The Laguna suite has four kitchen configurators. A visitor places units, picks materials, watches the price change, and leaves with a PDF of the configuration. Below are the things that proved to matter, in the order they became important.
The rules matter more than the rendering
The first temptation is to make the scene look good. The second, far more useful, is to stop the scene from allowing an impossible configuration. One unit cannot sit inside another, a sink needs a connection, and a corner has rules of its own.
Collision detection is not a visual effect. It is the business logic of the product. Without it a client leaves with a quote that production cannot build, and the correction arrives late and expensive.
Real time pricing changes the conversation
When the price recalculates on every change, a visitor immediately understands what costs more and why. That shortens the sales conversation and stops unrealistic requests before they reach a person.
In exchange it requires a single source for the price. If the formula lives in two places, on screen and in the quote, the two will drift apart, and trust is lost at the first mismatch.
Export is where the product becomes a document
The configuration PDF reaches the client and the workshop. It has to contain exactly what was on screen, with the chosen options and the price at that moment.
That is why the export is built from the same data as the interface. A second representation, made separately for print, guarantees a difference that nobody notices in time.
Performance on a phone is a design constraint
A scene that runs smoothly on a laptop can push a phone to its limit. Polygon counts, texture sizes, and the number of materials are decided early, because they are hard to change at the end.
It is cheaper to design for a phone from the start than to optimise a scene that is already finished.
What is worth building in the first version
The rules that prevent a wrong order, the correct price, the export, and a clear path to contact. These are the parts that either earn money or stop losses.
Photorealism, elaborate animation, and options nobody asks for are not worth it at the start. Each one adds loading time and maintenance cost, year after year.
Frequently asked questions about configurators
Does a 3D configurator work on a phone?
Yes, if it is designed for a phone from the start. The polygon budget, the textures, and the materials are set against the weakest device you want to support, not the best one.
What does the manufacturer need to provide?
3D models or technical drawings, the list of materials and finishes, the assembly rules, and the way the price is calculated. The quality of that data decides how much of the project is building and how much is cleaning up data.
Does a configurator replace the conversation with a consultant?
No, it prepares it. The client arrives with a realistic configuration and a price they understand, and the consultant handles what cannot be automated.
A good configurator sells because it does not lie. If you have a configurable product, see how we approach 3D configurators.