Managing High Variety: How to Overcome the Mass Confusion Phenomenon of Customer Co-Design

Abstract

The idea of integrating users into the design and production process is a promising strategy for companies being forced to react to the growing individualization of demand. While there is a huge amount of managerial literature on manufacturing and information systems for mass customization, research on the role of the customer within the co-design process is rare. However, customers face new uncertainties and risks when purchasing a customized good. We discuss these risks and provide a new approach to address these problems based on personalization and collaboration. We will analyze how personalization of the co-design process and collaboration of users within communities can render (mass) customization more efficient. Our objective is to set a research agenda in the field of user interaction with toolkits for customer co-design.