Exploring the concept of web site customization: applications and antecedents

While mass customization is the tailoring of products and services to the needs and wants of individual customers, web site customization is the tailoring of web sites to individual customers? preferences. Based on a review of site customization applications, the authors propose a model with four different levels standardization, adaptation, passive personalization, and active personalization). Each of these levels requires a different level of involvement of both the supplier and the customer. Based on an extensive review literature the authors then develop conceptual models of the determinants of site customization from both a customer?s and a supplier?s point of view. Both models contain the factors that determine the willingness of a party (customer or supplier) to get actively involved in web site customization. Some factors have a positive impact on the willingness to customize while others have a negative impact. Managers engaged in site customization projects should realized that site customization is not an undisputed topic. Its success will be context dependent. The presented conceptual models can be used to analyze the essentials of a particular context and to assess the potential of web site customization.

Trends in consumer preferences for product customization and their application in product design

Abstract: Consumer preferences play an important role in the decision to customize a product. The collection of consumer preferences can be a challenging task and most methods require significant effort while only focusing on one specific product or product type. A popular method of collecting consumer preferences is a survey as it is easy to administer and can be tailored to gather specific desirable information. In this paper, a survey is developed to gather consumer preferences for product customization with a focus on identifying trends amongst these preferences. User preferences are correlated to factors of success in customization and categorical definitions of product attributes. Twenty-five products were evaluated, with one hundred total responses collected. The results show the existence of product clusters that represent trends amongst consumer preferences for customization. The trends and clusters identified have potential applications in the design of novel customized products by using categorical representations to generalize the findings. This method of generalization can provide cost and time savings in the product design cycle for future customized products by reducing the effort required to elicit consumer preferences.Communication présentée lors du congrès international tenu conjointement par Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) et Computational Fluid Dynamics Society of Canada (CFD Canada), à l’Université de Sherbrooke (Québec), du 28 au 31 mai 2023

Enforcing Customization in e-Learning Systems: an ontology and product line-based approach

