< Back Towards Adaptive Mixed-Initiative Media Recommender Systems with LLMs Ulysse Maes. 2026. Towards Adaptive Mixed-Initiative Media Recommender Systems with LLMs. In Companion Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI '26 Companion). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 231–233. Recommender systems (RS) increasingly shape how people encounter digital media, but often leave users with limited understanding of why items are recommended and few ways to influence them. Existing user interfaces (UIs) typically offer static, one-size-fits-all explanations and controls that do not reflect users’ dynamic needs, limiting user agency. My research investigates how mixed-initiative recommender interfaces, enabled by large language models (LLMs), can adapt explanatory and interactive elements to users’ dynamic needs. I plan to develop a conceptual model that links situational media needs to requirements for information (understanding) and interaction (control). Building on this model, I will design and experimentally evaluate adaptive UIs that combine personalized explanations with interactive controls, measuring their effects on user understanding and perceived control. Through this doctoral consortium, I seek feedback on my research plan and guidance in designing effective experiments on adaptive mixed-initiative RS. Previous Read the article Next

< Back How Should We Measure Filter Bubbles? Michiels, L., Vannieuwenhuyze, J., Leysen, J., Verachtert, R., Smets, A., & Goethals, B. 2023. How Should We Measure Filter Bubbles? A Regression Model and Evidence for Online News. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems. News media play an important role in democratic societies. Central to fulfilling this role is the premise that users should be exposed to diverse news. However, news recommender systems are gaining popularity on news websites, which has sparked concerns over filter bubbles. More specifically, editors, policy-makers and scholars are worried that these news recommender systems may expose users to less diverse content over time. To the best of our knowledge, this hypothesis has not been tested in a longitudinal observational study of real users that interact with a real news website. Such observational studies require the use of research methods that are robust and can account for the many covariates that may influence the diversity of recommendations at any given time. In this work, we propose an analysis model to study whether the variety of articles recommended to a user decreases over time in such an observational study design. Further, we present results from two case studies using aggregated and anonymized data that were collected by two western European news websites employing a collaborative filtering-based news recommender system to serve (personalized) recommendations to their users. Through these case studies we validate empirically that our modeling assumptions are sound and supported by the data, and that our model obtains more reliable and interpretable results than analysis methods used in prior empirical work on filter bubbles. Our case studies provide evidence of a small decrease in the topic variety of a user's recommendations in the first weeks after they sign up, but no evidence of a decrease in political variety. Recommender Systems Previous Read the article Next

< Back Wendy Van den Broeck Associate professor wendy.van.den.broeck@vub.be As the world of media and television is ever changing, it’s something I’ll never grow tired of. My first research project was on interactive digital television and it is unbelievable how rapid the industry and the technology have evolved since. New services like time-shifted viewing, Netflix, personalised advertising and immersive media applications have entered our everyday lives. At the same time, these trends are often not as disruptive as expected. For example when iDTV was introduced, it was announced that broadcasters would disappear and the 30 second commercial would die a silent death. Users are often surprising in their habits and practices. On the one hand, old habits die hard and user patterns tend to change slowly. On the other hand, surprising or unexpected usage of technology can lead to fascinating new developments. That is why user research is my biggest passion. I like to interact with users and unravel their motivations and expectations. I really believe in our living lab approach that puts the user in the centre of the design and development process. By involving users from the very early stage of an innovation process, we can help to develop technological services and products that are really user-friendly and society proof. This also helps the media industry to face the different challenges and disruptions they have to cope with today. I am currently head of the Living Lab cluster at SMIT and assistant professor at the communications studies department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel where I teach several international and national courses, most of them related to research methodology. My current research projects relate to personalised and immersive media and include the EU projects Immersia TV , CPN and HRadio. I joined SMIT in 2003, after completing a master in communication sciences (VUB-2002), and obtaining a postgraduate diploma in management and economics (VUB-Solvay-2003) and a teaching degree (VUB-2003). During my time at SMIT, I finished my PhD in communication sciences in 2010 entitled: “From analogue to digital: the silent (r)evolution? A qualitative study on the domestication of interactive digital television in Flanders”. Visit my research profile

