The difference between Personalization and Customization. Also explored are user experience issues with personalization. Case study of personalization features in GMail, Amazon, My Yahoo !

1. Vinay Mohanty & Devesh Jagatram Personalization vs. Customization User experience issues- A case study Friday, June 5, 2009 CONFIDENTIAL

5. Personalization vs Customization Customization Personalization You explicitly specify what you want. It gives explicit user control ( you are what you say you are ) E.g. choosing which information elements might be presented on a home page, choosing display colors, etc. Customization is at a generic "feature" level , where you see/hide etc what you want My Yahoo is an example of customization where you tell the site what you want Personalization uses implicit interests and learns what you like from your actions ( you are what you click on and what you buy ) E.g. getting the information related to one’s preferences and regular activities Personalization is at the data/ content served level Amazon.com is an example of personalization where the latter learns your interests and adapts to your needs

6. Personalization vs Customization www.amazon.com Personalization my.yahoo.com Customization

9. Customization features in My Yahoo! Name Single point access with latest activities related to each service Single point access with latest activities related to each service

10. Customization features in My Yahoo! Choice of services to be listed (users can show / hide sections) Choice of services to be listed (users can show / hide sections)

11. Customization features in My Yahoo! Choice of colors / layout and other settings pertaining to UI Choice of colors / layout and other settings pertaining to UI Prioritizing services by specifying their placement on screen

12. Customization features in My Yahoo! Allowing users to add non-Yahoo! sections – providing access to all frequently used services / sites from one point

14. Personalization features in Amazon Recording customer preferences by asking her to rate/tag products ( 2 way communication) Recording customer preferences by asking her to rate/tag products ( 2 way communication) Recording customer preferences by asking her to rate/tag products ( 2 way communication)

15. Personalization features in Amazon Advertisements related to what’s on wishlists Advertisements related to what’s on cart

16. Personalization features in Amazon Name Name Recommendations based on preferences of people with similar profile Recommendations based on preferences of people with similar profile Recommendations based on browsing history

17. Personalization features in Amazon Recently Viewed Items

19. Personalization features in GMail Informing users about sites they may be interested into based on their email communication