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What Is Personalization? Perspectives on the Design and Implementation
of Personalization in Information Systems
Haiyan Fan; Marshall Scott Poole
Online publication date: 18 November 2009
To cite this Article Fan, Haiyan and Poole, Marshall Scott(2006) 'What Is Personalization? Perspectives on the Design and
Implementation of Personalization in Information Systems', Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic
Commerce, 16: 3, 179 — 202
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What Is Personalization? Perspectives
on the Design and Implementation
of Personalization in Information Systems
Haiyan Fan
Marshall Scott Poole
Department of Information and Operations Management
Mays School of Business
Texas A&M University, College Station
In e-commerce and mobile commerce, personalization has been recognized as an im
-
portant approach element in customer relationships and Web strategies. However,
there are wide differences in how this concept is defined, characterized, and imple-
mented in the literature. In this article we present a high-level framework for classify-
ing approaches to personalization that delineates fundamental assumptions about
personalization inthe literature and relates them to strategies for developing personal-
ization systems. The framework consists of 2 parts: (a) a set of perspectives on person-
alization that guide the design of personalization systems at a general level and (b) a
scheme for classifying how personalization can be implemented. The personalization
perspectives represent 4 distinct schools of thought on the nature of personalization
distilled from the literature of several fields. These perspectives are ideal types and we
discuss them in terms of the motivation they supply for personalization, the goals and
means of personalization, and the ways in which they conceptualize and model users.
The implementation classification scheme is constructed on 3 dimensions of imple
-
mentation choices. These 3 dimensions pertain to what to personalize (content, inter
-
face, functionality, channel), to whom to personalize (individuals or categories of indi
-
viduals) as well as who does the personalization (implicit or explicit personalization).
The personalization perspectives represent particular concepts of personalization that
guide general design choices; these choices are implemented via the options described
in the implementation classification scheme. The framework contributes to the devel
-
opment of a common theoretical basis for the study of personalization. We discuss im
-
plications of the framework for design of personalization systems and future research
directions.
personalization, multiparadigm review, classification scheme, ideal types,
design philosophy, electronic commerce, mobile commerce
JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMPUTING
AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 16(3&4), 179–202 (2006)
Correspondence should be sent to Haiyan Fan, Department of Information and Operations Manage
-
ment, Mays School of Business, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843–4217. Email: hfan@
mays.tamu.edu
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1. INTRODUCTION
The impulse to personalize environments, tools, and products to fit the unique con
-
cerns of the individual is as old as human society. In this era of technological inno
-
vations, the Internet, and new media, personalization is possible on a broader scale
and can be done more quickly and effectively than ever before. As an important so
-
cial phenomenon that carries great economic value [1, 2], personalization has
drawn increasing research attention from both academia and industry. Personal
-
ization has been studied in such academic fields as economics, management, mar
-
keting, information systems (IS), and computer science. In industry, corporate
spending on content personalization is estimated at $6 billion by 2004 [3], and per
-
sonalization technology providers have mushroomed (e.g., Net Perceptions,
BroadVision, Documentum, Vignette).
However, there is little consensus on how best to characterize the personaliza
-
tion construct. There is considerable diversity in thinking about the concept across
the various disciplines and researchers who have studied personalization. Such di
-
versity is advantageous because it offers multiple creative viewpoints on an impor
-
tant phenomenon. However, the wide range of viewpoints has tended to hinder
accumulation of a foundational body of research on personalization. Most current
research on this topic has centered on the technical level in which the conceptual-
ization of personalization systems depends on the developer or researcher’s partic-
ular view of personalization. This has resulted in studies and systems that are
difficult to relate to one another. Furthermore, empirical studies that have com-
pared and contrasted the effectiveness of different personalization technologies are
rare. The current practice of focusing on “how to do personalization” rather than
“how can personalization be done well” suggests that the field is still in its infancy.
This situation motivated us to develop a high-level framework for classifying
approaches to personalization. The framework delineates fundamental assump-
tions about personalization in the literature and relates them to design strategies
for developing personalization systems. It consists of two parts: (a) a set of perspec
-
tives on personalization that guide the design of personalization systems at a gen
-
eral level and (b) a scheme for classifying how personalization can be
implemented. The personalization perspectives represent four distinct schools of
thought on the nature of personalization distilled from the literature of several
fields. These perspectives are ideal types and are discussed in terms of the motiva
-
tion they supply for personalization, the goals and means of personalization, and
the ways in which they conceptualize and model users. The implementation classi
-
fication scheme is constructed on three dimensions of implementation choices.
These three dimensions pertain to what to personalize (content, interface, function
-
ality, channel), to whom to personalize (individual or categories of individuals) as
well as who does the personalization (implicit or explicit personalization). The per
-
sonalization perspectives represent particular concepts of personalization that
guide general design choices; these choices are implemented via the options de
-
scribed in the implementation classification scheme. The classification scheme of
-
fers a descriptive analysis of personalization practices, whereas the
personalization perspectives offer a normative analysis of design possibilities.
Whereas the implementation classifications shed light on the question of how per
-
180
FAN AND POOLE
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sonalization can be done, the personalization perspectives provide insight into
possibilities—diverse ways of thinking about personalization and the design of
personalization systems.
We organized this article as follows. We first consider definitions of personaliza
-
tion ventured by scholars and designers from a range of fields to illustrate some of
the complexities behind the construct. Based on the literature review, we advance a
working definition for personalization that presents a broad view of the phenome
-
non. Next, we present the classification scheme for methods of implementing per
-
sonalization. We introduce this prior to the perspectives on personalization
because it flows directly from our analysis of the definitions and also delimits the
means by which personalization is conducted. This provides important context for
the perspectives, which are at a more general level and shape the form and content
of the implementation. Finally, we discuss the implications for design of personal
-
ization systems as well as for IS research and practice.
2. DEFINITIONS OF PERSONALIZATION
We conducted a literature review in electronic databases using the keywords per-
sonalization, variants of the same word stem, and related terms such as customiz-
ation, adaptation, individuation, consumer-centric, and one-to-one relationship. The ini-
tial filtering of over 300 abstracts and book summaries yielded a total of 142
references thatdiscussed orstudiedpersonalization including86 journal articles,35
books or book sections, 13 conference papers, and eight Web references.
These sources represent six general areas in which personalization has been
studied: marketing/e-commerce; computer science/cognitive science; architec-
ture/environmental psychology; information science; and social sciences includ-
ing sociology, anthropology, and communication. Readers may get a sense of the
diversity of concepts in current research from Table 1, which exhibits sample defi
-
nitions of personalization. This array of definitions reflects the multidisciplinary
nature of personalization research.