< Back We're in this together: a multi-stakeholder approach for news recommenders Smets, A., Hendrickx, J., & Ballon, P. (2022). We're in this together: a multi-stakeholder approach for news recommenders. Digital Journalism , 10 (10), 1813-1831. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.2024079 News recommenders are attracting widespread interest in scholarly work. The current research paradigm, however, holds a narrow (mostly user-centered) perspective on the recommendation task. This makes it difficult to understand that their design is in fact the result of a negotiation process among multiple actors involved, such as editors, business executives, technologists and users. To remedy this, a multi-stakeholder recommendation paradigm has been suggested among recommender systems scholars. This work sets out to explore to what extent this paradigm is applicable to the particular context of news recommenders. We conducted 11 interviews with professionals from three leading media companies in Flanders (Belgium) and find that the development of news recommenders is indeed characterized by a negotiation process among multiple stakeholders. However, our results show that the initial multi-stakeholder framework is not adequately accommodating some of our findings, such as the existence of preconditions, the role of product owners, and the indirect involvement of particular stakeholders. Based on our analysis, we suggest an elaborated framework for multi-stakeholder news recommenders that can contribute to scholarship by providing a multi-sided perspective towards the understanding of news recommenders. Recommender Systems, Newsmedia, Stakeholders Previous Read the article Next

< Back 22 May 2025 Hanne presented her research on stakeholder alignment for news recommender system development Today at WMEMC, Hanne presented her work on what happens behind the scenes of news organizations that are developing in-house News Recommender Systems (NRS). Spoiler alert: it’s no smooth ride. As newsrooms explore the possibilities of algorithmic curation, it turns out there's a lot more involved than just building smart tech. The real challenge? Getting all organizational stakeholders on the same page: journalists, software developers, managers, and business units each have their own goals, logics, and some concerns or doubts about (personalized) news recommendations. That’s where Hanne's research comes in. By setting foot in large-scale commercial news organizations (in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia) and speaking to different stakeholders. Those interviews allow to explore the intricate (and let's be honest, sometimes messy) process of getting all organizational stakeholders to cooperate and negotiate NRS. The result? Balancing on a tightrope while juggling goals, demands, and objections. 🔹 Balancing Act #1 : Aligning Stakeholders Different stakeholder groups - newsroom, commercial units, and tech development teams - hold different perspectives on the opportunities and risks of (personalized) recommendations. Opposing views and expectations might lead to tensions between departments, and different product owners (POs) are assigned the role of mediators. These POs are ambidextrous actors with knowledge, experience, and professional backgrounds, crossing the traditional stakeholder boundaries, which enables them to create a shared understanding, translate jargon and build bridges between distinct stakeholder groups. A multi-disciplinary, cross-functional team of different POs, each representing another stakeholder group, sits around the negotiation table, and they are in charge of the decision-making around NRS. 🔹 Balancing Act #2 : Exploration vs. Exploitation Organizations constantly have to decide: do we explore new features and test new capabilities, or do we focus on optimizing our current technologies for ROI? With limited resources, news organizations can’t do both at full speed, simultaneously. Therefore, the team of POs needs to decide on which actions should be undertaken and, in doing so, develop a strategic roadmap navigating the tricky waters of budget and time allocations, and find that sweet spot between experimentation and exploitation. Both balancing acts are intertwined, as good alignment between stakeholders facilitates how these trade-offs are made. And the decisions made about the strategic roadmap for NRS development, in turn, influence whether stakeholders stay aligned or drift apart. It’s a dynamic, ongoing dance. The big takeaway? We need better, smarter ways to manage the decision-making on AI innovation in newsrooms, whether that relates to NRS or generative AI. This study is a first step in that direction — and just the beginning of figuring out how to align perspectives, reduce friction, and get these powerful tools off the ground in ways that actually work. Because building a scalable and effective recommender system is hard. But getting different stakeholders to agree on what the NRS design such look like? That’s where the real challenge lies. Previous Next Talking about Stakeholder Perspectives at WMEMC

