Personalization @ Softimage

background
Per-son-al-iz-ation (pûr΄sěn-ělỉz΄ā΄shěn) n. 1. Localization. 2. Customization. [<OF<LL<personalis< L persona a person]

Personalization is the web buzzword for very familiar database management processes:

• setting read and right permissions: a data manager can use personalization to establish unique
privileges for each client a according to a client’s profile.
• determining how data will be displayed: a client may use personalization features to modify how data
will be organized, such as through a “favorites” menu.

The buzz, largely driven by the recent emergence of personalization/content management tools, has primarily
focused on issues of web content & navigation management, and industry leadership. There has been
comparatively little discussion of the potential impact personalization can have on critical business needs,
particularly for streamlining business applications which are not specifically tied to the web.

benefits
Recent discussions in e/com meetings have touched upon some of the benefits we can expect from
implementing web personalization as a fundamental part of Softimage business strategy, such as:

• increased business efficiency

• improved client data accuracy
• standardized channels

Personalization on softimage.com will allow all of our current clients – from sales prospects through to
Softimage personnel - to enter and update the personal, company, and application information used in all
Softimage business applications. For example, a DS Training Centre could add or delete instructor & student
accounts for accessing Customer Service resources via the softimage.com or the support@softimage.com
e/mail alias.

Client data entry will provide us the opportunity to develop the unthinkable: an accurate client database. This
opens the door to simple but powerful solutions, such as mass e/mail-outs. Granting clients control of their
records will also instill a greater sense of confidence in providing private information, and in their other
transactions with Softimage. This is crucial to the success of future business opportunities, such as
e/commerce transactions.

Personalization will also provide us greater security in using softimage.com as our primary means of data
exchange with clients. On softimage.com, client profiles could be used to set content options, navigation
configuration, and access permissions according to our business rules with much greater accuracy than
presently possible. A DS reseller coming today to softimage.com has access to different resources than does
a 3D certified training instructor or a Sumatra beta tester – all according to permissions established by
Channel Marketing, User Education, and Release Management. Our problem is that we do not have a
completely secure access process in place short of hand-generating username/password combinations (as is
used for SoftSource) or PIDs (used for beta web access). Personalization will allow us to securely create new
site access accounts and maintain accurate records of any changes to that account’s status.

A significant portion of past plans for a next gen site revolved around the issue of branding. One key attribute
of Softimage products missing from branding discussions has been the importance of user friendliness in the
success of Softimage. Softimage made its name providing animators the ability to pursue their craft using
computers without having to have a programmer sit between themselves and a keyboard. A significant part of
the success of DS has been due to its clean, intuitive, and consistent design. Personalization permits us to
maintain this standard in our web. Personalization will provide us with the ability to provide customers the
option to easily configure navigation and content options to reflect their particular business needs. Any client
would be able to add, delete, or reset navigation menu items available according to their user profile. For
example, a 3D supported customer could maintain a favorites list with direct links to the 3D job bank,
magazine, 3D knowledge base, and DS press releases (because he’s thinking about buying when the next
version is released). As a resident of Tokyo using a Japanese browser, this customer could also choose
whether or not to view Japanese versions of documents by default when available.

requirements
What do we need in place in order to implement personalization? All of the following items are either in place
or at varying stages of completion.

database conformity (See Database Warehouse for the rationale and project plans)

user profiling
Profiling our customers involves a series of related steps: identifying our data needs, grouping clients, and
determining client needs:

• Business Needs
Create and verify a listing of all client data currently required to complete business needs @
Softimage. See User Profile Fields for current list.
• Define Profile Groups
Classify clients according to the type of business affiliation they have with Softimage. See
User Profiles for current list.
• Client Needs
Determine resources we can deliver to our clients – based on their Profile Group(s) - to satisfy
their business requirements. The content available on softimage.com represents our best
understanding of client needs @ present. A consistent process for monitoring and updating
this material by the appropriate business group(s) within Softimage has not yet been
determined.

business rules
Which Profile Group should be granted access to which resources? What requirements must a client fulfill in
order to be included in a given Profile Group? How do they join?

security
• User Validation
See User Validation for the rationale and project plan.
• Privacy
User trust is critical when the collection and use of personal data becomes an integral aspect
of a web site. Here are 2 issues to consider in this respect:
1. following an established privacy assurance standard, such as the World Wide Web
Consortium’s P3P standards project (Platform for Privacy Preferences), and
outgrowth of Firefly’s Open Profiling Standard.
2. the #1 issue in establishing user confidence is the consistency of the site’s navigation
& design.

client tracking
The ability to store and apply information on a client’s site usage is widely considered to be a basic
requirement for implementing effective site personalization. We need to take a detailed look @:
• defining the goals
• defining the rules
• implementation plan
• processing, archiving, and accessing gleaned information