UX principle #2 - make it user-centric through personalisation.

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We’ve touched on personalisation in the past, specifically how Apple Music use gamification to encourage their users to pick the artists and genres they like.

Personalisation only works when there is a win win for the user and the business. If you want your customers to take the time to set their preferences and give you valuable data, you need to show the benefit of doing so up-front. If the user feels that giving more information will make his or her experience better, they are more likely to complete the task.

Take Thread for example, they want their customers to choose their personal style upfront, whether it’s weekend wear, favourite workwear and even their dinner date look. Why? So they can recommend clothes to the user based on their personal preferences for each occasion. That’s pretty cool.

So what do Thread get out of it? Well they know what their customers like for starters, which means they can target them with relevant products, leading to higher conversions and fewer drop offs.

How do they do it? Is it a long boring form? No. It’s as easy as a click of a button. They make the experience easy, and even fun! The user knows upfront if they do this, the clothing options will be much more relevant and personalised so they are incentivised to do it.

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In short, show the value of customising preferences early on so you can make better, personalised recommendations based on your user’s preferences. In return, you'll get access to user insights and behaviours to improve the user experience!

Tomorrow, minimalist design and aesthetics. You don't want to miss it!

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