PERSONALISATION IN DESIGN : PART 2

Special interest sites like LinkedIn, Spotify and iTunes should rank highly when it comes to personalisation.
 
Its likely that these platforms want to enable the element of ‘discovery’ of content, new content that matches your preferences but that you were unaware of. There is nothing wrong in designing for this experience but it can be done without sacrificing the convenience that personalisation could bring to the end user.
 
For example – Spotify. They have made an effort to provide personalised playlists (DailyMix, You Might Also Like etc). Their ‘radio’ offers up songs that you are likely to like listening to based on your previous choices. Why do they still not rank higher when it comes to ‘personalisation’ ?
 
The answer is not the lack of personalisation options but the absence of simplicity in personalisation. Spotify offers too much choice in discovery and no sense of hierarchy in usage. 
 
A. Discovery - Lost in Navigation : The recommendation functions within Spotify are working overtime. I am innundated with confusing choices. Sections like ‘You might also like’, ‘Top Recommendations’, ‘Perfect Soundtrack’ etc are few of the examples of the playlists available within Spotify. Which one do I choose if I wanted to discover a new song ?
 
B. Usage - Prioritise My Choices : A basic need for personalisation is to allow personalisation by me, for me. When I save the songs I like I expect that list to have priority over others – I have spent time in making my preferences clear ! But Spotify clubs my list (My Library) with other playlists making it tougher for me to access / use.
 
When it comes to enabling personalisation brands will need to sacrifice controlling the consumer experience and switch to curating it. The brands that will stand out in the coming years will be those who have harnessed the power of user insights and data to drive engagement and sales for their business.