Figure 4-21. Content Types result sample Personalization features Personalization, shown in Figure 4-22, is one of the most crucial features to get customers engaged with an application or website. It should provide a value- added experience. On Airbnb, Amazon, or eBay, you don’t need to be logged on to perform a basic search. However, you will need to log on as soon as you want to take an action (for example, save to favorites or make a purchase). The more time people spend personalizing their experience, the more engaged they will get with the product. (Think: Facebook!) Personalization features include favoriting, watch lists, user profiles, wish lists, custom content experiences, custom interface experiences, messaging, saved shopping carts, and so on. Sign up for the competitor’s newsletters, too. Another way to check out the personalization features is to go to the “My Account” section of each competitor. See what the site or app allows you to do that’s particularly useful and helps achieve the value proposition. How can customers customize their experience? Is the experience sticky — meaning so engaging that the user will really want to “stick” to this product? Does it display the user’s name? Does it remember and display the last item the user looked at? Does it let the user make a list of favorite items? As you look at all of the competitors, it will soon become obvious which personalization features are crucial and which are not.