Considering the vast amount of new accessory designs we receive at Shapeways for smartphones, Apple Watches, FitBit products and Pebble, it’s safe to say wearable technology is taking the world by storm. Like most traditional businesses, these companies are often keen to make their own accessories for their products. Offering a set of accessories is great as they enable different functionalities for the base product, but they can also be limiting. With only a few options to choose from, products do not become personal. They don’t showcase individuality, or why that product was bought in first place.
A while back Pebble shared a Reddit post of a Pebble Round customized with a non-official wristband on their own social channels. Is this showing how a big brand is embracing customization of their products?
As we at Shapeways know well, mass manufacturing does not deliver on our desire for personal products. From bumpers that can be personalized using our CustomMaker, to affordable watch stands for easy smartwatch charging, to mounts for connecting your smartwatch to your bike (photos at end of post), we’ve seen a lot of accessories at Shapeways that really tap into that demand for giving an identity to your wearable tech. The bigger question in this growing demand for custom objects is: how to do it without going through multiple prototypes to test it out?
In the case of Pebble, they did a great job making their CAD files available on GitHub. This enables you as a designer to use a virtual Pebble Watch to design your accessory around, making sure you can keep an eye on the right tolerances and guarantee that your and your customers’ Pebble Watches have a perfect fit with your accessory.
Seeing Pebble open up their product to their community and encouraging them to customize it really shows how a company values the personal experience of their users without fear of losing territory. On the contrary, I believe this will give new users a broader perspective on how to implement the product into their lifestyle and customize it to their personality, thereby increasing the demand for the base product. While there still is a lot of ground to be gained on the customization front, I consider this a small victory in making the products and objects you love to be really you.