A method for proposing valued-adding attributes in customized housing

In most emerging economies, there has been many incentives and high availability of funding for low-cost housing projects. This has encouraged product standardization and the application of mass production ideas, based on the assumption that this is the most effective strategy for reducing costs. Ho...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hentschke, Cynthia dos Santos, Formoso, Carlos Torres, Rocha, Cecilia Gravina da, Echeveste, Marcia Elisa Soares
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRGS
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:www.lume.ufrgs.br:10183/267611
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10183/267611
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Habitação popular
Customização em massa
Desenvolvimento de produto
Satisfação do consumidor
Mass customization
Means-end chain
Laddering
Low-cost housing
Product development
Customer satisfaction
Design flexibility
Descripción
Sumario:In most emerging economies, there has been many incentives and high availability of funding for low-cost housing projects. This has encouraged product standardization and the application of mass production ideas, based on the assumption that this is the most effective strategy for reducing costs. However, the delivery of highly standardized housing units to customers with different needs, without considering their lifestyle and perception of value, often results in inadequate products. Mass customization has been pointed out as an effective strategy to improve value generation in low-cost housing projects, and to avoid waste caused by renovations done in dwellings soon after occupancy. However, one of the main challenges for the implementation of mass customization is the definition of a set of relevant options based on users’ perceived value. The aim of this paper is to propose a method for defining value adding attributes in customized housing projects, which can support decision-making in product development. The means-end chain theory was used as theoretical framework to connect product attributes and costumers’ values, through the application of the laddering technique. The method was tested in two house-building projects delivered by a company from Brazil. The main contribution of this method is to indicate the customization units that are most important for users along with the explanation of why those units are the most relevant ones.