Personalization · The limits · Component

The visibility

Whether the customer can see why they are seeing this — because unexplained relevance is unsettling and explained relevance is not.

The deliverable

What it is

The same recommendation is reassuring with an explanation and unsettling without one. “Because you looked at this” costs nothing and changes the reception entirely.

Where the explanation would be uncomfortable to give, that is a signal about the personalisation rather than about the explanation.

One level in

What it is made of

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

  1. The explanation

    What the customer is told about why.

    3 attributes: Explanation · Specific · At point of use

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  2. The comfort test

    Whether the explanation would be comfortable to give.

    3 attributes: Comfortable · What would be awkward · Action

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  3. The reception

    How customers react to the personalisation.

    3 attributes: Opt-out rate · Complaints · Trend

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If explaining the basis would be awkward, the personalisation is on the wrong side of the line.