Principles for User Design of Customized Products

Product customization uses a flexible production system to deliver a product to order that matches the needs of an individual customer or user. User design is a particular form of product customization that allows the user to specify the properties of that product. User design has emerged as a mechanism to build brand loyalty, to fit products to the heterogeneous needs of a market, and to differentiate the offerings of a manufacturer. However, many consumers face daunting challenges in designing a product that fits their personal needs. This makes it essential for producers of customized goods and services to create user interfaces that are effective in supporting consumers in the user design process. We recently completed an intensive research project with Dell Computer in which we designed, built, and tested several different user interfaces for customizing laptop computers. In this paper, we define the fundamental information-processing problem associated with user design of customized products. We then articulate five principles of user design. The principles are drawn from our experimental research as well as from our observations of many commercial user design systems. After articulating a principle, we explicitly outline actions that can be taken in support of the principle to improve user design systems.