Originally published on (https://karozieminski.substack.com/p/how-to-implement-hyper-personalization)
We say we hate it when apps track us.
But we also get annoyed when Netflix forgets we don’t enjoy documentaries about feet, Spotify forgets we’re in a sad autumn phase, or ChatGPT forgets that we do, in fact, like our photos in Ghibli style.
This contradiction is quietly reshaping product strategies in 2025.
McKinsey found that 71% of users crave personalized experiences, and 76% get irritated when brands fall short.
And there, caught in this logical pretzel, sits a product team — dark circles under their eyes — weighing options that initially look like this:
Collect data → backlash → failure
Don't collect data → user churn → failure
Bet on ethics before making money → too expensive → failure (but with moral high ground intact)
But there is a better way.
I spiraled down the privacy rabbit hole so many times, it sometimes felt like I lived there. And I’m not alone — many product teams I speak to have their own version of that spiral.
The learning curve was steep, paved with second guesses. Looking back, I wish a magical ethics shaman had materialized in front of me and handed me a blueprint:
“This is where it gets tricky. This is how to deal with it. And this is how to turn ethics into a competitive advantage.”
But he didn’t appear. So I learned by fumbling forward. Today, I’m sharing some of those lessons with you.
This post is for anyone considered a product person — PMs, founders, designers, marketers, and anyone making decisions that shape user experience.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- What hyper-personalization actually means
- Why product teams are stuck in a creepy catch-22
- What they can do about it (and what happens if they don’t)
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- Free Workshop Guide
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Want to read the rest? The full post is here → Read on Substack
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