Personalisation — An Overview of its Use and Potential

Some definitions of personalisation are very limited and focus on targeting content at users based on their expressed interests or buying patterns. In BTexact Technologies, considerable effort has been applied to exploring the wider uses of personalisation and how services, tasks, devices, interfaces, etc, can adapt to information in a user profile. It is also important to note that the information in a personal profile need not be static but could change quickly with context. An example of this might be the user's current location. Is personalisation valuable though — or is it just technology hype? Mobile telephones can be used as an example to look at the success factors and, in particular, the value proposition for the user. The reality is that mobile telephones are very personal devices, hold personal contact information, fit into a person's pocket and go everywhere with them. They provide a communications medium for contacting a person rather than a location or an organisation.