Personalization and Customization as Product Differentiation
Personalization and Customization are topics that have been on my radar for quite some time now. In fact it was one of the first topics I placed on my list of subject matters to tackle, but that somehow always gets pushed back in detriment of something more pressing. Personalization and Customization are topics that always come up when reading about two big buzzwords: The Future of E-Commerce and AI. The Future of E-Commerce has among its staples precisely Personalization and Customization of experiences, since it essentially means users/clients, are able to get products/services, alongside recommendations, based on what they like, what they aspire to have and even based on their browsing experiences. Customization is another important component of these experiences, in the sense that product experiences have to adjust to a certain extent, on how users/clients want to see, prioritize in terms of content and ultimately utilize the product itself. AI is a mechanism which powers all that was described previously, while also possibly predicting features that will enhance the product experience itself, therefore further enhancing client retention. This article looks at a few experiences that I’ve gone through in this domain, how they have a profound impact in Product Design experiences and the added value they provide.
Personalization and Customization. According to Wikipedia, Personalization can be defined as “(broadly known as customization) consists of tailoring a service or a product to accommodate specific individuals, sometimes tied to groups or segments of individuals. A wide variety of organizations use personalization to improve customer satisfaction, digital sales conversion, marketing results, branding, and improved website metrics as well as for advertising. Personalization is a key element in social media and recommender systems”.
The wikipedia description is quite accurate and very suitable for the topic. During the course of my career I’ve tackled personalization exercises quite a few times, starting with a particularly robust product tied with the Financial Services industry, namely the development of an Intranet. Succinctly put, the challenge for that particular project, was the extent to which personalization and customization was allowed for the users of that same Intranet. Based on testing, observation and customer interviews, the general understanding pertaining to the different types of users and their responsibilities, ultimately had a common thread when it came to their usage of the Intranet. Namely, creation of shortcuts to access the information they need easily and clearly, and being able to arrange their dashboard/gateway page, to feature modules far more relevant to their product and personal journey during their tenure with the organization.
From this early initiative, I immediately followed to a far more complex Personalization journey, this time around in the context of Fitness and Wellness. The product journey in this particular case, was focused on omnichannel experiences (being that they should always be consistent, optimized, seamless, orchestrated and collaborative), since one of the goals for the app being created, was to overreach the gym experience, and become a partner app in everything the user did, in whatever device they found themselves using (namely wearables, desktop, mobile). The app and the product experience therefore needed to account for who the user was, biometrics wise, but also habits and goals. And tie all this information with a gamification aspect to keep the users engaged, motivated if you will, and persistently focusing on their wellness journey. This discoverability process was a lengthy one, filled with research across the world, with different audiences, all with the goal of capturing users interest in having that layer of close relationship with the app which in essence partners with them, notifying them of their statuses, while also providing guidance on what to do in order to keep the momentum. In this case, this app had an aspect of customization and personalization that not only touched upon the final users, but also to a different subset of users who controlled the ecosystem of the app, to a certain extent. The elasticity of what was created, allowed for the product to be successful, in terms of sales, number of installs, adoption rates, allowing the Organization to reach milestones which had been established as the Product journey had initially been devised.
Since these experiences took place, I can attest that most of the product journeys I’ve been a part of, have truly embraced the concept of personalization, since it’s clear the value it brings to clients, and much like the layers of engagement/trust with web products (which are summarized in 5 classes, namely baseline relevance and trust, followed by trusting websites with preferences, followed by trusting websites with personal information, and the final two, trusting websites with financial and sensitive information and ultimately, committing to a long term relationship with it), it can lead to long relationships between a user and a brand itself.
How Does Personalization and Customization equate into better Customer Experiences and Retention. Users cherish being understood, accounted for, finally realizing their point of view is somehow manifested in the products they choose to use. Personalization and Customization allows for product experiences to be a closer manifestation of how users utilize products, without alienating the virtuosity and essence of what the product sets out to do. Case in point, in one of my past Product Design experiences, I worked on a SaaS platform, which allowed clients to control the UI of the application (to a certain extent that is). The white labeling aspect of the product (you can read more about that in this previous article I wrote about it), empowered clients to access a platform, and alter the final product across a series of variables. This customization empowered them to view that particular product as an extension of their own brand, an additional channel for users to experience their brand ecosystem.
When it comes to brands, and as I’ve pointed out on previous articles, it’s fundamental that their journeys are deliberate, focused and adaptive, meaning that whatever narrative they create, it needs to inspire trust, legitimacy and confidence. When it comes to creating White Label products, it’s essential to provide clients the elasticity and flexibility they need, in order to not only solve their challenges in terms of operational tasks, but also and just as importantly, keep their brand momentum intact. The ability to account for customization, when it comes to Product Design, includes accounting for a variety of factors, including the most obvious ones such as UI Copy, but also many others such as components of the UI itself (which at times the users want to re-arrange), not to mention fundamental pillars of the Product DNA, such as fonts, colors and even iconography. Deciding on the extent of what Customization actually is, should account for and the whole strategy behind it, is something that needs to be brought forth during the Design Thinking process, with all its participants having a clear alignment on the path going forward. It’s a core element, which permeates and impacts a variety of factors, including localization, accessibility and even multi-platform implementation considerations.
Customization and Personalization journeys in Product Design, are indeed a strong path to create a deeper relationship and eventually retain the fidelity of clients, but for that to happen, these strategies should be considered from the start, and not an after thought or even a trend (which ultimately can be abandoned). Users and clients know when they’re part of a process, when their voices and insights are considered, the same way they understand when they’re being openly manipulated to achieve a certain outcome (which dives into the topics of Dark Patterns in Product Design). Whatever strategy is adopted, it’s always best to understand all its ramifications, and the engagement that is being created with the user going forward.
Reality check. Every organization is bound to have its own approach to Personalization and Customization. Considerations such as Cost, Time of Development, Customer Support, Technical complexity, among many other factors, weigh on the definition of this type of strategy. For Designers and their peers on the Design Process, it’s fundamental they understand what that Customization & Personalization journey is, and that of course always starts with gathering knowledge about their users, their economic/social/political contexts, not to mention their pain points, opportunities and aspirational needs. Even if this journey is one that is stunted by other influential factors, being aware of what users want and need, informs the general direction, considerations to have, when creating a Product.
I’ll conclude this article with a quote on the topic of uniqueness, from the great Dr. Oliver Sacks:
“If we wish to know about a man, we ask ‘what is his story — his real, inmost story?’ — for each of us is a biography, a story. Each of us is a singular narrative, which is constructed, continually, unconsciously, by, through, and in us — through our perceptions, our feelings, our thoughts, our actions; and, not least, our discourse, our spoken narrations. Biologically, physiologically, we are not so different from each other; historically, as narratives — we are each of us unique.”
