why don’t you
Structure
Verb[ た・ら ] + どう・です・か
Verb[ た・ら ] + どうだ ？
Verb[ た・ら ] + どう ？
Verb[ た・ら ] ?
[suggestion/advice, can be used to indirectly criticize someone(or can be interpreted as criticism, even if there is no such intention!) for not already taking suggested action, less direct than Verb[ば]+いい]
If I understand correctly, this literally translates to “what if you did ___?”, which retains the meaning of giving advice and potential criticism, but is much easier to connect.
Hey 
Yes, it is very good English approximation 
Cheers,
I see the following constructions listed:
〜たらどうですか。
〜たらどう？
〜たら？
Why isn’t 〜たらどうだ？ among them?
Hey and thanks for the suggestion!
It has been added to the grammar point and alternative answers!
Cheers!
Can this construction be used with the えば conditional form?
I think it sounds more natural, too.
“ダイエットをしてみたらどう”
“What if you tried dieting” sounds more gentle, as it seems intended.
All of theexample sentences use the English “Why don’t you…” (try dieting, go outside to play, etc.)…which is right as well, I’m sure, but if “what if…” is more accurate, should the English be changed, making reviews a tad easier?
I didn’t want to take up everyone’s time by flagging each one unless it matters. I’m not fluent so I don’t quite trust my own judgement. 
Since it can be used to express criticsm, isn’t it better to just never use this? Or am seeing this term as worse than it actually is?
@Pep95
You might be seeing too much in it, but there is actually a way to avoid most of the misunderstandings:
Just use てみたら:
like ～てみたらどうかな or ～てみてもいいと思う and so on
Of course, something like もうやめたらどう might be missunderstood
I think this video does a good job of showing the positive and negative connotations of this grammar point. Readingsに加えたらどうですか？ww
@Johnathan-Weir Thank you for the share! I have added this video to the Readings section. Cheers!
Why is there no object particle in this case?
そんなに暇(ひま)だったら、アルバイトさがしたらどう？
Hey and long time no see! @CrisH 
Good question!
In more casual language を particle is often dropped. This is the case of this.
I hope it helps,
Cheers!
Thanks - I got a bit swamped with other stuff, but now I’m back for life!
Is this equivalent to using する-verbs without it then?
Sorry, i know It’s been asked before in this thread but I have not seen it answered, can we use the ば conditional with this construction or the nuance would be different?
Thanks!
Thanks for the link!