Title: Knowledge Reuse for Customization: Metamodels in an Open Design Community for 3d Printing,
Abstract: Theories of knowledge reuse posit two distinct processes: reuse for
replication and reuse for innovation. We identify another distinct process,
reuse for customization. Reuse for customization is a process in which
designers manipulate the parameters of metamodels to produce models that
fulfill their personal needs. We test hypotheses about reuse for customization
in Thingiverse, a community of designers that shares files for
three-dimensional printing. 3D metamodels are reused more often than the 3D
models they generate. The reuse of metamodels is amplified when the metamodels
are created by designers with greater community experience. Metamodels make the
community's design knowledge available for reuse for customization-or further
extension of the metamodels, a kind of reuse for innovation.