Design by Me: 1:1 Customization
Design your own custom LEGO® set, box, and buiding instructions
The Ultimate Product Customization
Design byMe (originally LEGO Factory) began in 2005 as a pilot experiment in crowdfunding LEGO designs. The very first iteration would allow users to compete to digitally design a LEGO set which LEGO.com users would vote into production.
Amazingly, this was 4 years before Kickstarter set the stage for crowdfunding. Also it was 5 years before the introduction of Minecraft and the iPad.
I moved to Denmark specifically to become the design lead on this project.
We operated as a small 5-7 person start-up within LEGO. Optimizing the experience, promoting, and working logistics.
The 1:1 Pilot
After existing for a year, Design byME pivoted to full customization.
Users could design their own LEGO Set with a selection of hundreds of bricks. They they could design a custom premium box and receive printed custom building instructions.
Users had a custom box designer which where they could let their imagination go wild!
How it worked
This is a promo video from the 2009 version of Design byME, which gives an idea of the overall system.
Reflections
After several years of shipping hundreds to thousands of custom sets a day, Design byME shut its doors in 2010. For a time, we experimented with other modular building systems with less complexity.
Why did it close? Simply put, customization at this level of granularity is very hard to keep profitable, especially when compared with other evergreen product lines in LEGO.
However, at the same time, the spiritual successors to Design byME launched. This included LEGO Ideas (which I also had the pleasure of working on), and LEGO Architecture. Both projects are still going strong!
The 3D building tool, heavily evolved, is still in use at LEGO for model designers. A version of it was also used to create assets for the LEGO Movie.
Other projects
LEGO® Play: Creative Community
Creative tools, games, and safe social app
LEGO® Life: Safe and Social
Creating a safe and creative online social media app for kids
LEGO.com: Evolution of a Beloved Brand Website
Restructuring to increase engagment and sales
Microsoft: Education Tools & Sites
Creating a media authoring tool concept for teachers
Misc. Projects: The Early Years
Projects from way back when
Personal Projects
What I do when I'm not working