At the conceptual level, personalization means different things to different peo
-
ple in different fields. For architects, personalization means creating functional,
pleasant personal spaces; for social scientists it is a way of enhancing social rela
-
tionships and building social networks [4, 5]; for some computer scientists, person
-
alization is a toolbox of technologies to enhance the Web experience through
graphic user interface design. Different conceptualizations in turn dictate different
research methodologies and implementations. Cognitive scientists resort to ex
-
plicit mental modeling to differentiate users, whereas e-commerce marketers rely
on user profiles and purchase records to segment customers.
The two largest bodies of work in our review were comprised of research by
scholars in the computer science and marketing/e-commerce areas. Each of these
groups has different research agendas and assumptions about personalization. Pri
-
marily comprised of researchers in marketing, management, economics, and IS,
the marketing/e-commerce group focuses on how to manage customer relation
-
ships by delivering unique value and benefits to each individual customer. This
group is particularly interested in the use of personalization in Web-enabled com
-
PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IN IS 181
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Table 1
Representative Definitions of Personalization
Discipline
Sample Definitions
Marketing/e-commerce a. “Personalization is the combined use of technology and customer
information to tailor electronic commerce interactions between a
business and each individual customer” [78].
b. “Personalization is about building customer loyalty by building a
meaningful one-to-one relationship; by understanding the needs
of each individual and helping satisfy a goal that efficiently and
knowledgeably addresses each individual’s need in a given
context” ([63], p. 26).
c. “Personalization is the capability to provide users, customers,
partners, and employees, with the most relevant web experience
possible” ([79], p. 15).
d. “Personalization is any behaviors occurring in the interactions
intended to contribute to the individuation of the customer”([80],
p. 87).
e. An enterprise, process, or ideology in which personalized
products and services are integrated and implemented throughout
the organization including all points of sale; other points of
customer contact; and back-end activities and departments such as
inventory, shipping, production, and finance [66].
Cognitive science f. Personalization is “a system that makes explicit assumptions
about users’ goals, interests, preferences and knowledge based on
an observation of his or her behavior or a set of rules relating
behavior to cognitive elements” [81].
g. Personalization is the process of providing relevant content based
on individual user preferences or behavior [12, 66].
h. Personalization is the“explicit user model that represents user
knowledge, goals, interests, and other features that enable the
system to distinguish among different users” ([82], p. 31).
i. Personalization is the understanding of “the user, the user’s tasks,
and the context in which the user accomplishes tasks and goals”
([83], p. 50).
Social science j. Technology that reflects and enhances social relationships and
social networks [4, 5].
k. “Technology that provide experiences that bridge cultures,
languages, currencies, and ideologies” ([77], p. 14).
Computer science l. “Personalization is a toolbox of technologies and application
features used in the design of an end-user experience” ([84], p. 44).
m. “Personalization system is any piece of software that applies
business rules to profiles of users and content to provide a
variable set of user interfaces”[13].
n. Machine-learning algorithms that are integrated into systems to
accommodate individual user’s unique patterns of interactions
with the system [21].
o. “Computer networks that provides personalized features,
services and user interface portability across network boundaries
and between terminals” ([25], p. 128).
p. Unifying platform embedded in any type of computing devices
that support individualized information inflow and outflow [85].
q. Presenting customers with services that are relevant to their
current locations, activities, and surrounding environments [22].
182
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merce and mobile commerce. On the other hand, with an interest in making com-
puter technologies more usable by people, computer scientists in the computer-
human interaction (CHI) group view personalization as a way to close the gap be-
tween user and computer. The assumption in this case is that systems that are de-
signed and adapted to user requirements will facilitate user goal attainment. These
two groups hold considerably different understandings about what personaliza-
tion is, and each group has developed its own terminology, methodology, and tool
kits. Moreover, as Table 1 shows, there are differences within each group as well.
Differences in views of personalization among fields and among researchers in the
same field make it difficult to relate personalization studies to one another and to
cumulate knowledge about personalization.
The concept of personalization is intuitive but also slippery. As Table 1 indi
-
cates, the term has been used in so many ways that it is difficult to discern core fea
-
tures by just scanning the definitions. A thematic analysis of the definitions in
Table 1 suggests that most definitions of personalization include (a) a purpose or
goal of personalization, (b) what is personalized (interface, content, etc.), and (c)
the target of personalization (user, consumer, etc.). Although most definitions also
include a statement of the means by which personalization is implemented, we be
-
lieve that to be useful to the many fields involved in personalization research, a def
-
inition must be neutral as to means of personalization. It is clear that there are
many ways to do personalization whether via knowledge representation, a specific
product, or a Web page, and a general definition should not favor any particular
approach. To this end, we adapt Blom’s [6] general concept and define personaliza
-
tion as a process that changes the functionality, interface, information access and
content, or distinctiveness of a system to increase its personal relevance to an indi
-
vidual or a category of individuals.
This definition is framed around the goal of increasing personal relevance to
avoid dependence on particular motivations for personalization that limit the
scope of many of the definitions in Table 1. Definitions built around specific
PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IN IS 183
(continued)
Table 1 Continued
Discipline
Sample Definitions
r. Consumer-centric infomediary that act on behalf of users to
perform online shopping, searching and information-gathering
services [23, 24].
Architecture/
environmental psychology
s. “The relationship between persons and the spatial dimensions of
the environment that effects the cognitive, affective and socio-
cultural components of the individual” ([39], p. 142).
t. Deliberate decoration or modification of an environment to reflect
the occupants’ identities by increasing the usability and aesthetic
value of the space [38].
Information science u. Fine-tuning and prioritizing information based on criteria that
include timeliness, importance, and relevance to the audience [86].
v. “Delivering to a group of individuals relevant information that is
retrieved, transformed, and/or deduced from information
sources” ([87], p. 30).
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goals—such as tailoring electronic commerce transactions, delivery of business
processes, and enhancing social relationships—or for specific targets such as cus
-
tomers, partners, and employees are too context bound to be useful in understand
-
ing the entire field. Definitions that emphasize certain techniques or tools of
personalization—such as user models, machine learning algorithms, computer
networks, or infomediaries—predecide how personalization is to be done and also
limit one’s view of the phenomenon. Our definition attempts to provide a more
general view of personalization. In our view, an adequate definition of personal
-
ization should open up the field of personalization research to many perspectives
and methods and avoid specific assumptions about motives, context, or method.
At this point, it is useful to explore a few terms that are closely related to person
-
alization and sometimes used synonymously for it. The term customization is fre
-
quently used interchangeably with personalization. Most work in which
customization is used [7, 8] has referred to it as customer-initiated personalization
actions. Somewhat analogous to ordering from a menu, customization is often
comprised of a suite of template-driven, finite set of options from which users
choose. Examples are personal portal sites such as “My Yahoo!” [9] or sites that of
-
fer custom-made apparel such as “Lands End” [10]. Because users are in direct con-
trol, customization is advantageous with respect to high predictability and low
intrusiveness. In relation to the definition of personalization just advanced, cus-
tomization would be one approach to implementing personalization.
