Frameworks for understanding personalisation

This paper aims to provide frameworks for the understanding of what personalisation could be in the context of broadcast media and other public service content.

Part one begins the paper by examining the possible motivations for personalising media and how they may be different for different service providers.

Part two defines the way different terms are used in this paper, using dictionary definitions as its basis. It brings in the issue of accessibility as a specific form of personalisation and the legal frameworks that come along with it. It also highlights the issue of changing needs and the complexities of personalisation within a group setting.

Part three introduces a number of philosophical frameworks that can be used to separate out the different dimensions of personalisation and the different elements that go to make up a personalised service. It then examines the issues with the data categorising users and content and the issues of control and transparency and the cold start problem.

Part four takes a step back from personalisation and covers the ways in which broadcast and other content is already altered according to the dimensions identified in part two. It points out how location is already a factor in altering the content received, along with time of day and other factors. It concludes with the analogy of personalised pizza in order to provide an alternative perspective on the same issues.

Part five examines the types of personalisation that could be applied at both a service level and at a content level illustrated by examples drawn from the work of BBC Research & Development and others.

This paper forms part of the output of the AI4ME project's Stream one: 'Personalised Media Experiences' led by Maxine Glancy of BBC R&D and Jean-Yves Guillemaut of the University of Surrey.

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