Configurator

General description:

“Product configurators” used by producers of mass-customized products are similar in intent but less capable than toolkits for User Innovation and Design. They invite product purchasers to configure their own unique product by selecting from lists of options that have been predesigned by the mass customizer. For example, Dell Computer invites visitors to its website to “design your own computer” by making choices among lists of computer components on offer, such as monitors and disk drives (von Hippel, E.; Katz, R. 2002).

With the help of configurators, the public can access structure and data provided by a company. Configurators can easily be accessed via multimedia devices. Due to its ease of use, even untrained customers (with regards to detailed product knowledge) can conveniently customize standardized products (Piller, F. 2007). Configurators can also be used to express need information and overcome the stickiness in information transfer.

References:

von Hippel, E., and R. Katz. 2002. "Shifting Innovation to Users via Toolkits." Management Science 48, no. 7: 821-833.

Piller, F. 2007. "What is a configurator?", posted video on youtube.