The product didn’t fundamentally change. The relationship people had with it did. When Coca-Cola introduced Share a Coke, the question shifted from: “Do I want a Coke?”

To: “Is there a Coke with my name?” That small change made a familiar product feel more personal.

There’s an important UX lesson here. Personalisation works when it increases relevance, not just recognition. In digital products, personalisation can mean:

Remembering user preferences

Recommending relevant content

Adapting to user behaviour

Saving progress

Recognising returning users

Making experiences easier to navigate

But adding a user’s name to a greeting isn’t enough if the experience itself remains exactly the same.

Good personalisation should solve a real user need, reduce effort, or make the experience more relevant.

Before personalising a product, ask: Who is this for? What is their context? What meaningful signals do we have?

What should change? How does that improve their experience? And don’t forget to give users control.

Don’t personalise for novelty. Personalise for value. What’s one digital product that feels genuinely personalised to you? What makes it feel that way?

UX Crumbs — turning everyday observations into practical UX lessons, one small bite at a time.