Chapter 25 - Digital co-creation: an early-stage product individualization framework to bridge the customer–designer void

Abstract

Mass customization brings some flexibility and personalization based on highly variant products. However, it often fails to establish a substantial level of partnership—customer–designer collaboration. There is a need for design methodologies that tailor products around customers' specific needs and preferences while keeping the customer's voice and input in the loop throughout the preliminary design phase. This approach is vital for designing medical and healthcare products since customers' physiological and cognitive needs demand high levels of product individualization. This chapter introduces the Digital Co-Creation framework as an alternative method to alleviate challenges associated with mass customization. The framework is demonstrated via a lower-limb prosthetic casing design case study, which presents how customer–designer collaboration allows the individualization of a lower-limb prosthetic casing for two hypothetical customers with contrasting needs and preferences. The overall strategy calls for collaborative design with digital technologies and tools such as digital human modeling, enabling products tailored to customer needs and preferences, aligning with the goals and objectives discussed within the Digital Patient concept.