Web systems suffer from an inability to satisfy heterogeneous needs of many users. A remedy for the negative effects of the traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach is to develop systems with an ability to adapt their behavior to the goals, tasks, interests, and other features of individual users and groups of users. Adaptive Web is a relatively young research area. Started in with a few pioneering works on adaptive hypertext in early 1990, it now attracts many researchers from different communities such as hypertext, user modeling, machine learning, natural language generation, information retrieval, intelligent tutoring systems, cognitive science, and Web-based education. Currently, the established application areas of adaptive Web systems are education, information retrieval, and kiosk-style information systems. A number of more recent projects are also exploring new application areas such as e-commerce, medicine, and tourism. While research-level systems constitute the majority of adaptive Web systems, a few successful industrial systems show the commercial potential of the field. This talk will review a number of adaptation techniques that have been developed and evaluated in the field of adaptive hypermedia and applied in adaptive Web systems. It will also present several examples of adaptive Web systems in different application areas. To provide a connection with the virtual reality focus of the conference the talk will specially address the issue of developing adaptive systems for virtual environments "beyond" the classic hypermedia and the Web. It will discuss the challenges of implementing adaptive navigation support and adaptive presentation in virtual reality context.

The talk explores how user-centered design research methods can strengthen a foresight and innovation process by enhancing scenarios of the future with the visual, the spatial and the experiential. The study reflects on a design foresight initiative, Project F: fabric care futures, that Whirlpool Europe, a leading manufacturer of domestic appliances, carried out as a multidisciplinary effort to use design strategy and user experience research in shaping its business policy for the next ten years. The design-ethnographic research revealed a great deal of information about the complexity of domestic life and uncovered attitudes about consumers’ images of self, home, family and friends, as well as design and product preferences. This information led not only to new concept products, which guided the strategic planning process, but also informed the current product development. Moreover, the user-centered and contextual design approach fostered a change in strategy and communication for the company. Results from this project show that by using design to create tangible representations of future product solutions the company was able to stimulate interest, buy-in and support internally, as well as to open up a more sustainable dialogue with all the stakeholders involved in its foresight strategy and decision-making.

Jan-Christoph Zoels is currently Senior Associate Professor at the new Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea, Italy. His design research focuses on the user experience of networked and mobile devices. He was a design lead for the research project Mobile Embodiments that looks at how the mobile phone can be used to enable other electronic devices in urban environments. He is also involved with Design for Future Needs, a European Commission project focused on how design thinking can be used for policy planning, especially the EU's science and technology policies and its strategic planning of industrial R&D programmes.
Previously a Director of Information Architecture at Sapient, he was responsible for strategic direction, creative scope and the integration of various aspects of the user experience. Projects included designing websites for Harcourt, Goldman Sachs, Lucent and Cablevision, as well as application design for mobile devices. He was also the creative lead for the mobile practice of Sapient. Prior to his tenure at Sapient, Zoels was responsible for strategic product development as a Senior Designer at Sony Design Center USA. There he developed concepts for Sony PDA, Electronic Music Distribution and various interface designs for interactive TV and remote controls. He currently holds four patents. Zoels received his Master Degrees in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA, and the Academy for Art and Design in Berlin, Germany. He has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, the Jan Van Eyck Academy (Maastricht, Netherlands), and Samsung's Innovative Design Laboratory (Seoul, Korea).