Another closely related term is adaptation. In the CHI literature, this term has
been used to refer to the properties of a system that can automatically adjust its be-
havior and interaction to suit the user’s needs [11]. Specifically, an adaptive system
employs explicit mental or cognitive modeling of the user to enable the system to
distinguish among different users. Adaptable systems, on the other hand, require the
user to explicitly specify how he or she wants the system to be different. The dis-
tinction between adaptable and adaptive systems is similar to the distinctions be-
tween explicit and implicit personalization [7, 12–14] and static and dynamic
personalization [15] that can be found in descriptions of commercial systems for
personalization (see also Karat et al. [16]). This terminological duplication is proba
-
bly due to different perspectives. The CHI research is system oriented and focuses
on what the system can do as compared to the application-oriented business re
-
search that focuses on applying personalization technology in e-commerce or mo
-
bile commerce. In terms of our definition of personalization, the adaptive or
adaptable system is the means to accomplish personalization. In this article, we
adopt the widely accepted classification of implicit versus explicit personalization
from the e-commerce literature to reflect the adaptive–adaptable distinction.
Personification refers to endowing inanimate computer objects with human qual
-
ities or human form [6, 17, 18]. In CHI terminology, personification is often imple
-
mented as anthropomorphic software agents [19, 20]. This term does not relate to
our discussion of personalization.
Beyond terminological issues, diversity in the technologies used in building per
-
sonalization systems also constitutes a barrier to mutual understanding among
personalization researchers. There exist many approaches to personalization rang
-
ing from computational algorithms to less rigorous applications of various types.
For example, machine-learning algorithms have been integrated into systems to ac
-
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FAN AND POOLE
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commodate the individual user’s unique patterns of interactions with the system
[21]. Ubiquitous computing and context-aware computing provide customers with
services relevant to their current locations, activities, and surrounding environ
-
ments [22]. Agent technology has been used in building consumer-centric
infomediaries that act on behalf of users to perform various tasks [23, 24]. Com
-
puter networks can provide personalized features, services, and user interface por
-
tability across network boundaries and between terminals [25].
To get a perspective on the variety of approaches to personalization, it is useful
to define general dimensions underlying the implementation of personalization
systems. These dimensions can be used to construct a classification scheme for per
-
sonalization systems that relates them to theoretical and practical concepts.
3. A CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR IMPLEMENTATIONS
OF PERSONALIZATION
The schemeis constructedalongthree dimensionsof implementation implicitin the
previous section: (a) the aspect of the information system that is manipulated to
provide personalization (what is personalized), (b) the target of personalization (to
whom to personalize), and (c) whodoesthepersonalization (i.e., the user or the sys-
tem). This classification scheme draws on several previous classification systems.
Blom [6] distinguished three motivations to personalize: to access information, to
accomplish workgoals,and to accommodate individualdifferences. Rossi et al. [26]
made a distinction betweenbaseinformation and behavior, what the user perceives
and how the user perceives. This framework is largely concerned with system-level
elements such as personalization for links, navigation structure, and navigation
context. Instone [13] and Wu et al. [27] classified personalization on e-commerce
Web sites into a two-by-two grid with implicit versus explicit personalization on
one dimension and Web content versus Web interface on the other dimension.
In terms of the first dimension, what is personalized, we can distinguish four as
-
pects of IS that can be personalized: the information itself (content), how the infor
-
mation is presented (user interface), the media through which information is
delivered (channel/information access), and what users can do with the system (func
-
tionality). These represent the basic elements of IS that can be manipulated in a per
-
sonalization system to make the system more personally relevant to the user. This
dimension focuses on the particular parts of the system that deliver personaliza
-
tion to the user.
The second dimension, the target of personalization, can be either a category of
individuals or a specific individual. One option is to implement personalization for
a particular category of user such as women, single-child families, or members of a
club. Insofar as an individual user identifies with this category, he or she is likely to
perceive that the system is personalized for them. Another option is to design sys
-
tems to adapt and cater to the needs of a single user. Individuated personalization is
targeted to a specific individual, and its goal is to deliver goods, services, or infor
-
mation unique to each individual as an individual.
Research on social identity [28, 29] has shown that people may think of them
-
selves either as members of a social group (a category) or as individuals, depend
-
PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IN IS 185
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ing on the social cues available in a particular context. Furthermore, research has
indicated that people react differently when they are focused on their unique iden
-
tity as an individual (individuated) as opposed to how they act if their focus on
their identity as members of a social group (categorized). When people focus on
category membership, their motivation revolves around values and concerns of the
social group; they are more influenced by group norms than by individual consid
-
erations; they tend to make judgments based on perceived group standards; and
they may stereotype members of outgroups, groups they view as opposed or dif
-
ferent from their own. When people are individuated, their motivation is largely
driven by their particular individual needs; they are not as strongly influenced by
norms but make decisions on individual bases, and they are more likely to see oth
-
ers as individuals as well and not as members of other social groups. Personaliza
-
tion systems based on categories are likely to give categorical cues (e.g., “This site is
specially designed for members of the Blackwell Club”) and are likely to elicit quite
different user reactions than are individuated systems.
Interestingly, the actual implementation of individuated personalization may
be based on categorical analysis. If it is desirable to capture the unique individual
-
ity of a person, this can be defined as the unique intersection of a variety of catego-
ries representing the individual’s important characteristics (e.g., female, Hispanic,
professional, living in Idaho, 25 years old, one child, etc.) and utilizing enough cat-
egories to define the individual uniquely. Although categories are used, this sys-
tem functions for all intents and purposes as an individuated personalization
system. In general, as this example illustrates, individuated personalization takes
more system resources than categorical personalization.
The third dimension pertains to degree to which personalization is automated.
Personalizationin whichtheuser participatesbymakingchoicesorprovidinginfor-
mation to give the system guidance as to how to adapt is termed explicit personaliza-
tion. Personalization that is done automatically by the system is termed implicit
personalization. As wenotedin the previous section, this distinctionparallels the dif
-
ferentiation of system-initiated versus user-initiated personalization, adaptive ver
-
susadaptablesystems,andstaticversusdynamicpersonalization.Thisdistinctionis
animportantonenotonlybecauseithasimplicationsforthetechniquesusedtocarry
out personalization but also because users are likely to react differently to a system
they knowthey control (explicit personalization)andone that seemstohave a lifeof
itsownandadaptstothemofitsownaccord(implicitpersonalization)[18].Research
has suggested that people react to systems that display agency on the same basis as
they respond to other human beings,whereasasystem that is dependent on human
input—and thus clearly responsive rather than proactive—is more likely to be
viewed as nonhuman. Hence, implicit personalization would be expected to affect
users differently than would explicit personalization.
