What Makes a Maker: Common Attitudes, Habits and Skills from the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Community

New technologies, communities, and identities are changing the way that many Do-It-Yourself (DIY) practitioners work. These changes are shaping a ‘modern’ DIY practice and have inspired interest from Interaction Design researchers. This study explores ‘modern’ DIY practice and the demographics of its practitioners, using interviews and a survey. Results indicate that DIY practitioners are: finding inspiration from friends and online reading; making projects for others and customizing items they own; developing expert problem solving skills; and working within flexible schedules. Respondents were balanced by gender (51% of respondents were female). Nearly half had post-secondary training in design or technology, but the majority of respondents reported that they were self-taught to some extent. Implications of these findings for designers are explored. This study contributes useful data and insights about modern DIY practitioners’ habits, attitudes, skills, and demographics, providing design researchers with a broader and more complete understanding of this community.