Acquiring and Revising Preferences in a Critique-Based Mobile Recommender System

Many e-commerce Web sites offer numerous services, so a product search could return an overwhelming set of options. Without system support, filtering irrelevant products, comparing alternatives, and selecting the best option can be difficult or impossible - especially for users connecting to the Web through a mobile device. Few Web-based recommender systems have been designed for mobile users. A critique-based recommendation methodology aids the acquisition and revision of user preferences in a mobile recommender system. We designed a product recommendation methodology and implemented it in MobyRek, a mobile-phone recommender system that helps users search for travel products. MobyRek supports limited asking and answering of questions and is based mostly on critiques.