We present a comprehensive, user-centric approach to understand preferences
in AI-based productivity agents and develop personalized solutions tailored to
users' needs. Utilizing a two-phase method, we first conducted a survey with
363 participants, exploring various aspects of productivity, communication
style, agent approach, personality traits, personalization, and privacy.
Drawing on the survey insights, we developed a GPT-4 powered personalized
productivity agent that utilizes telemetry data gathered via Viva Insights from
information workers to provide tailored assistance. We compared its performance
with alternative productivity-assistive tools, such as dashboard and narrative,
in a study involving 40 participants. Our findings highlight the importance of
user-centric design, adaptability, and the balance between personalization and
privacy in AI-assisted productivity tools. By building on the insights
distilled from our study, we believe that our work can enable and guide future
research to further enhance productivity solutions, ultimately leading to
optimized efficiency and user experiences for information workers