< Back 4 Feb 2025 Hanne looking back on her presentation on Stakeholder Alignment for News Recommender System (NRS) Implementation After a great first day of interesting sessions, good talks and a fun party, it was my turn to present some findings at Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap . This annual conference unites communication scholars from Belgium and the Netherlands and the 2025 edition took place in the beautiful city of Bruges. I could write pages about the picturesque setting and the striking juxtaposition of the historic nature of this city and the innovative, future-oriented discussions we had there. However, let’s get to the point: My presentation on the adoption of news recommender systems (NRS) by legacy, commercial news publishers in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the multi-stakeholder complexities that influence this process. Why Is the Adoption of News Recommender Systems Lagging Behind? While academic research has advanced significantly in the domain of news recommenders and personalization, the practical implementation of NRS in legacy news organizations remains limited. There exists a significant gap between the assumed widespread integration of recommendation algorithms and the reality of their adoption in established news platforms. My research suggests that a key reason for this disconnect lies in the intricate, multi-stakeholder environment in which NRS are designes and implemented . The Multi-Stakeholder Challenge Within news organizations, multiple actors with distinct institutional logics shape the adoption process. Three dominant logics are at play: The journalistic logic , which prioritizes editorial independence, public service, and the integrity and diversity of news content. The commercial logic , focused on revenue generation and return on investment. The tech logic , driven by algorithmic efficiency, and optimization of the NRS functionalities. These different stakeholder interestes and values create tensions and trade-offs : How do news organizations balance algorithmic curation with journalistic gut-feeling for selection and prioritization of news content? How can they ensure that business interests do not overshadow editorial considerations? And how can resources be allocated effectively to maximize the potential of NRS without undermining traditional newsroom workflows? My research highlights the crucial role of the Product Owner (PO) in navigating these tensions. Rather than a single PO mediating in between, all actors, we observe a network of multiple POs , each acting as an “interpreter” or “translator” for the institutional logic they represent. These POs play a vital role in facilitating communication, aligning perspectives, and crafting a strategic roadmap for NRS adoption. Presentation Slide: The complex multi-stakeholder environment with multiple PO's at the center. Two Key Stakeholder Alignment Strategies To ensure smoother adoption of NRS, POs employ two crucial stakeholder alignment strategies: Knowledge Management Strategy The POs facilitate communication between the newsroom, business unit, and tech teams, ensuring knowledge sharing and developing a common understanding. They use educational tools such as “dummy-proof” presentations and explainer videos to foster a shared understanding, mitigating misunderstandings and increase stakeholder buy-in. Showcase Success Strategy To demonstrate the value of NRS, POs present performance metrics through dashboards. However, simply displaying data is not enough. We underscore the importance of literacy within newsrooms as without a good understanding of data insights and the foundational skills to interpret dashboards, stakeholders cannot meaningfully engage with performance metrics or make informed strategic decisions. Presentation Slide: Two Stakeholder Alignment Strategies Moving Forward: A Call for Media Management Studies While advancements from computational sciences and normative narratives in journalism studies are exploring the possibilities of news personalization, media management perspectives remain underexplored. My presentation at Etmaal highlights the need for further studies that bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical implementations. The discussions and feedback I received at Etmaal reaffirmed the relevance of this research, and I look forward to continuing this conversation in future collaborations. For those interested in the role of recommender systems in news media, let’s get in touch! Previous Next #Etmaal2025

