Patent ID: 8306975

Claim:
A computer based method for generating a partially personalized electronic data output containing a combination of recommended and expanded interest items for a user, the method comprising: receiving by a first computer, a first set of data describing an area of user interests; receiving by the first computer, a first set of recommended items corresponding to the area of user interests; presenting, to the user, by the first computer, a range of personalization values, the range comprising a minimum personalization value, a maximum personalization value and a plurality of additional values between the minimum and the maximum values, wherein the maximum personalization value corresponds to the first set of recommended items; receiving by the first computer, a user selection of one of the personalization values; receiving by the first computer, a second set of expanded interest items in an area of expanded interest, wherein the area of expanded interest is not included in the area of user interests, the area of expanded interest based on the selected personalization value, wherein a quantity of items in the area of expanded interest increases and a degree of similarity of the items in the area of expanded interest decreases as the user selection decreases from the maximum personalization value to the minimum personalization value; combining by the first computer, the first set of recommended items with the second set of items to produce a combined set of recommended and expanded interest items; and presenting by the first computer, the combined set of recommended and expanded interest items to the user, such that the first set of recommended items and the second set of expanded interest items are simultaneously presented to the user.