ABSTRACT
A product configurator is a software application for designing products that match the individual needs of a customer, allowing them to choose between product features, options, and technically viable combinations. When analyzing the options for interaction that are offered by different configurators, it becomes clear that these tools with their different goals and solution spaces must have specific characteristics determining how the interface should look to the end user. The field of mass customization is in an evolutionary process. A lot of configurators disappear every year and many more enter the online stage. In the industries Automobiles & Vehicles, House & Garden, and Apparel, configurators are expanding; in Beauty & Health and Electronics & Media, they are declining. Product configurators are already a part of many e-commerce value chains – in the upcoming age of individuality, they will be embedded in manifold dimensions of our digital communication environment.
