"Pimp My Roomba"

Title: "Pimp My Roomba": designing for personalization

Author(s): JaYoung Sung, Rebecca E. Grinter and Henrik I. Christensen

Summary: The authors of this article did a study on the use of Roombas that were given to 30 people for 6 months, and they did some sub research on the concept of robot personalization while they were at it. Out of the 30 participants in the entire study, the only gave 15 a personalization toolkit, which included stickers (both basic and some not so basic) and letters and other things that they could attach to their robot, in addition to a couple of coupons that could be used to purchase a skin for their Roomba online. They frequently checked in with participants to see who would personalize their Roombas, and with what, and what effect it had on their experience with the product. It turned out that only 6 of the people who received a personalization toolkit took the time to actually apply stickers or letters, or personalize it at all. However, compared to the 15 that did not receive the toolkit, that is quite a large number, because none of those participants decided to personalize theirs. The effect of the personalization on those who did it was that they felt closer to their product, were more apt to keep it out instead of hidden, and more apt to use it.

Shaun's Opinion: I think this research is a good example of how manufacturer's can potentially benefit from making their products more customizable, either ordering it personalized, or adding a toolkit, like the author did. The benefit is that customers become more attached to their product, and potentially the brand name, making possible revenue from repeat customers a greater possibility. It is also interesting to see the kind of words used to describe the roomba after it has been personalized (like "part of the family", etc). People really view their personalizations as turning their roomba into a person, or maybe a dog.