Together, the three dimensions capture key implementation choices involved in
personalization, yielding the scheme depicted in Table 2. The dimension along the
top of the table, aspects of IS used to personalize, breaks out options pertaining to
technical implementation. The target and automation dimensions, which run along
the side, highlight implementation choices with different implications for user re
-
sponsetoapersonalizationsystem.Oneothernoteworthyclassificationschemewas
developedbyAmoroso andReinig [30].AmorosoandReinig classifiedtechnologies
186
FAN AND POOLE
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Table 2
Classification Scheme for Personalization Systems With Examples
Target
Automation Content Functionality User Interface
Channel/
Information Access
Implicit Individuated Recommendation
of new
destination sent
by travel
company in a
personalized
greeting card to
existing
customers each
year around the
time they took
their last trip
based on the
analysis on
groups of other
like-minded
travelers [72]
Mobile wireless
agents
equipped with
global
positioning
systems acting
as a personal
tourist guides
that can
dynamically
adjust to users’
interests and
changes in
environment
[55]
Computer
systems that
dynamically
render
information
structure,
grouping, or
look and feel
according to
user’s real-time
action [21]
Context-
awareness
computing in
wireless
customer
support such as
flight schedule
change alert
sent to
traveler’s
personalized
digital assistant
(PDA) (www.
travelocity.
com)
Categorical Recommender
system
suggests related
titles to all
customers who
browsed or
bought Science
of the Artificial
(www.amazon.
com)
Trucking
company Web
site designed
with different
functionalities
for users of
different roles:
business
partners, truck
drivers, and
managers
(BroadVision
case study on
www.
broadvision.
com)
3D interactive
map
dynamically
changes its
presentation for
different
groups of
visitors such as
preschoolers,
big kids,
romance &
relaxations,
magical
gatherings, etc.
Bank’s
multichannel
customer
service: call
center, Web,
ATM, wireless
transaction
support, etc.
[57]
Explicit Individuated Personalized
digital library
(my book bag,
my bookmark);
personalized
web portal (My
Yahoo!);
custom-made
apparel (Lands’
End)
Customer built
personal virtual
model by
submitting
specifications of
body
parameters
(Lands’ End);
Virtual
cosmetics tool
with which
customer can
experiment
with myriads of
cosmetics
product
(L
′
ORÉAL
Easy
Makeover)
Customers
configure the
look and feel of
My page saved
on the server
side
(www.msn.
com)
Personalized
communication
network,
virtual home
environment
(3rd generation
partnership
project)
(continued)
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used in personalization management systems into four broad categories. User-
behavior tracking technologies include cookies, clickstream tracking, and hover tech-
nologies.Asthename implies,thistypeoftechnology providesmechanismstoiden-
tify users and to monitor user online behavior in the background. Personalization
database technologies are built on large database systems and require intensive com-
puting power. This type of technology includes statistical analysis, data mining,
webhousing, intelligent agent, recommender systems, collaborative filtering, and
user profiling. Personalized user interface technologies include user interface design,
human-oriented digital design, and adaptive hypermedia. Finally, customer support
technologiesarepersonalizedjust-in-timeapplicationsinmobilecommercecapitaliz-
ing on a user’s current location, activity, and surrounding environment. This
scheme, whichcaptures complex bundlesoftechnology used inpersonalization, of
-
fersausefulsupplementtoourscheme,butwedonotincorporateitbecauseitwould
make the scheme too complex.
Thus far, we have undertaken the descriptive task of structuring research on
personalization by defining the construct and offering a classification of key
choices in the implementation of personalization systems. In the following section,
we present a normative analysis of general perspectives on personalization. Nor
-
mative perspectives guide design by developing a vision of what personalization
could be that articulates the purpose of personalization and criteria for realizing
that purpose. Current approaches to personalization in both industry and acade
-
mia tend to adopt relatively narrow, specialized views of the subject. However, we
believe that creative and effective design will best be facilitated by considering
widely different approaches. The commercial and functional approaches that dom
-
inate the marketing and computer science schools on personalization are only two
of several approaches that can be taken to the design and execution of personaliza
-
tion. Alternative norms to guide design can be identified through exploring alter
-
native ways in which personalization is characterized, conceptualized, and
practiced in diversified disciplines.
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Table 2 Continued
Target
Automation Content Functionality User Interface
Channel/
Information Access
Categorical Online interest
groups and
support groups
on various
health topics
such as
depression,
pregnancy, and
cancer
moderated by
medical
professionals
(www.webmd.
com)
Different
downloadable,
interactive tools
such as quizzes,
games for kids,
teenagers,
parents, and
teachers
(www.young
investor.com)
Distinctively
different look
and feel of the
web site for
different
countries
(www.loreal
paris.com)
Local restaurant
or vending
machine
directory
available on
user’s PDA
(Zagat’s
restaurant
guide)
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4. PERSPECTIVES ON PERSONALIZATION
Different schools of thought can be discerned withinthediversepersonalization lit
-
erature. To capture the characteristic features of these logically consistent ap
-
proaches to thinking about personalization, we distilled four perspectives from the
literature onpersonalization. In conducting thismultiparadigm review, we utilized
two metatriangulation techniques discussed by Lewis and Grimes [31] to uncover
paradigmatic disparity and complementarity. First we used paradigm bracketing to
differentiate and articulate various sets of assumptions. In some cases, these as
-
sumptions underlie prevailing thought about personalization, and we attempt to
make themmoreexplicit. In other cases,these assumptions are moreexplicitbut are
embedded in less well known paradigms, and we argue that they should be consid
-
ered by personalization researchers [32]. Second, paradigm bridging suggests “tran
-
sition zones” whereparadigmaticboundaries become fuzzy and new viewsperme
-
ating across paradigms are synthesized. In this section, we present the results of
paradigm bracketing that enabled us to identify four perspectives on personaliza
-
tion. At the end of this section and in the following section, we use paradigm bridg
-
ing to identify commonalities and differences among the perspectives and to ex-
plore design implications.
We relied on Weber’s [33] ideal type theory in defining the personalization
perspectives. Weber argued that social, economic, and historical research can
never be fully inductive or descriptive, as one always approaches it with a con-
ceptual apparatus. This conceptual apparatus Weber defined as the ideal type,
which is an abstraction of essential features of a particular social or economic
phenomenon. The ideal type is useful for studying personalization for two rea-
sons. First, it focuses on the development of internally coherent perspectives on
the subject. It is important to study each of the distinct schools of thought on per-
sonalization in its “pure form” so as to capture their respective central character-
istics. Ideal type theory provides a methodology for analyzing the typical or
logically consistent features of social institutions or behaviors [33]. Second, there
is a strong need to establish a common frame of reference against which the cur
-
rent practice of personalization can be evaluated. Although the ideal type does
not describe any particular concrete course of action, it does describe what
Weber referred to as “objectively possible” courses of action. The ideal type is an
analytical tool for comparing the extent to which a concrete example of practice
is similar to or different from the defined ideal. In this sense, ideal types can
serve as guidelines for conducting and evaluating personalization systems in
light of alternative approaches.
