What are you majoring in?”
“Industrial design.”
blank stare “What’s that?”
“Product design.”
“Oh! You should design me a [insert some stupid trivial product here]”
I also got this one:
“So you design… industries? Like factories?”
Now that I’m a working stiff I’ve found it’s better to be specific about what kind of products I design. Instead of just saying “I’m an industrial designer”, I tell them “I design airplane interiors” being VERY careful not to say “I do airplane interior design” because all they hear is “interior design” and proceed to ask me for my opinion on paint colors and drapes.