< Back Streaming Affordances for small media markets Living Lab 2023-2026 Delayed viewing, major ad giants like Google and Facebook, and the rise of American streaming platforms have significantly increased the pressure on local providers. In response, Flemish broadcasters and distribution entities have launched their own streaming services in recent years. Some offer free services, with or without ads (such as VRT MAX, VTM GO, and GoPlay), while others operate on subscription models (like Streamz). The local platforms often adopt the successful features of major streaming services. It is crucial for local providers to differentiate themselves with a wealth of local content, giving them a competitive edge over foreign platforms. However, a key challenge in our market is the limited scale, which necessitates strategic choices in purchasing, production, distribution, and marketing. At the heart of these changes is a shift in our viewing habits. To give Flemish streaming services the best chance in this highly competitive market, it is essential to understand how Flemish consumers watch video content, identify key viewing patterns, know what viewers expect from streaming services, and gauge the effectiveness of brand or content positioning strategies. Our living lab, ‘Streaming Affordances for Small Media Markets,’ seeks to address this through five key deliverables: a (1) SOTA analysis, (2) diary study, (3) viewing survey, (4) a living lab, and (5) experiments. 1. SOTA analysis The SOTA analysis compiles data from recent studies and reports, aiming to provide a clear view of trends impacting our audiovisual sector. It covers international, European, and Flemish media usage, alongside 10 trends in the global streaming market that are likely to influence Flanders. 10 trends in de internationale streamingmarkt .pdf Download PDF • 2.21MB The policy brief (in Dutch) 2. Diary study This deliverable explores the motivations that guide Flemish viewers in their selection of VoD services and content. It draws on a large-scale multifaceted audience study with VoD consumers in Flanders and consists of an exploratory survey (N=77), a diary study (N=62) and semi-structured face-to-face interviews (N=60). Motivaties voor VoD-consumptie in Vlaanderen .pdf Download PDF • 1.26MB 3. Viewing survey Building on the diary study, the SMIT viewing survey (N=2000) serves as larger-scale quantitative research. It explores viewers’ attitudes toward linear TV, their familiarity with and use of VoD services, associations with specific platforms, device preferences, and the dynamic between cinema and streaming. Voorkeuren in VoD-consumptie in Vlaanderen. Resultaten kwantitatieve bevraging. .pdf Download PDF • 1.37MB The policy brief on the diary study and the viewing survey (in Dutch) Whitepaper: Findability and discovery in streaming interfaces This whitepaper discusses the role of interface design in supporting and balancing findability and discoverability in line with the literature on HCI and RecSys, and industry reports. This report is not intended to be an exhaustive overview of the existing literature or current practice. It offers a concise synthesis of recent insights into how interface design in streaming services affects the findability and discoverability of content, intended to inspire and highlight the importance of interface design by bringing together academic research and industry reports. We hope this will contribute to a richer dialogue between research and practice, aimed at helping researchers and professionals develop interfaces that support users in finding and discovering content. Whitepaper_Streaming Interfaces_NL .pdf Download PDF • 1.78MB Whitepaper_Streaming Interfaces_ENG .pdf Download PDF • 1.70MB Streaming Europe: How Transnational Streaming is Reshaping European Film and Television Markets Read Researchers on this project Jeroen Peeters Senior Researcher Manager Tim Raats Associate Professor Wendy Van den Broeck Associate professor Annelien Smets Research Professor Consortium partners VLAIO.png VLAIO.png 1/1 Tags Platforms, Public Service Broadcasting, Streaming Previous Next

< Back 28 May 2024 Help us by providing your music listening data Your playlists have the power to drive change. By donating your favourite tunes to the Fair MusE project, you're not just sharing good vibes – you're supporting artists who deserve fair recognition and compensation! SMIT , the research group at imec & VUB, is part of a wider interdisciplinary team of academic and industry partners whose mission is to raise awareness about how music algorithms, data collection, and exploitation models of social media and streaming platforms influence music creators and audiences. In a nutshell, the three-year Horizon EU funded project aims to promote fairness for a more sustainable and competitive music ecosystem in Europe. If you are a user of Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube Music, be part of the change and donate your music streaming data here ! Let's build a more inclusive and equitable music industry, one playlist at a time! For more information you can reach out to info@fairmuse.eu . For updates stay tuned on LinkedIn . Previous Next Calling all music lovers!

