Personalization Process of 3D Printed Products using Parametric Design

Background Personalization is considered one of the latest trends in the market which aims to satisfy the diverse user needs to increase the competitiveness of products. To achieve personalization, designers must involve the users in the process of product design. However, traditional design and manufacturing techniques are found hard to be adapted for constantly changing user requirements. In this study, a personalization process of 3D printed products using parametric design is proposed to reduce the designer's involvement and to give control to the user during the product design process. Methods First, the definition of personalization, its characteristics, and importance were presented. Second, current personalization processes were analyzed and the key elements for achieving personalization, user involvement methods, and strategies were studied. Third, based on the literature review, an improved personalization process was proposed. Fourth, to validate the efficiency of the new process, a case study for designing a real product was presented. The case study required the development of a parametric design algorithm for lampshade design and an interface so that a number of users could manipulate the design parameters through an experiment. Fifth, interviews were conducted after the experiment to evaluate the design experience of the participants. Sixth, by analyzing the results of the interviews, personalization efficiency and user satisfaction were measured. Results This thesis proposes an improved personalization process for the design of 3D printed products by using parametric design. The case study validates the achievement of personalization and user satisfaction from the new process. Additionally, parametric design shows that it not only improves the personalization understanding of the designer and users but also enhances the creativity of the users in their designed products. For future works, we would like to test the new personalization process in different types of products, since the design and manufacturing parameters vary from one product to another, which could affect the personalization process efficiency.