Principal Investigator Eric von Hippel
Today, purchasers of many types of mass-customized products have only a very limited freedom to develop the customized product they really want. Typically, they are restricted to making selections from a list of options offered by a manufacturer. I am currently conducting research into "Toolkits for User Innovation" that can greatly expand users' ability to design exactly what they want on the Web. Toolkits consist of "user-friendly" design software that enables users to carry out complete cycles of trial-and-error learning on their own, using their customary design language and skills. During the design process, the toolkit software is constantly checking that a users' evolving design stays within the bounds of the producible. Completed designs are automatically translated into the format needed by the intended production process.