3. Thesis Concept
An effective customization tool must empower
the user to make something they personally
connect with.
Customization that incorporates some element
of the user’s feelings or persona fosters a
sense of ownership.
4. Proposition
A web-based customization tool that allows
users to design plush creatures or soft
objects using…
– A selection of base body shapes
– Facial features like eyes, mouths
– Appendages like legs, arms, tails, etc.
– Skins from existing color/print
selection & from custom uploads (custom
digital printing)
5. Why I Am Doing This
• There is currently nothing like this
– Closest things = Build-a-Bear Workshop
(shudder) and super-expensive monster
kit
• People feel an affinity for soft, plush
things
– they’re comforting and can assume many
identities
– they can have a personal value separate
from your public persona
6. Design Questions
• Why do people customize things?
• Who customizes things?
• What kinds of things do people customize?
• What makes a customization tool fulfilling
or satisfying to use?
• What makes people like what they’ve made?
• What gives people a sense of ownership
over something they’ve customized?
11. Why People Customize Stuff
• to make things they care about or are
proud of
• to make something that reflects something
about themselves
• to feel rich
• to have something unique
• because it’s fun
Goal: to design a joyful interactive
experience in which everything the
user chooses to do feels like the
right thing to do
22. Considerations
• Make it easy to “try things on”
• Making the creation process less
structured
• More options for everything to enable more
personalities
– More flair
– Ears and noses
– Themes?
• Color
23. For Symposium
• Demo of customization tool
• 5 examples of objects created with tool
• Project vision
24. Schedule
Week of:
March 21 – create forms and MCs for
all forms in Flash
March 28 – make more forms, concept
testing + program selection tool
April 4 – program selection tool,
visualization tool
April 11 – scale/rotation + QA testing
April 18 – QA testing, fine-tune site,
make more demo products
April 26 – QA for site + Symposium
25. Life After Symposium
• Online customization tool
• Ability to order your creation
and have it made and sent to
you
• Interactive environment for the
community of user creations
• Crowdsource to make the most
popular creations available
