[IxDA Discuss] Use of "Your" or "My" in Personalized Web Application Design

[Nasir Barday]

To clarify, when I say "we've all kind of settled on 'my'" I mean my
firm, not the mailing list.

- Nasir


On 2/13/07, Nasir Barday <nasir at userlicious.com> wrote:
> Funny you mention this-- I'm actually waiting for a Product Developer
> to get back to me about a design I did involving "My" for
> personalization. This very minute.
>
> We've all kind of settled on "My" as a standard way to indicate
> personal options. I suppose it's all about how you want to frame the
> dialog. Where does the boundary between the firm/provider and the user
> lie? If we use"Your," we extend the boundary of the system all the way
> to the user's desktop. But if we say "My," the personalized data lies
> on the user's side of the interaction, which is why when she
> manipulates it, she "owns" the information.
>
> And if you want to strip that emotion altogether, you can just drop
> the My/Your modifier. e.g. "My Favorites" --> "Favorites." Less
> mushiness, if your client is after that.
>
> I agree with Stewart's notion of evaluating whether the
> personalization is needed at all-- sometimes sites go overboard with
> giving users control, copping out of design decisions by making them
> preferences, or burdening users with content organization.
>
> - Nasir
>