From our literature review, we distilled four ideal types of personalization as
shown in Table 3: the architectural, relational, instrumental, and commercial per
-
spectives. Each perspective represents a different philosophy concerning the moti
-
vation behind personalization and what personalization tries to accomplish (its
goal). Each perspective also implies a different strategy for personalization, differ
-
ent means for carrying out this strategy, and different user modeling techniques.
Finally, each perspective implies different criteria for evaluating personalization
systems. In discussing the four perspectives, we use Web enabled e-commerce or
mobile commerce sites as focal cases.
PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IN IS 189
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4.1 Architectural Personalization
Architectural personalization is most generally associated with the fields of archi
-
tecture, environmental psychology, and urban planning. This approach is reflected
in the definitions under the architecture category in Table 1. Architecture has long
been used asareference discipline for CHI research, primarilyinthe graphic design
and visualization areas [34]. As a recognized reference discipline for management
IS research, the social processes and research methodologies of architecture have
been studied [35, 36].Forexample,Kim et al. [37] applied architectural constructs to
measure the architectural quality of Internet business. In this article, we explore
ways in which architects personalize physical environments that are applicable to
the Web-enabled environment.
We define architectural personalization as the construction of the digital environ
-
ment to create a pleasant user space and a unique experience for the user through
arrangement and design of digital artifacts in a way that meet the user’s needs and
reflect his or her style and taste. Because architectural personalization is concerned
with building digital environments, it relates particularly to the interface aspect of
the system.
The motive of architectural personalization is to fulfill the user’s needs and to
enable him or her to express himself or herself through design of the online envi
-
ronment. The goals for personalization in this view are twofold: (a) to create a func
-
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FAN AND POOLE
Table 3
Personalization Ideal Types
Architectural Instrumental
Motive: To fulfill a human being’s needs for
expressing himself/herself through the
design of the built environment
Motive: To fulfill a human being’s needs for
efficiency and productivity
Goals: To create a functional and delightful
Web environment that is compatible with a
sense of personal style
Goals: To increase efficiency and productivity
of using the system
Strategy: Individualization Strategy: Utilization
Means: Building a delightful Web
environment and immersive Web
experience
Means: Designing, enabling, and utilizing
useful, usable, user-friendly tools
User model: Cognitive, affective, and social-
cultural aspects of the user
User model: Situated needs of the user
Relational Commercial
Motive: To fulfill a human being’s needs for
socialization and a sense of belonging
Motive: To fulfill a human’s beings needs for
material and psychic welfare
Goals: To create a common, convenient
platform for social interaction that is
compatible with the individual’s desired
level of privacy
Goals: To increase sales and to enhance
customer loyalty
Strategy: Mediation Strategy: Segmentation
Means: Building social interactions and
interpersonal relationships
Means: Differentiating product, service, and
information
User model: Social context and relational
aspects of the user
User models: User preference or demographic
profiling; user online behavior and user
purchasing history
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tional and delightful Web environment that provides aesthetic value and reflects
the user’s personal style and (b) to help the user cultivate a sense of personal and
social identity within the space [38].
The general strategy of architectural personalization is individualization. Re
-
search in architecture has shown that personalized design that incorporates the
needs and requirements of users has significantly improved the quality and func
-
tion of the built environment [39–43]. Personalization of domestic and work spaces
strives to make them true reflections of the occupant’s personal and social identity,
particularly with respect to social-cultural positions such as ethnic, socio
-
demographic, socioeconomic, or socioprofessional background [39]. Architects
seek to honor individual experience sui generis, and therefore, architectural per
-
sonalization is in direct contrast with commercial personalization, which starts and
ends with the premise that personalization must enhance the marketability of the
products and profitability of the business transaction.
Intransferring thearchitectural perspectiveto theWeb-enabled environment,re
-
searchers are confronted with a question: What constitutes the space? We contend
thatthis spaceisthe digitalcounterpartofanalogspace. Novaketal. [44]arguedthat
“the Internet is best thought of not as a simulation of the ‘real world’, … but as an al-
ternative real, yet computer-mediated environment in which the online customer
experiencebecomesparamount”(p.23).Justasthehuman-madeecosystemconsists
of physical artifactssuchas buildings, furniture, and otherobjects[45], digital space
iscomprisedof human-madedigital artifactssuchasthe structureof aWeb site,nav-
igation components, hyperlinks, layout, and site flow [46]. Architectural personal-
izationinthedigitalenvironmentfollowstheaxiomsofarchitecturethatstressunity,
form, andfunction, and itscentral reference pointis a balancethat is capturedby the
phrase “aesthetic functionality.”
Theories of behavior–environment congruence advance the premise that ma-
nipulating physical space provides an effective means for influencing the cogni-
tive, affective, and social-cultural aspects of residents [47–49]. Personalization
systems designed following the architectural design philosophy employ user mod
-
els that map the cognitive, affective, and social-cultural aspects of users. Most cur
-
rent research has explored principles for constructing digital spaces that afford
easy navigation, intelligent presentation, and aesthetic delight [34, 50, 51]. Less re
-
search has been devoted to how to utilize a user’s individual style and taste as
shaped by his or her individual and social identity. A good example of architec
-
tural personalization would be the L
′
ORÉAL® Web site. The site is designed with
a different look and feel for different countries. The Japanese site is presented with
the fresh pure look of oriental lotus, the Brazilian site is imbued with passionate
dashes of red, and the French site is enlivened by an avant-garde-looking model.
The variety brings in intrigue, mood, and added value to a site.
4.2 Instrumental Personalization
In Marxist philosophy, a human being is defined as the creature capable of creating
and using tools. Human history is a history of creation and use of increasingly pow
-
erful toolsandmachines. From the industrialrevolutionto the information age,me
-
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chanical tools followed by electronic and digital machines have emerged at an ex
-
ponential rate, becoming an indispensable part of daily life. Instrumental
personalization attempts to facilitate human use of computer systems as tools.
Instrumental personalization correlates with the goals of the traditional systems
designer and is exemplified by definitions under the computer science, cognitive
science, and IS categories in Table 1. It refers to the utilization of IS to enhance effi
-
ciency and personal productivity by providing, enabling, and delivering useful,
usable, user-friendly tools in a way that meet the user’s situated needs. Instrumen
-
tal personalization focuses on the functionality of the system. The assumption in
this case is that users will find systems that are designed and tailored to their par
-
ticular requirements more relevant. Regardless of the type or sophistication of the
machines, the purpose for instrumental personalization nevertheless is singular—
to support users in accomplishing their goals. Unlike architectural personalization
in which function and form balance each other, instrumental personalization em
-
phasizes functionality and usability and treats aesthetics as a secondary consider
-
ation to be addressed once instrumental standards are met.