< Back Understanding user preferences in recommender systems: A systematic review with a user-centric perspective in the audiovisual domain Li, D., Smets, A., & Ranaivoson, H. (2026). Understanding user preferences in recommender systems: A systematic review with a user-centric perspective in the audiovisual domain. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies , 103741. User preference is central to the design and effectiveness of recommender systems (RS), as its satisfaction influences both user experience and platform success. However, the concept of user preference is inherently complex, and existing knowledge remains diverse and fragmented, lacking a synthesis that considers users’ multiple and evolving needs. Adopting a user-centric perspective, this study systematically reviews 135 RS papers focused on how user preferences are defined and operationalized in the audiovisual (AV) domain. Grounded in theories of multi-attribute utility and bounded rationality, this review focuses on key dimensions related to the conceptualization and application of user preferences in RS studies. We develop a typology to categorize the main issues and methodological approaches and identify prevailing trends and research gaps across these dimensions. Our findings reveal that: (1) user preference definitions are frequently absent, with few studies offering explicit conceptualizations. (2) user participation in preference elicitation is limited, with most studies relying on offline datasets and prioritizing content relevance metrics over user experience; (3) User attributes, such as demographics and personality traits are underrepresented compared to item attributes like content features, leading to overspecified models and reduced interpretability; and (4) interest in temporal and contextual preference dynamics is growing, although stability remains crucial for consistent recommendations. These findings indicate critical shortcomings in understanding and operationalizing user preferences from a user-centric perspective. We emphasize the need for greater integration of insights from psychology and behavioral studies to ensure that RS design aligns with users’ intrinsic, evolving, and long-term needs. Recommender Systems Previous Read the article Next

< Back Hanne Vandenbroucke PhD Researcher hanne.vandenbroucke@vub.be Hanne Vandenbroucke joined imec-SMIT-VUB in May 2023 as a PhD- researcher on the topic of recommender algorithms and news personalization in the Flemish news media industry. She followed a unique Bachelor’s trajectory combining Languages and Linguistics with Communication Sciences at KU Leuven. I have completed the Master’s degree in Communication Sciences cum laude at KU Leuven and extended this master with an extra semester abroad at Universidad Camilo José Cela in Madrid. After graduating Hanne gained experience working as a marketing manager in the field of digital education. Visit my research profile

< Back 27 Jan 2025 Evaluating Public Service Media (PSM) in-house video-on-demand (VoD) services Public service media (PSM) all over the world have consistently been subject to social and technological changes . These include radical changes in media use, the advent of streaming services , and the dominance of big tech. The new competitors for the attention of citizens have challenged PSM both as an institution and as organisations. The profound changes in the media landscape have affected the broadcasters themselves, requiring them to transform into fully digital, online-first organisations . In this context, we present results from research conducted during the second year of PSM-AP , a large-scale comparative research project analysing ‘Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms’. In this policy brief , we put forward a series of findings and recommendations on PSM publishing and personalisation practices based on analysis of the PSM in-house video-on-demand (VoD) services and main linear channels in the Belgian market , alongside insights from our wider analysis that includes Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK. Visit the webpage: https://smit.research.vub.be/en/policy-brief-82-streaming-public-service-television-in-the-age-of-platforms Streaming_public_service_television_in_the_age_of_platforms .pdf Download PDF • 725KB https://doi.org/10.48785/100/301 Previous Next New Policy Brief: Streaming Public Service Television in the Age of Platforms

< Back Piecing the puzzle of VOD offerings: A comparison of eight US and local services in Flanders Iordache, C., Raats, T., Pakvis, M., & Asmar, A. (2023). Piecing the puzzle of VOD offerings: A comparison of eight US and local services in Flanders. Journal of Digital Media and Policy , 14 (3), 357 - 376. https://doi.org/10.1386/jdmp_00134_1 The study conducts a catalogue analysis that zooms in on the small market of Flanders (Belgium), and the content strategies of the eight most popular local and US-based players in the market. Through the comparative analysis, we investigate three main directions. First, we analyse the similarities and differences in the catalogue offerings of US and local video-on-demand (VoD) services. Second, we delve into the strategies of local players as they compete with US streamers and other legacy players. Third, we analyse the share and the characteristics of the Flemish titles on offer. The data was collected in the spring of 2022 and consists of 13,500 title entries. The findings point to a set of complex market dynamics. Local services and US-based players are competing and collaborating to create a jigsaw puzzle of on-demand offerings, through various strategies of complacency, resistance, differentiation and diversification/mimicry. Platforms Previous Read the article Next