"Pimp My Roomba”: Designing for Personalization

Summary:
The customization of personal objects and technological devices, such as cell phones, mp3 players is something that is becoming more and more important in the world. Existing studies find that the personalization of objects increases the users ownership and satisfaction. This article wants to study whether personalization led to positive outcomes in people's experience with the Roomba. This was a 6 month study which involved 30 houses. It gave 15 households personalization options for the roomba and 15 had no idea that it was even possible. The 4 effects of personalization are: perceived ease of use, recognition of mine from others, reflection of personal identity and the feeling of control. Researchers reported that people want to personalize things based off a motivation of self expression, or when they use that technology frequently which means they are comfortable with how to use it and where they want it customized. The houses that customized their roomba's reported that they felt more connected to it, and felt like it was theirs and not just a robot. Some people personalized to make it represent their own idea of preference as well. The researchers also showed that personalization does not just occur naturally, but that it can be encourage through the appliance design and choices available. Another thing that the users brought to the researchers attention was that any designs need to be able to endure daily wear and tear to be pleasing.

Discussion:
Honestly, I read this article because of the title. It was very interesting to see what users felt about personalizing a home appliance such as the roomba. I think this is a good area of study because it will allow users to be happier with their purchases. I think that the next step in this should be to extend the study to more homes, and with other appliances, perhaps the coffee machine or dishwasher.