There are three aspects of instrumental personalization: providing tools, design
-
ing tools, and utilizing tools. Each aspect takes a different perspective on the per-
sonalization issue and entails different research interests. Providing tools is
concerned with creating devices for personalized use that can be delivered through
the appropriate channels. Channels for provision of services include the wired and
wireless Webs, personal digital assistants, interactive TV, and voice portals among
others. Devices deployed in wired or wireless applications offer personalized func-
tions ranging from Hallmark’s® interactive calendar that sends reminders of im-
portant dates to personal agents capable of conducting business transactions [24,
52]. Designing tools is concerned with making tools and machines usable, useful,
and user friendly, the traditional domain of software engineers.
Utilizing tools is concerned with choosing the appropriate channels and devices
to deliver relevant content effectively. The challenge lies in identifying the proper
vehicle to carry out the service through multiple channels. For example, ubiquity,
localization, and convenience have been often cited as key mobile value proposi
-
tions [53, 54]. Mobile wireless agents equipped with Global Positioning Systems
are suitable for personal tourist guides that can dynamically adjust to users’ inter
-
ests and changes in environment (e.g., indicating when museums are open during
times convenient for the user) [55]. Web-based shopping agents are capable of per
-
forming complicated price, utility, and functionality comparison among brands
[56]. The challenge lies in identifying the proper vehicle to carry out the service
through the “multi-channel zigzag” [57]. An important task for instrumental per
-
sonalization is the integration of different computing devices across platforms.
Truly personal control over the flow of information across the boundaries of net
-
works, platforms, and devices can be realized through the creation of personalized
communication networks such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s “Personal
Service Environment” and “Virtual Home Environment” [25].
Instrumental personalization highlights the importance of the user’s situated
needs. Deviating from traditional artificial intelligence research that treats the per
-
sonasa rational,linear informationprocessing system,studies ofsituated needsand
actionargue that“everycourse ofactiondependsin essentialwaysuponits material
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andsocialcircumstances.Ratherthanattemptingtoabstractactionawayfromitscir
-
cumstances and represent it as a rational plan, the approach is to study how people
usetheir circumstancestoachieve intelligentaction”([58], p.7).Personalization sys
-
tems designed under the instrumental perspective utilize information about the
user’s contextsuch as time,location,and surrounding environmentalparameters to
make inferences or predictions and to act accordingly [59].
4.3 Relational Personalization
Another way to personalize one’s world is to create a unique web of social relation
-
ships. Thisapproach ismostclosely associatedwithsociology, communication,and
anthropology and is reflected in the definitions in the social science category in Ta
-
ble 1. Positive social relationships give individuals a sense of well-being by creating
support and a sense that they are not alone and are valued. In a very real sense, they
lend an aura of the personal to one’s world.
Relational personalization can be defined as the mediation of interpersonal rela
-
tionships and utilization of relational resources to facilitate social interactions by
providing a convenient platform for people to interact with others in a way that is
compatible with the individual’s desired level of communality and privacy. The
motivation behind relational personalization is to fulfill the user’s needs for social-
ization and a sense of belonging. The goal of relational personalization is twofold:
(a) to enhance the effectiveness of interpersonal interactions and (b) to help gener-
ate “social capital” [4] by providing new opportunities for strengthening social re-
lationships and maintaining social networks. Relational personalization takes a
myriad of forms, ranging from personalized gifts to computer-mediated interper-
sonal communication (MIT Media Lab).
Personalization systems designed according to the relational perspective focus
on a strategy of mediation. They seek to provide a common, convenient platform
for interpersonal communication and community building that emphasizes design
on the basis of what Preece [60] termed sociability. Once a social network has
emerged, the designer can use this critical mass to further enlist users and increase
the relational potential of the network. Applications amenable to relational person
-
alization vary greatly in size and complexity. They can be as simple as providing an
“e-mail to a friend” button to notify others of one’s flight schedule after booking
tickets online or as complicated as a conglomeration of online information portal
and activity center in a “Digital City” that engages residents or visitors [61].
The relational perspective models the user’s relational needs and the social con
-
text that satisfies them. Preece [60] discussed several aspects of social context that
are important in meeting users’ needs for sociability. These include a clearly stated
purpose that attracts people with similar goals and interests to the community,
provision of people who play key roles in the community (moderators, mediators),
and community governance policies that make participation safe and preserve pri
-
vacy. In this model, the individual’s attempt to achieve a desired level of privacy on
one hand is balanced by his or her attempt to maintain a sense of community on the
other [62]. A relationship that maintains a desired level of privacy ensures good
community building, whereas good community building enhances trust.
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4.4 Commercial Personalization
One of the most important human activities is the consumption of goods and ser
-
vices. Personalization driven by the commercial perspective is reflected in the defi
-
nitions in the marketing/e-commerce categories in Table 1. Adopting Riechen’s
[63] definition, wedefine commercial personalization as thedifferentiationof prod
-
uct, service, and information to increase sales and to enhance customer loyalty by
segmenting customers in a way that efficiently and knowledgeably address each
user or group of users’ needs and goals in a given context. Commercial personaliza
-
tion is strongly technology driven. Information technology makes mass personal
-
ization possible through the personalized channel of “addressable media.” The en
-
tire business paradigm shifts from mass-produced goods and standardized
services to an emphasis on one-to-one contact as discussed by Peppers and Rogers
[64] in The One To One Future: Building Relationships One Customer at a Time, a corner
-
stone book for much recent activity in the personalization industry.
The motivation of commercial personalization is to fulfill users’ material needs
and thus contribute to their psychic welfare [65]. Commercial personalization pri
-
marily focuses on the content of the system. The assumption is that product, ser-
vice, and information of high relevance to the consumer yields a satisfying
shopping experience and loyal adherence to the Web site as well as the organiza-
tion behind it. The goal of commercial personalization is to increase sales directly
and through cross sales [14] and to increase customer loyalty and build brands [63].
Customers benefit from customized products, individualized services, and an en-
hanced experience [10]. Cultivating a one-to-one relationship makes future trans-
actions smoother and more efficient, benefiting both parties in the long run.
The primary strategy of commercial personalization is segmentation. Commer-
cial personalization is ultimately effective only to the extent that the offerings pro-
vide value to the target market segments by differentiating the product, service,
and information provided. Business goals are sometimes in direct conflict with the
interests of consumers, who are money conscious, time conscious, and sensitive to
privacy infringement. Personalization strategies merely for the benefit of the busi
-
ness are not sustainable even if they result in an initial sales boost.