In the era of e-Learning, educational materials are considered a crucial point for all the stakeholders. On the one hand, instructors aim at creating learning materials that meet the needs and expectations of learners easily and effec-tively; On the other hand, learners want to acquire knowledge in a way that suits their characteristics and preferences. Consequently, the provision and customization of educational materials to meet the needs of learners is a constant challenge and is currently synonymous with technological devel-opment. Promoting the personalization of learning materials, especially dur-ing their development, will help to produce customized learning materials for specific learners' needs. The main objective of this thesis is to reinforce and strengthen Reuse, Cus-tomization and Ease of Production issues in e-Learning materials during the development process. The thesis deals with the design of a framework based on ontologies and product lines to develop customized Learning Objects (LOs). With this framework, the development of learning materials has the following advantages: (i) large-scale production, (ii) faster development time, (iii) greater (re) use of resources. The proposed framework is the main contribution of this thesis, and is char-acterized by the combination of three models: the Content Model, which addresses important points related to the structure of learning materials, their granularity and levels of aggregation; the Customization Model, which con-siders specific learner characteristics and preferences to customize the learn-ing materials; and the LO Product Line (LOPL) model, which handles the subject of variability and creates matter-them in an easy and flexible way. With these models, instructors can not only develop learning materials, but also reuse and customize them during development. An additional contribution is the Customization Model, which is based on the Learning Style Model (LSM) concept. Based on the study of seven of them, a Global Learning Style Model Ontology (GLSMO) has been con-structed to help instructors with information on the apprentice's characteris-tics and to recommend appropriate LOs for customization. The results of our work have been reflected in the design of an authoring tool for learning materials called LOAT. They have described their require-ments, the elements of their architecture, and some details of their user inter-face. As an example of its use, it includes a case study that shows how its use in the development of some learning components.En la era del e¿Learning, los materiales educativos se consideran un punto crucial para todos los participantes. Por un lado, los instructores tienen como objetivo crear materiales de aprendizaje que satisfagan las necesidades y ex-pectativas de los alumnos de manera fácil y efectiva; por otro lado, los alumnos quieren adquirir conocimientos de una manera que se adapte a sus características y preferencias. En consecuencia, la provisión y personaliza-ción de materiales educativos para satisfacer las necesidades de los estudian-tes es un desafío constante y es actualmente sinónimo de desarrollo tecnoló-gico. El fomento de la personalización de los materiales de aprendizaje, es-pecialmente durante su desarrollo, ayudará a producir materiales de aprendi-zaje específicos para las necesidades específicas de los alumnos. El objetivo fundamental de esta tesis es reforzar y fortalecer los temas de Reutilización, Personalización y Facilidad de Producción en materiales de e-Learning durante el proceso de desarrollo. La tesis se ocupa del diseño de un marco basado en ontologías y líneas de productos para desarrollar objetos de aprendizaje personalizados. Con este marco, el desarrollo de materiales de aprendizaje tiene las siguientes ventajas: (i) producción a gran escala, (ii) tiempo de desarrollo más rápido, (iii) mayor (re)uso de recursos. El marco propuesto es la principal aportación de esta tesis, y se caracteriza por la combinación de tres modelos: el Modelo de Contenido, que aborda puntos importantes relacionados con la estructura de los materiales de aprendizaje, su granularidad y niveles de agregación, el Modelo de Persona-lización, que considera las características y preferencias específicas del alumno para personalizar los materiales de aprendizaje, y el modelo de Línea de productos LO (LOPL), que maneja el tema de la variabilidad y crea ma-teriales de manera fácil y flexible. Con estos modelos, los instructores no sólo pueden desarrollar materiales de aprendizaje, sino también reutilizarlos y personalizarlos durante el desarrollo. Una contribución adicional es el modelo de personalización, que se basa en el concepto de modelo de estilo de aprendizaje. A partir del estudio de siete de ellos, se ha construido una Ontología de Modelo de Estilo de Aprendiza-je Global para ayudar a los instructores con información sobre las caracterís-ticas del aprendiz y recomendarlos apropiados para personalización. Los resultados de nuestro trabajo se han plasmado en el diseño de una he-rramienta de autor de materiales de aprendizaje llamada LOAT. Se han des-crito sus requisitos, los elementos de su arquitectura, y algunos detalles de su interfaz de usuario. Como ejemplo de su uso, se incluye un caso de estudio que muestra cómo su empleo en el desarrollo de algunos componentes de aprendizaje.En l'era de l'e¿Learning, els materials educatius es consideren un punt crucial per a tots els participants. D'una banda, els instructors tenen com a objectiu crear materials d'aprenentatge que satisfacen les necessitats i expectatives dels alumnes de manera fàcil i efectiva; d'altra banda, els alumnes volen ad-quirir coneixements d'una manera que s'adapte a les seues característiques i preferències. En conseqüència, la provisio' i personalitzacio' de materials edu-catius per a satisfer les necessitats dels estudiants és un desafiament constant i és actualment sinònim de desenvolupament tecnològic. El foment de la personalitzacio' dels materials d'aprenentatge, especialment durant el seu desenvolupament, ajudarà a produir materials d'aprenentatge específics per a les necessitats concretes dels alumnes. L'objectiu fonamental d'aquesta tesi és reforçar i enfortir els temes de Reutilització, Personalització i Facilitat de Producció en materials d'e-Learning durant el procés de desenvolupament. La tesi s'ocupa del disseny d'un marc basat en ontologies i línia de productes per a desenvolupar objec-tes d'aprenentatge personalitzats. Amb aquest marc, el desenvolupament de materials d'aprenentatge té els següents avantatges: (i) produccio' a gran esca-la, (ii) temps de desenvolupament mes ràpid, (iii) major (re)ús de recursos. El marc proposat és la principal aportacio' d'aquesta tesi, i es caracteritza per la combinacio' de tres models: el Model de Contingut, que aborda punts im-portants relacionats amb l'estructura dels materials d'aprenentatge, la se-ua granularitat i nivells d'agregació, el Model de Línia de Producte, que ges-tiona el tema de la variabilitat i crea materials d'aprenentatge de manera fàcil i flexible. Amb aquests models, els instructors no solament poden desenvolu-par materials d'aprenentatge, sinó que també poden reutilitzar-los i personalit-zar-los durant el desenvolupament. Una contribucio' addicional és el Model de Personalitzacio', que es basa en el concepte de model d'estil d'aprenentatge. A partir de l'estudi de set d'ells, s'ha construït una Ontologia de Model d'Estil d'Aprenentatge Global per a ajudar als instructors amb informacio' sobre les característiques de l'aprenent i recomanar els apropiats per a personalitzacio'. Els resultats del nostre treball s'han plasmat en el disseny d'una eina d'autor de materials d'aprenentatge anomenada LOAT. S'han descrit els seus requi-sits, els elements de la seua arquitectura, i alguns detalls de la seua interfície d'usuari. Com a exemple del seu ús, s'inclou un cas d'estudi que mostra com és el desenvolupament d'alguns components d'aprenentatge.Ezzat Labib Awad, A. (2017). Enforcing Customization in e-Learning Systems: an ontology and product line-based approach [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90515TESI

A Taxonomy of Web Personalization

Web personalization has become an important way to provide individualized user experiences. As a fragmented use of the term “Web personalization” and a lack of a common framework potentially hinder the establishment of a cumulative body of research, we develop a taxonomy of Web personalization. Bringing together research from information systems, computer science, and marketing, we develop a taxonomy focusing on the meta-characteristics user modeling (with the dimensions type of data, acquisition method, and life span of data) and system adaptation (with the dimensions object, volatility, scope, and control of adaptation). We demonstrate an application of our taxonomy by analyzing a sample of articles published in premier information systems journals and present some exemplary use cases to demonstrate how the taxonomy could be applied in practical contexts

The Economics of Internet Markets

The internet has facilitated the creation of new markets characterized by large scale, increased customization, rapid innovation and the collection and use of detailed consumer and market data. I describe these changes and some of the economic theory that has been useful for thinking about online advertising markets, retail and business-to-business e-commerce, internet job matching and financial exchanges, and other internet platforms. I also discuss the empirical evidence on competition and consumer behavior in internet markets and some directions for future research.internet, market, innovation, advertising, retail, e-commerce, financial exchanges