personalized

Personalized describes something tailored to an individual's needs, preferences, or circumstances. In practice, it implies customization or adaptation based on information about a person. The term is widely used in consumer products and services, as well as in education, healthcare, and technology, to improve relevance and engagement.

Etymology and spelling: The word comes from personal and the suffix -ized. American English uses personalized, while British English commonly uses personalised; both forms are recognized in international use.

Applications and examples: In medicine, personalized (often called precision) medicine aims to tailor prevention and treatment to an individual’s genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. In marketing, personalized experiences deliver messages, recommendations, or offers based on an individual’s data. In education, personalized learning adjusts pace and content to a learner’s progress. In software and websites, personalization adapts interfaces and recommendations to user history and behavior.

Techniques and considerations: Personalization relies on data collection, profiling, and analytics, including machine learning. It raises privacy, consent, and security concerns, and may risk bias or inaccurate profiling. Effective personalization balances usefulness with user control, transparency, and robust safeguards.

See also: customization, user experience, privacy, data protection.