Prioritize The Customization Of Content - Personalize And Make Practical

Nikhil Chainani Sep 14, 2018

How would you feel if you log into Quora tomorrow and have just buck loads of blather show up about what Taimur Ali Khan has for dinner when you went there to study more about the recent Kerala floods? Not very pleased, I’m sure.

Well, praise the Lord for ‘customization’ of content, a magical instrument which equips you with the power to handpick what topics you want to invest your time into and not fret over random gibberish flashing on your gadget!

Simply put, customization lets users make their own selections about what they want to see, or set preferences for how information is organized or displayed. It enhances user experience because it allows them to control their interaction. So when you first make an account on Quora or Reddit or even Tumblr, the first window will always ask you to choose topics you want to indulge in, making sure you are the master of your content, i.e. you have the reins to its customization!

Customization allows users to select the content, layout, functionality or design that appeals to them. However, customization tools require work and input from users, so they need to be designed in a way that entices and attracts usage, and provides the adequate payoff for the work invested by the user.

It works effectively only when the users of the concerned portal know what they’re looking for.

For instance, leading music applications like Spotify and Saavn allow the user to craft their own playlists and consequently choose the moods for their respective accounts. And this strategy works brilliantly, solely because the consumer knows what kind of music he likes and what he’s searching for. However, if you were to put a customization window on Shazam, asking the users to list the genres they are interested in, it won’t render any benefit to either party, for people come to Shazam precisely because they don’t know what they’re looking for. If anything, it would confuse the audience even more.

In any case, a well-thought customization plan can do wonders for even a mediocre website. By letting the user-experience vehemently elevate with their ability to manually design the kind of content they receive/see/read/watch/listen to, a company allows its customers to feel a sense of connecting with the portal, thus amazingly heightening the magnitude of retraction.

CUSTOMIZATION IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR

With the rising equipment of the tool of customization in various areas of service provision, one of the most prominent platforms for the same is the education sector. It is common knowledge that no two students are the same. No matter the equality of teaching provided and methods used, each student has and will always have a distinct aptitude. This implies the dire need for customizing the generic content in accordance with the aptitude and suitability of the students, individually.

A lot of measures have already been taken up by various educational institutions to inculcate and promote the customization of content. Apart from the introduction of tutorial classes and guidance counselors to help the students overcome the individual barriers they might be facing in the classroom, a lot of progress has been made outside of this realm as well. More and more online portals have opened up to help the learner understand the concerned concepts better, in their own time and pace, and according to their own capabilities. Websites like Udemy, MasterClass, Unacademy and many more allow the learners to handpick the course(s) they want to pursue with a wide array of choices, thus equipping them with the power to choose what they want to learn instead of letting education be as binary as it used to be. Moreover, studying online gives them more flexibility. One can work and fit work schedule (and your hobbies) around their coursework more easily; even more so if the user is taking an asynchronous class: an online class where you don’t have to log in at a specific time for a live session but can study and interact with your instructor and your fellow classmates at your own pace through, for example, the discussion forum.

The advantageous prospects of customized content aren’t limited to just enhancing the learner’s experience, but also go a long way in shaping a student’s career well. If a student is taught the subjects he likes, the way he likes it, it is only natural for his interest to develop in magnitudes. And in this case, a higher amount of interest might just indicate a higher return on investment!

A huge nod to this has been the integration and acceptance of extra-curricular activities as strong career choices and the introduction of vocational courses at the undergrad level, especially the ones proposed by College of Vocational Studies (CVS) in the Delhi University. The gap has also been bridged with the help of webinars and online courses, which dissect the concepts into singular pieces, so that a student handpicks what he wants to learn and study specifically, instead of sitting through a tedious and uninteresting lecture.

Even though we’re still miles away from achieving the coveted goal of customizing learning in a manner that is completely and solely individualistic in nature, it’s hard to say we haven’t already made significant progress. “As of late, a multitude of research findings have underscored the importance of learning activities that encourage student control over the learning process. While student characteristics such as learning styles have long been recognized as factors that may affect learning, the use of other individual differences between students to guide instruction is largely still viewed as an “innovation” in education. According to Horizon Report (2011), the real potential of a personalized approach to learning lies in teachers’ exploration of ways to customize curriculum, instruction, and even assessment in ways that differ from person to person, and student to student.”

One of the ways, digital learning has an edge over traditional methods is the ability to change and customize learning content to suit the needs of the learner. Breaking down content into easy parts, adding multimedia, incorporating tests adapted to each new user or group is something can only be managed digitally. This can only be made possible by using AI, which can quickly make these changes and carry out adjustments by continuously accessing feedback.

By customizing your content, you not only streamline the objectives of your platform but also provide a concrete structure to the way your customers participate in its working.

The upside of customization is that each user can get exactly what they want because they are in control. And this control is availed to them through cohesive and structured customization.

For example, multiple online learning portals, such as Udemy, Coursera, edX, etc. have hit the ceiling with their likability amongst the current generation of students. This is precisely because of how they offer personalized learning, based on the user’s own suitability and timing preferences.

Customization tailors content and features to specific characteristics of users, so that different visitors see different things on the “same” page, making sure this “difference” is actually just a variation of personal preferences. Offering your content to your intended interest group as a piece of your content-advertising technique is compelling to a great degree, and the response that you will get from the individuals who read it will weigh higher on a positive outcome!

As you keep on achieving objectives for your business, you should continually think of better approaches to enhance what has worked for you previously. Customization of content is a brilliant method to do that. It allows you to make the user believe that they belong, that their tastes regarding a certain type of content are justified and valued.

This is why you should be prioritizing customization of the content you’re putting out. Because sometimes, one size doesn’t fit all!