Rich knowledge about the personalizee is a prerequisite for success in commer
-
cial personalization. This requires continuous learning about each individual, un
-
derstood as a systemic entity in terms of personal preferences and interests [66],
cognitive ability, motives, demographic or psycho-cultural profiles [14], user be
-
haviors [12], and specific contexts. Two types of contextual information are impor
-
tant for adaptive personalization. One type pertains to users’ intent, preferences,
and purchasing history, whereas the other relates to environmental factors such as
time and location of the user [67]. Effective personalization takes into account these
contextual elements to better anticipate customer needs and predict the goods and
services that will satisfy them.
4.5 Implications for Design
In this section, we discuss paradigmatic similarities, differences, and
complementarities among the four perspectives. The purpose of such exercise is
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FAN AND POOLE
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to anchor the perspectives to design strategies. A close examination of the four
personalization ideal types reveals that the four types can be further classified
intoa2×2grid. First, the perspectives can be differentiated in terms of utilitar
-
ian or affective orientation. The instrumental and commercial perspectives em
-
phasize task achievement and commercial transactions and therefore are
oriented to utilitarian issues, whereas architectural and relational perspectives
place more emphasis on users’ feelings, both aesthetic and socioemotional. The
perspectives can also be differentiated in terms of the basic premise of use,
whether the user primarily engages the system as an individual or through an in
-
teraction. Both architectural and instrumental personalization are concerned with
individual use of an artifact, be it a building, an information system, or a Web
site. Design emphasis is on an individual’s interaction with the artifact. On the
contrary, relations among multiple entities and the management of the relations
are of paramount importance in relational and commercial personalization.
Commercial and instrumental personalization, predominantly used for infor
-
mation retrieval, transaction processing, and content management, belong to the
class of productivity applications [68]. The purpose for personalization is utilitar
-
ian oriented, the goal of which is to get something done. Hence, content, function-
ality, and usability are given priority in design. In contrast, architectural and
relational personalization—primarily used for creating an attractive Web environ-
ment, an interactive social network, and a sense of psychological and social well-
being—belong to the class of entertainment applications. The purpose for person-
alization is affect oriented, the goal of which lies in the experience itself. Hence, a
balance between form and function as well as meaning of the using the system is
emphasized. Affective design is process oriented, whereas utilitarian design is re-
sults oriented [68]. Note that the distinction between productivity and entertain-
ment applications is based on the intended use of the software, not the intention of
the user. For example, a recommender system that suggests potentially interesting
DVD titles to the user would be a productivity application because the built-in
function of the recommender is to reduce information overload by focusing on in
-
formation relevant to the specific user. The difference between productivity appli
-
cations and entertainment applications is important because a series of design
decisions are contingent on the nature of the application.
The majority of existing personalization systems are designed to enhance pro
-
ductivity, whether in the form of one-click ordering (e.g., www.amazon.com) or
wireless, just-in-time, personalized information services such as stock, weather,
and local traffic information (e.g., DoCoMo). People use these systems to get things
desired (such as relevant information, quality product, or service) but not the expe
-
rience of using such systems (see Figure 1). Hence, the utility function is to maxi
-
mize convenience and efficiency [53]. Productivity applications are results
oriented and task oriented [68], with a focus on results such as fast checkout, high-
quality information retrieval, and immediate response. Design guidelines for these
types of task-oriented applications are similar to those for designing tools such as
the principles advanced by Norman [69] for designing everyday things in which
content, functionality, and usability are emphasized. Key usability issues for pro
-
ductivity applications are ease of use, clarity, consistency, freedom from ambigu
-
ity, and error. The aspect of ease of use includes both the use of the application itself
PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IN IS 195
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and the setup and configuration to make personalized features functional. Consis
-
tency helps users better orient themselves to the site and alleviates cognitive effort.
For example, in Amazon, the shopping cart is always on the upper right-hand cor
-
ner, browsing history is always displayed on the left column, and recommendation
list always appears after the user places an item in the shopping cart.
Nevertheless, in addition to “getting things done,” people also have a need to
“simply enjoy things.” This implies that personalization systems may not only ful
-
fill the functional aspects of human needs but also their entertainment aspects. En-
tertainment-oriented personalization applications capitalize on the process and
experience of using the systems. They are designed to stimulate thinking and to in-
voke feelings. The results are not tangible, but the process itself is critical in creat-
ing an engaging, fulfilling user experience. The principle of consistency may not be
sufficient to invoke feelings or engage users on the site for an extended amount of
time.
Architectural personalization and relational personalization have provided in-
sight into designing for affect. A key design principle of architectural personaliza-
tion is the balance of function and form. The idea of function and form as one was
advocated by the influential Bauhaus movement in architecture. Later articulated
by Frank Lloyd Wright, “form was to display the functionality of a building in an
organic way” ([70], p. 162). Rather than “looking functional,” “forms in organic ar
-
chitecture are uniquely suited to their purposes” ([70], p. 162). The organic, holistic
view of forms and function implies that decisions related to form should be moved
forward in the design life cycle to be considered together along with function. Rela
-
tional personalization, on the other hand, lays an emphasis on meaning, which is
derived from social interactions with different circles of life from close friends and
family, to immediate community, and to the society at large [71].
Although the ideal types represent distinctive paradigms of design strategy,
there exists great potential to combine multiple paradigms in a way that best meet
different needs of users. A design that combines function and form; embeds mean
-
ing in use; and integrates productivity, education, and entertainment is more likely
to fulfill human needs. A good example of combining form and function is found in
Disney World Web site. The “select an experience” bar presents to the users differ
-
ent segments of audience, that is, “preschoolers,” “teens,” “big kids,” “romance
and relaxation,” and so forth. Once an experience is selected with a sparkling
magic wand (the cursor), the site takes the user to a three-dimensional map where
users conveniently locate points of attractions and activity spots that are suitable
for that specific audience group. Combining productivity, education, and enter
-
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FAN AND POOLE
Figure 1. Personalization design paradigms.
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tainment is another effective way to promote use of personalization. The Web site
for the Public Broadcasting System teenage reality show American High is an excel
-
lent example of utilizing relational personalization for teen education. The Web
site is an innovative way of bringing students, teachers, parents, educators, and
artists together, making sure every voice gets heard and every role benefits from
this technological and artistic collaboration. Students can meet and chat with char
-
acters in the show, talk with the filmmaker, and experiment with a personalized
online yearbook. Teachers of media arts or social studies can find lesson plans that
provide a framework for creating student-produced video diaries and explore so
-
cial issues related to reality TV (http://www.pbs.org/americanhigh). These two
examples, a business organization and a nonprofit organization, both show that
there exist tremendous possibilities for creating a personalized experience by com
-
bining perspectives.
