Recommendation Technologies for Configurable Products

In contrast to an explicit definition of each individual item, configurable products such as computers, financial service portfolios, and cars are repre sented in the form of a configuration knowledge base that de - scribes the properties of allowed instances. Although the knowledge representation used is different compared to nonconfi gurable products, the decision support requirements remain the same: users have to be supported in finding a solution that fits their wishes and needs. In this article we show how recommendation technologies can be applied for supporting the configuration of products. In addition to existing approaches we discuss relevant issues for future research. Similar to knowledge-based recommendation (Burke 2000) configuration is a process where users specify (and often adapt) their requirements and the configuration system provides feedback. Requirements specifications range from feature value definitions to textual queries specified on an informal level. Feedback is provided, for example, in terms of further questions that need to be answered, solutions (configurations), explanations of solutions, and proposals for relaxations of the user requirements in situations where no solution can be found. A major difference between configuration systems and recommender systems in general is the way in which product knowledge is represented. Configuration systems are operating on a configuration knowledge base (Stumptner 1997), which describes the properties of all allowed instances. In contrast to configuration systems, recommender systems are operating on the basis of an assortment of explicitly defined solution alternatives. The reason for using a configuration knowledge base is the large number of solution alternatives (possible configurations), which make an explicit representation infeasible. Although the used knowledge representations are different, the decision support goal is quite the same for both types of systems: users have to be proactively supported in finding a solution that fits their wishes and needs. Configuration systems often achieve this goal only partially since the amount and complexity of options presented by the configurator outstrip the capability of a user to identify an appropriate solution (configuration). Users are unable to find the features they would like to specify, they are unsure about their preferences regarding complex technical product properties, and they do not know how best to adapt their requirements in the case of inconsistencies (if no solution can be identified).