Personalization as an Engagement Superpower

A digital experience with a uniquely human approach.

Personalization is the action of designing or producing something to meet someone’s individual requirements.

Personalization is a key component of most of today’s digital experiences. It helps to engage with users and provide them with a tailored solution that meets their specific needs. Some examples include:

• Amazon’s product recommendations (customer who bought X also bought Y). Otherwise known as collaborative filtering.
• Spotify’s personalized playlists (Discover Weekly, Daily Mixes) based on your listening history
• Stitch Fix’s clothing product recommendations based on your style needs

But what if I told you could use personalization for something more than a better utility. This idea comes alive in a year-old meditation app called Balance.

Balance dubs itself the world’s first personalized meditation audio program. I discovered Balance in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, I was using another excellent meditation app, Waking up. Balance immediately captured my attention. The app is well designed and features very high quality content. I decided to take the plunge.

I started using balance daily for my meditation practice. Immediately, I noticed that something felt different about the app. I was feeling very engaged and connected to Balance.

Before every meditation session (including app onboarding), Balance checks in with the user. The check in happens through a series of simple questions.

Then, Balance uses the information provided to build a personalized meditation. This meditation is directly tailored to the specific needs of the user. The personalization happens through stitching together many pre-recorded sound snippets in real time. This is genius content design

But the first 30 seconds of every meditation is where the magic happens. The app employs a technique called reflective listening.

Reflective listening is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speaker’s idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to “reconstruct what the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this understanding back to the client”.

Balance uses reflective listening to replicate the experience of working with a live meditation coach. The app helps a user reflect back on their needs, preferences, and goals. Through these reflections, Balance creates a level of personal connection that rivals human interaction.

The experience is also cumulative. Just like a coach or therapist who remembers the story you told them during your first session 3 months ago.

I’m surprised that this approach hasn’t gotten more attention. I think that other digital products should leverage and extend these ideas. They have the power to enable our digital experiences to feel more human.

This originally appeared in my newsletter, Culture Clash, at ozlubling.substack.com. Check it out and subscribe!