5. DISCUSSION: IMPLICATIONS FOR IS RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
In this article, we attempted to achieve two purposes. First, we have advanced a
working definition for personalization and proposed a classification scheme to
frame personalization research and practice. Second, we have developed a norma-
tive framework of personalization ideal types that distinguishes four distinct per-
sonalization design philosophies.
The goal of the classification scheme was to give a clearer structure to the diverse
and rapidly developing field of personalization. The scheme focuses on a general
description of personalization in terms of (a) the elements of a system that can be
personalized (content, functionality, interface, channel), (b) who initiates the per-
sonalization activity (user or system), and (c) the target of personalization activity
(individual or group). We believe these properties span the space of current ap-
proaches to personalization. These represent a set of core design choices for system
developers. They are also useful as a structure for organizing previous research
and to situate future projects. The goal of the definition and classification scheme is
to help to establish a common language for talking about personalization that can
help to integrate this multidisciplinary field.
The significance of the personalization ideal types is twofold. First, they define
different lenses for personalization research and practice. Although it is useful to
describe possibilities for personalization systems, in the end, personalization is a
practice that is shaped by the designer’s motives for personalization and viewpoint
on “what personalization really is.” The personalization ideal types, although ad
-
mittedly abstract, are useful because they identify relatively consistent tendencies
in personalization theory, research, and practice. Each ideal type describes a differ
-
ent philosophy that is built around a view of the particular goals for personaliza
-
tion and what it means to satisfy those goals. We suspect that different
organizations and different activities would best fit particular ideal types and so
the match between ideal type and the context in which the personalization system
operates would influence its effectiveness.
The ideal type scheme implies that no single standard or approach to personal
-
ization is “the best.” Each ideal type employs different criteria for evaluating how
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well the system succeeds in delivering the desired effect. Each type also has a dif
-
ferent model of the user, which suggests that different user modeling techniques
and implementation tools should be employed. Researchers and developers who
operate within a single perspective on personalization have tended to generalize
the motives, viewpoint, and approaches of that perspective to the entire field. This
has the potential to limit creativity and confine the development of personalization
systems to a few well-defined trajectories. In defining multiple ideal types for per
-
sonalization, we are attempting to open a wider space for researchers and design
-
ers that will enable them to imagine other ways of doing personalization than their
accepted approach. Currently, the instrumental and commercial approaches to
personalization are the most commonly employed. Most of the prototypes and
methodologies that have been described in the literature on personalization have
been embedded in these two perspectives. This is, to some extent, appropriate be
-
cause IS research is situated at the intersection of management, organizational, and
computer sciences. However, being embedded in particular ways of thinking can
blind one to other possibilities. The architectural perspective, with its emphasis on
balancing aesthetics and functionality, and the relational perspective, which ar
-
gues that personalization is best handled by creating a personal social world on-
line, offer quite different approaches to personalization. They throw prevailing
thinking into perspective and suggest novel approaches to personalization.
A second goal for the ideal types is to provide a first step toward formulating a
systematic methodology for the design and development of personalization sys-
tems. Jupiter Research, Forrester Research, and Mainspring Research, among oth-
ers, identified several major obstacles to the effective implementation and
evaluation of personalization systems [72] including low return on investment,
lack of measurement methodologies, low levels of technology adoption, and
mounting technical difficulties. The ideal type system can help address at least the
first two of these. In this analysis, we specified four distinct kinds of user motives
for using personalization systems: aesthetic value for architectural personalization,
social welfare/psychological well-being for relational personalization, productiv
-
ity/efficiency for instrumental personalization, and material and psychic well-
being for commercial personalization. These motive types suggest different stan
-
dards for assessing the effectiveness of personalization, which should help re
-
searchers and IS professionals better focus instruments for measuring the impacts
of personalization. Although return on investment and click-to-buy rates are the
most widely used measures of personalization effectiveness on Web sites [72], our
analysis suggests that it is not reasonable to measure everything using a single
yardstick. Other measurement constructs should be developed to suit different
contexts.
The ideal types are theoretical constructs that can guide research and practice
and do not represent the realities of practice itself. It is possible, and even likely,
that two perspectives might be combined in designing particular personalization
applications. For example, the popular online role-playing games such as
Everquest® seem to combine the architectural and relational perspectives to enable
users to create shared worlds that to many users seem more real and desirable than
“real life.” This seems to represent a relatively harmonious mix of types, but it is
also possible that perspectives could be combined in a dissonant fashion.
198
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6. FUTURE ACTION
The frameworks wepresentedin this article suggest several directionsforfuture re
-
search. First, from this multiparadigm review, one can see that personalization is a
multidimensional construct. Measurement of such a multidimensional construct is
always a challenge. Existing literatures in e-commerce and marketing tend to adopt
a monolithic approach [73, 74]; therefore, personalization dimensions that have
been evaluated in those studies might not have captured personalization values
that users/customers have [44, 75]. We are currently developing and validating
such a measurement instrument that incorporated all paradigms we reviewed here
in this article. Second,there is the question of how existingpracticesin the personal
-
ization industrymap ontothetypologies. Whichideal types aremost common, how
are they combined, and what is their effectiveness? Which aspects of personaliza
-
tion systems contribute to their effectiveness? What factors, for example, contribute
to the effectiveness of adaptive versus adaptable systems? How might one validate
the typologies? Third, there are different levels of understanding of the perspec
-
tives. As we have noted, the commercial and instrumental types have enjoyed a
great deal of attention. The architectural and relational types require further explo-
ration and development. We suspect that a number of practitioners of personaliza-
tion have pursued the architectural and relational approaches despite the fact that
they have not been discussed much in the academic IS literature. Study of these
practitioners seems likely to yield insights into personalization designs and meth-
ods that are different from those currently described in the literature.
Personalization is one of those subjects that will always be with humans. In dif-
ferent forms and guises, it continues to maintain currency. Personalization will
continue to be an important dimension if IS because it has a central place in a soci-
ety embracing heterogeneity and diversity, an economy increasingly individual
oriented, and a capitalism remarkably personalized [76]. Because of its inherently
human element, personalization cannot be reduced to a technical undertaking.
When one realizes that personalization does not necessarily have to be solely profit
driven and that personalization is not merely a technical issue, one can free their
imagination to make personalization richer, more meaningful, and more relevant.
As Brooks [77] pointed out, “we can use the softer elements of our humanity to de
-
sign the harder mechanisms of our technology” (p. 15). On Brooks’s view, true bal
-
ance is achieved through “pas de deux” of social science and engineering, the same
interaction that underlies the frameworks advanced here.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Both authors contributed to this article equally. An earlier version of thisarticlewas
presented at the American Conference on Information Systems in Tampa, Florida,
in August 2003.
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