From Microsoft to Ikea, how 3D Print upgrades are building brand loyalty through function and personalization

Hi Friends! I’m excited to share this week’s “Designing Near Future” Newsletter with you. Welcome to the 70+ people who joined over the last 2 weeks. I took the last week off from writing but we are back again. If this email landed in your promotions folder, you know what to do.

Here’s the breakdown of what’s in store today

⭐ 1 Shift: The Customization Revolution: Why Personalized 3D Printed Upgrades are the Future

⚡ 1 Tip: Incorporating Cultural Probes

💊 3 Resources: Creative Resources For Taking Your Work to the Next Level

⭐ Shift

The Customization Revolution: Why Personalized 3D Printed Upgrades are the Future

In this edition of “Designing Near Future”, I am going to introduce you to a new shift in the hardware industry and show you all the signs that make me believe in it. The 3D printing world has grown significantly over the last few years. In 2021 alone, 2.2 million 3D printers were shipped, and that number is expected to reach 21.5 million by 2030 according to this report. And now, finally, brands are sharing parts, mods and upgrades with their customers.

Let’s dive deeper.

3D Print upgrades

Leading the way, in 2019, IKEA became one of the first major retailers to utilize 3D printing for better product accessibility. Their initiative in Israel called ThisAbles focused on open-source add-ons that address specific accessibility challenges. They introduced 13 addons where each one solves a different accessibility issue of their most popular furniture: Sofa elevating-legs for easier ascent, lamp button-enlargement for easy lighting, special handles for closets, etc.

Fast forward to now…

Adaptive controllers

Big tech enters the picture. Although, 3D printed parts aren’t new to the accessible products market - Microsoft, last year announced a range of adaptive accessories like mice and D-Pad controllers. At launch, they partnered with 3D Printing company, Shapeways to add a series of 3D Printed addons that customers can buy as upgrades to truly make these devices fit their individual needs. My only gripe here is that these parts are pretty expensive. But it’s great to see Microsoft offer these as add ons, as well as signal to other consumers to make their own.

Bambu Labs

A prominent 3D printer manufacturer, Bambu Labs (Dope printers btw, we just got one in our studio the other day) is providing 3D files for it’s customers to upgrade their 3D printer. This is actually a fairly common practice for 3D printing enthusiasts - use your 3D printer to print more printers lol. But in reality this has come in handy to build enclosures for their base level 3D printer. Check out the image below to see the customization offerings - from something purely aesthetic to a functional pegboard, you could simply grab the files from their website and get printing with the upgrades to transform your device.

Bambu Labs 3D printed enclosures

Brands join 3D Printing Platforms

A big sign that points towards this industry shift is the fact that prominent PC brands like Cooler Master, Noctua and Framework computer have joined Printables.com which is a platform for sharing and downloading 3D print files. All these brands are providing official parts to the community to allow customization, upgrades and repairs. This tells a simple story - brands are now showing they care about the customer experience even after the sale.

Ikea Uppgradera

Now, 3D printing platforms allow enthusiasts to download and customize (or repair) their products but it also allows designers to extend what these retail products are designed to do. Hungarian industrial designer, Adam Miklosi, in partnership with German additive manufacturing studio, Enable 3D, launched the Uppgradera Collection 3 recently. This collection offers innovative and really fun 3D printable solutions to enhance and improve commonly-used IKEA products. With the term "Uppgradera" translating to "upgrade," Miklosi's designs aim to elevate everyday IKEA items, addressing user needs for added comfort and efficiency.

So what’s the shift?

3D Printing upgrades will be a common practice in the coming years

As 3D printing becomes a household name, more and more brands will rely on part upgrades for their customers as it not only reduces cost but increases the speed to solving pain points. (Speed to Solving should be a success metric btw.) As you read earlier you can provide highly customized solutions for people too - which in turn builds brand loyalty and trust.

A couple months ago Big Screen Beyond’s CEO shared 3D files of their upcoming VR headset stating that it will allow enthusiasts to customize the look and feel of their headset as well as see how small it is. It’s a bold move, considering how most consumer tech brands keep their secrets hidden.

As a final note to hit the point home, Apple is now finally exploring 3D printing to build Apple Watch’s steel chassis. While in complete nascent stage, the announcement from a couple of weeks ago sent 3D printing stocks soaring. The approach benefits the environment because it only uses the approximate amount of metal necessary to create the device enclosures as opposed to forging and milling. (Now I know that this isn’t about upgrades, but this is sign that will play strongly into the entire 3D printing market)

Exciting Opportunities :

1. Offer 3D printing upgrades: If you are in the business of making hardware products and primarily target the western markets, offering 3D printing parts is a solid idea. You could save costs in inventory and shipping by simply offering downloads. This is exciting for designers on your team as well. (These addons can be paid, for additional income.)
2. Encourage Community mods: Most companies don’t go through rigorous R&D only to figure out that people are breaking apart their product and modifying to suit their needs. The truth is, this will inevitably happen. Instead of fighting it, consider encouraging your community to make your products better through mods. Celebrate those mods. A lot of video games today are only successful because of community mods.

Happy modding and happy printing.

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⚡ Tip

Incorporating Cultural Probes

Cultural probes are packages given to participants, which typically consist of a collection of tasks, tools, and requests. These might include:

• Diaries or journals to fill in
• Disposable cameras with instructions on what to photograph
• Maps to annotate
• Postcards with provocative questions
• Audio recording devices or cell phones

But what’s the purpose?

1. Inspirational Data: Instead of definitive answers, probes aim for data that sparks creativity.
2. Understanding Context: They provide insights into participants' daily lives, environments, and routines.
3. Participant Empowerment: Participants become co-researchers, choosing what and how to share.
4. Ambiguity: Results are open-ended, inviting varied interpretations and thereby allowing creative ideas.

So why am I sharing this age old method as a tip? You see, being an Indian Designer in the US, my biggest gripe is that the western world doesn’t entirely understand the eastern world. I want to encourage you to loop in culture studies as a given when doing design research.

Designers, like all individuals, have inherent biases. Cultural probes, by offering raw insights from diverse users, can help in mitigating design decisions based purely on a designer's personal experiences or assumptions. Check out this old video for a quick overview of what these probes could look like. Now, don’t aim for a rigid set of conclusions at the end of this exercise - like I said before, this method paints a broad holistic view of how another individual sees the world, thereby building greater empathy.

💊 Resources

3 links to boost your creativity.

• You have to check out this Design Report that answers some thought provoking questions like What is good design? Who gets to decide? How are designers feeling right now? Are we tasked with too much? This is my favourite read from this month.
• Immerse Zone is a reverse search engine that uses AI to find royalty free images. You could drop in a copyrighted image and it’ll find you free alternates.
• This Scott Wilson Interview (Founder of MINIMAL Inc.) goes into kickstarting various startups and designing some of the most impactful products in the market.

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next week with more juicy thoughts around design.

PS. I have been wondering if you are finding value out of this newsletter. If yes, I’d love to hear back from you. Simply hit reply and let me know 1 thing that I am doing well and 1 thing that I can improve.