Think of two team shirts. The first one arrives in a box. Someone in management picked the colour, the logo size and the fabric. Everyone gets one, and a few of them end up at the back of a drawer.
The second one looks almost the same. But six people from the team chose between three colours, voted on where the logo goes, and tried on the sample before the order was placed. When it arrives, they ask where theirs is.
Why does the second shirt get worn more? Psychology has a few good answers, and they are useful if you order shirts for a company, a restaurant, an event team or a sports club. This post explains them in plain words, and says where the evidence ends and our own reasoning begins.
The IKEA effect: we love what we helped make
In 2012, Michael Norton, Daniel Mochon and Dan Ariely published a set of studies on what they named the IKEA effect. People built IKEA furniture, folded origami and put together Lego sets. Afterwards, they valued their own amateur work more highly, and they rated it close to the work of experts. They also expected other people to feel the same way (Norton, Mochon & Ariely, 2012).
There is one condition that matters a lot. The effect only appeared when people finished the task. When they failed to complete it, or when their creation was taken apart in front of them, the extra love went away (Norton, Mochon & Ariely, 2012).
Keep that in mind for later. It means that asking for someone’s input and then ignoring it can be worse than not asking at all.
It is not only about effort
You might think people simply like things that took work. A second line of research says it is more than that. Nikolaus Franke, Martin Schreier and Ulrike Kaiser studied customers who designed their own products with an online toolkit. These customers were willing to pay more for the result. The extra value was not only because the product fit their taste better, or because the design took effort. The feeling of having created the design added value of its own, and a feeling of accomplishment helped explain it (Franke, Schreier & Kaiser, 2010).
In simple words: people care about things that carry a small piece of themselves.
What this could mean for a work shirt
Here we need to be careful. These studies used boxes, paper and customer toolkits. We did not find a study that tested staff co-designing their own uniforms. So the next part is our reasoning, based on the research above, and not a proven rule.
If the IKEA effect and the “I designed it myself” effect work for shirts too, then a team member who helped to choose the colour or the logo place has a reason to feel that the shirt is partly theirs. A shirt they feel is partly theirs is less likely to stay in a drawer.
There is also some support from the other side. A survey of 2,560 UK uniform wearers found that people said their uniform affects their happiness and behaviour at work. Among the design priorities that came out of the data were “tailored to the individual” and “suitability and practicality” (Moody, 2023). The study was paid for by a uniform supplier, and it reports what people say, not what they do. Still, it points in the same direction: people have opinions about what they wear to work, and those opinions matter.
How to involve staff without turning it into a mess
Too many voices can ruin a design. The aim is a small, real say, not a debate about every detail. Here is a simple way to do it.
- Choose a small group. Five to eight people from different roles and sizes are enough. Include someone who will wear it every day.
- Give a short list, not a blank page. Three colours, two logo places, two fabric weights. A short list gives people a real choice and keeps the project moving.
- Be clear about what is not up for a vote. Brand colours, legal wording and safety needs are fixed. If the shirt must meet a safety rule, staff input does not replace that rule.
- Make a sample and let them wear it. A sample is where opinions meet reality. People notice the neckline, the length and how the fabric feels on a hot day. This is also where a factory can fix problems before the full run. We explain why in why sampling matters before bulk production.
- Tell people what was decided, and why. If a suggestion was not used, say so kindly and give the reason. This is the “finish the task” part from the IKEA studies. People need to see that the project was completed and that their input counted.
- Put the result in their hands with some pride. A short message, a team photo, or a name on the sample card is enough. Do not turn it into a big ceremony.
Getting the details right before you order
Staff opinions are most useful on things that people feel: fit, fabric, colour, and where the logo sits. Some other decisions need a specialist.
- Print method. Whether a logo should be screen printed, DTF or embroidered depends on the artwork and the fabric, not on a vote. See screen print vs DTF vs embroidery.
- Sizes. Ask for sizes early, and plan a few extra in the middle of the range. Our post on why the minimum order is never one fixed number shows how order size connects to colours and sizes.
- A written spec. When the group has decided, write it down in a tech pack, so the factory builds exactly what the team chose. Here is a checklist: what a tech pack should include.
A first order for a team can be as small as 100 pieces, and sometimes less. That is a good size for a trial with a staff group: small enough to try, big enough to cover a whole team.
A short note on limits
Co-designing a shirt will not fix a team that is unhappy with its work. A shirt is a small thing, and the research here is about small feelings of ownership and pride, not about culture or pay. Treat it as one good habit among others, and not as a cure.
Quick questions people ask about this
What is the IKEA effect? It is the habit of valuing something more because you helped make it. In the original studies, people rated their own origami, Lego builds and assembled furniture more highly, but only when they completed the task (Norton, Mochon & Ariely, 2012).
Do employees really wear a uniform more if they helped design it? We did not find a study that tests this directly. Related research on self-made and self-designed products suggests it is likely, but it is not proven for uniforms.
How many staff should help design a company shirt? A small group is usually enough. Five to eight people from different roles keeps decisions quick and still gives the team a feeling of ownership.
What should staff be allowed to decide? Things people feel and see: colour, fit, logo place and fabric feel. Brand rules, safety needs and the print method are better settled by the brand and the factory.
Can a factory handle small custom team orders? Yes. Many factories take small runs, and our minimum is about 100 pieces. Ask for a sample first, so the team can try it before the full order.
Sources
- Norton, M. I., Mochon, D., & Ariely, D. (2012). The IKEA effect: When labor leads to love. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 453–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2011.08.002
- Franke, N., Schreier, M., & Kaiser, U. (2010). The “I designed it myself” effect in mass customization. Management Science, 56(1), 125–140. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1077
- Moody, L. (2023). Exploring the relationship between uniform and perceived employee happiness and productivity. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 27(2), 311–334. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-09-2021-0223
