Review of Product Design and Manufacturing

Methods for Prosumers

L. Asión-Suñer(B) and I. López-Forniés

Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Saragossa, Spain

[email protected]

Abstract. Product design is a process developed by specialized profiles such as

designers or engineers. For this reason, most of product design and/or manu-
facturing methods developed are aimed at experienced professionals. However,
in the current social and technological context, we observe that the number of
prosumers, users who partially produce the products they consume, is increasing.
These users are involved in design, manufacturing or assembly phases of the prod-
uct to obtain final results that respond to specific needs and desires. Given this
emerging trend, we wonder if there are methodologies focused on these users in
particular, both in the academic field and in practice. This work aims to clarify
this issue through a review of research papers and real cases. The results obtained
differentiate between the methodologies that have been defined in the academic
field and those that have not been compiled but whose repeated use has agreed its
application and existence in practice. The methodologies identified are analyzed
in two tables that summarize how they are applied and what their main objective is.
The results and conclusions offer both the scientific community and the prosumers
a series of product design and manufacturing methods focused on non-specialized
profiles.

Keywords: Prosumer · Product design · Methodology · Manufacturing

1 Introduction
The multiple advances that have taken place in fields such as Information and Commu-
nication Technologies (ICT) or Agile Manufacturing [1], as well as the democratization
of the creative process and its approach to non-specialized users [2], have resulted in
an increase in prosumer users. These types of users, according to the original definition
of Alvin Toffler, are those who are involved in the design, assembly or manufacturing
process of the products they finally consume [3]. That is, they are consumers of what
they produce.
This emerging trend, closely related to the maker culture, without being the same, has
made increasingly users decide to design or manufacture their own products. However,
its intervention is not restricted only to the previous phases of the product’s life cycle.
An example of this is hacker users, who also make modifications to make the product
grow and obtain new functionalities that they did not have before [4]. For this reason,

© The Author(s) 2021

L. Roucoules et al. (Eds.): JCM 2020, LNME, pp. 128–134, 2021.
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 Review of Product Design and Manufacturing Methods for Prosumers 129

the number of both physical and digital tools set aside for this purpose has increased
exponentially in recent years [5, 6], causing many users to use them frequently uncon-
sciously. These tools are not only intended for individual use, as we can also find tools
such as consumer-based coopetition, crowdsourcing and value co-creation [7].
However, despite the number of tools available, there is a lack in the definition of
design and manufacturing methodologies focused on prosumer or maker users. Although
there are co-design methods that include the participation of experts and end users, their
application is only carried out in the phases of product design and development and they
are not adapted to each particular user, but they take into account the opinion global
to implement improvements. In addition, it has been detected that, in actual practice,
there are a number of consolidated methods that are frequently used by prosumers to
intervene at different levels in the design or manufacture of their products [8]. For these
reasons, this article aims to clarify which methods specifically focused on this type of
users currently exist, both in the academic and practical fields.

2 Methodological Description

The main objective of this study is to collect and analyze the design and manufacturing
product methods focused on prosumer users that have been developed until now. To
achieve this, the study is divided into two parts: a bibliographic analysis and a field
study. The bibliographic analysis shows works published in the academic field that deal
directly with this type of methods, while the field study is based on real cases that prove
the existence of consolidated methods frequently used by prosumers.
To perform the bibliographic analysis, a search was carried out in various databases
(Web of Science, Scopus, Wiley Online Library, Science Direct) by combining two key-
words: first, about prosumer user (end user, co-design, maker, lead user, design man-
ufacturer); and, second, in reference to the design or manufacturing method (method,
methodology, tool, guideline + product design, manufacturing). Due to different defini-
tions of prosumer, the search was skewed, discarding the results related to professional
consumers or self-consumption, especially in relation to the production of electricity.
Methods that are focused only on specialized profiles (as designers) or co-creation pro-
cesses where the users involved are not those who finally consume the product or service
created, were also ruled out.
On the other hand, the field study is based on a previous work carried out within
this line of research that compiles real cases of prosumer users [9]. This study shows
various real cases in industrial fields such as furniture, textile and electronic, among
others, where it is detected that we can define methods based on the use of common
tools and processes between them.
Final results have been synthesized and compared in tables, that includes a descrip-
tion of each method, as well as its objective and main data. A total of 15 methods have
been identified: 9 corresponding to the bibliographic search and 6 to the case analysis.
Finally, this work offers a series of conclusions about the current design and manufactur-
ing methods for the prosumer, including the opportunity to any new prosumer or maker
to have enough information to join this trend.
130 L. Asión-Suñer and I. López-Forniés

3 Results
The results have been divided into two parts: methodologies and real cases. The basic
information necessary to understand each methodology separately has been included in
Table 1 (bibliographic analysis) and Table 2 (real cases). In the field study we find several
examples for each methodology. However, only one representative case has been cited
in each one in order to serve as an example of application to facilitate its understanding
to the reader.
To facilitate the visualization and comparison of academic methodologies, these are
grouped and summarized in the same table that shows the name of each methodology,
the author and year of creation, a brief description and what is its main objective: Product
Design (PD), Manufacturing (M) or Assembly (A).

Table 1. Summary of academic methodologies.

