Democratizing UIs Through Meaningful Personalization
Role
Lead UX Designer
Year
2025
Read Time
12 min
How could we enable end-users to completely redesign the interfaces they use?
Mainstream UI personalization features are typically limited to superficial aesthetic changes (like color mode). This project aimed to reimagine UI personalization: how could we enable end-users (anyone) to personalize any aspect of the UIs they use?
I empathized with users to identify critical pain points (e.g., effort, ideation, and expertise), elaborate requirements (e.g., data agency, ideation support, and execution assistance), and explore different designs. I proposed a solution and created a roadmap, a design space that developers of future personalization mechanisms should follow to ensure their solutions align with users' needs.
I followed a user-centered approach, engaging with more than 170 users across 4 studies.
Empathizing with Users
I conducted foundational research to determine whether the product was necessary and an in-depth study to deeply understand user needs and behavioral pain points. I ran a quantitative survey and found a significant gap in the market: lack of efficiency-oriented personalization features. I also conducted a mixed-methods qualitative study involving seven users through diaries, interviews, and co-design sessions. I immersed myself in their daily frustrations to uncover where current UI personalization falls short. I synthesized the findings into two critical user friction points: the control-effort trade-off and the privacy-convenience paradox.
Interviews
Diary Studies
Focus Groups
Thematic Analysis
Surveys
Quantitative Analysis
Empathy Mapping
Personas
Define
Based on our empathy research, I identified the core problem: most users lack the technical skills and availability to make the types of personalization they need, while having privacy concerns and the need to control personalization. This led to a clear value proposition: a product that respects privacy, keeps users in control, is low-effort, non-time-consuming (for those who don't have the availability), and flexible enough to allow users to implement any change they envision.
Problem Statement
Hypothesis Statement
Value Proposition
Ideation
We ideated a 'request and assist' community-based personalization concept, where 'Non-expert Passive Adapters' and 'Expert Power Users' collaborate to personalize. To inform the concept, I conducted a competitive audit, reviewing direct competitors (existing personalization tools) and indirect ones (accessibility software) to identify market gaps and shape our community-based concept.
Competitive Audit
Brainstorming
Prototype & Test: The Community Concept
In our first iteration, I built GitUI, a functional prototype of our community concept, and conducted a usability and field study with nine users. While users were highly engaged (82% request fulfillment), we discovered a new pain point: ideation. Users struggled to imagine what aspects of the UI they wanted to personalize in the first place.
Prototyping
Usability Testing
User Logging
Think-Aloud
Thematic Analysis
Prototype & Test: Interaction Data
To address the ideation pain point, we ran a second iteration focused on studying different ways to present users' own interaction data (e.g., clickstreams) to support personalization decisions. Visual previews of already modified UIs with clear time savings are the ideal solution for users.
Speculative Design
Prototyping
Design Probes
Vignette Studies
Interviews
Affinity Diagramming
Outcomes
I produced an End-User Personalization Design Space, a 7-dimension framework that product teams can use to introduce user-centered personalization features into everyday software. I also delivered GitUI, a functional web personalization tool featuring interaction data visualization (heatmaps).
The "Immutable Interface" and Ideation Pain Points
Most users perceive UIs as "immutable entities". They adapt their own behavior (creating inefficient workarounds) rather than adapting the interface. Simultaneously, ideation challenges prevent users from envisioning alternative layouts.
The "Zombie Mode" Kryptonite
Users often operate in a "zombie mode" of repetitive routines. Providing access to interaction data (heatmaps/clickstreams) supports reflection, by making habits visible and shifting users from passive consumers to proactive decision-makers.
The Paradox of Automation
Users resist fully automated solutions due to loss of control. However, they prefer assisted solutions over purely manual ones. The "sweet spot" is software that proposes changes (visual previews of alternative UIs that can be further personalized) with a clear rationale, leaving the final decision to the user.
1 UX Designer
3 HCI Researchers
1 Engineer
1 Designer
Publications
Four top-venue
Thesis
PhD awarded (2026)
Design Space
A 7-dimension framework
Artefacts
Browser extension (GitUI)