Name Author and year Description Objective

Method to work with Campbell and Bernabei, To increase product PD + M
end users to create 2017 [10] emotional attachment
personalized products through custom design
by CAD modelling of additively
manufactured products
Lead-User Method Franke, Von Hippel, Theory upgrade to PD + M
and Schreier, 2006 [11] exploit the value of user
innovations
User-centered Gardan, 2017 [12] It includes the user in PD
translation method the design process by
basing on their
perception of the
product
Guidelines for Finding Hölttä-Otto and To find Lead-Users to PD
Lead User for Latent Raviselvam, 2016 [13] express latent needs that
Need Discovery are not found in regular
users
Mixed reality tool for Maurya, Arai, Moriya, It allows end-users to be PD
end-users participation Arrighi, and Mougenot, immersed in a virtual
in early design tasks 2019 [14] environment, to interact
with a virtual prototype
and to modify it
New Service Alcarria, R., Robles, T., To develop prosumer PD
Development Method Dominques, A.M., services by providing (Service Design)
for Prosumer Conzales-Miranda, creation tools, used by
Environments 2012 [15] prosumers to create final
services
(continued)
 Review of Product Design and Manufacturing Methods for Prosumers 131

Table 1. (continued)

Name Author and year Description Objective

Method to optimize Favi and Germani, 2012 To create adaptable and PD + A
assemblability of [16] customizable products
industrial product in by improving manual
early design phase assembly through
modular design
Using elderly as lead Raviselvam, Noonan, The main idea is that, PD + M
users for universal and Hölttä-Otto, 2014 the elderly may be able
engineering design [17] to articulate more needs
compared to general
population
Design Evaluation and Morita, 2007 [18] It allows makers PD
Assessment System (designers, technicians),
providers and end-users
to evaluate products
using the same criteria

In the following table (Table 2), a series of methodologies based on the study and
analysis of real cases are cited. Each methodology is based primarily on the use of a
digital or physical tool that allows users to intervene in the design or manufacturing
phase of the products that they subsequently consume.

Table 2. Summary of methodologies based on real cases.

Name Case Description Objective

Online Platform to Ikea Hackers [19] Users contribute new PD + M
interchange ideas ideas and modifications
on designs that they then
share and manufacture
Design Software, 3D and Vectary [20] It allows to visualize and PD + M
CAD software materialize a design by
using tools such as 3D
modeling
Tutorials and Instructables [21] These are steps to copy, M+A
instructions manufacture and
assemble the product,
although the user can
also influence its design
including modifications
(continued)
132 L. Asión-Suñer and I. López-Forniés

Table 2. (continued)

Name Case Description Objective

Open Source, Cloud and Ordermade Free access tools where PD
Co-design WholeGarment [22] users share files on which
other users can intervene
(co-design)
Vote System and LEGO Ideas [23] Collective participations PD
crowdfunding to take design or market
decisions about a product
before its manufacture
and commercialization
Observation, analysis, trial Maker Faire [24] Extended method in the PD + M + A
and error maker culture based on
observing and analyzing
a product, to modify it
by trial and error

4 Conclusions
The bibliographic analysis shows nine methods focused on the prosumer with different
objectives: to increase the attachment of the product, to exploit the value of users’ inno-
vations, to take into account the user’s perception, to discover latent needs, to improve
the prototype, to evaluate the product and to create adaptable and customizable results.
Most of them look for product improvement to obtain a greater final acceptance in the
market, only two take into account the real interests of the prosumer: the search for latent
needs and the creation of adaptable and customizable products. Furthermore, the nine
methods focus on product design and only four of them also focus on manufacturing (3)
and assembly (1).
The analysis of cases has allowed to identify a series of methods based on tools
because, although the prosumers and makers do not recognize the use of any specific
method, the use of tools among them is highly agreed. Therefore, six methodologies can
be clearly defined: exchange of ideas on online platforms; 3D and CAD design software;
tutorials and instructions; co-design and open source resources; voting and crowdfunding
systems; and, finally, the process based on observation, analysis, trial and error. On
the other hand, the academic methodologies have not yet been sufficiently extended
in practice. However, its evolution and development highlights the growing academic
interest in prosumer users and their involvement in product design and manufacturing.
Regarding the main objective of the methods analyzed, we can see that most are
focused on product design (14/15) and half of them on manufacturing (7/15), while only
3 are also focused on assembly. This is due to the widespread presence of digital tools
before physical ones, a fact that can be verified in the methods analyzed in Table 2. In
addition, despite the fact that in most cases prosumers are able to intervene in the phase
of product design, only half of them also take care of its manufacture, since in the rest
of the cases it is a third person who takes care of it.
 Review of Product Design and Manufacturing Methods for Prosumers 133

About the differences between academic and real cases methods, we find that the
objectives of the academic methods don’t take into account the real interests of pro-
sumers, who look for unique products made by themselves that respond to their wishes
and needs, as has checked in the field study. Furthermore, academic methods only focus
on product design, while the cases study shows that users are looking to get involved in
assembly and manufacturing as well. This shows that what the user wants (field study)
is not the same as what is offered (bibliographic analysis), giving rise to a niche in this
field of research.
Given the need to include prosumers in the process of creating their own products by
focusing on their true interests and taking into account not only design, but also assembly
and manufacturing, finally two potential lines of future research are identified. Firstly,
the development of a method specifically aimed at new non-specialized prosumer or
maker users who are not yet familiar with the practice. And, secondly, a methodological
evolution that includes new design tools that can enrich and facilitate user intervention,
such as modular design.

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