SAP Personalization
Personalization in SAP lets users and administrators tailor the interface, defaults, layouts, favourites, launchpad, to individual roles and preferences, improving speed, comfort and adoption without changing the underlying system.
SAP personalisation works at three levels: personal, favourites, user settings, parameter IDs and saved layout variants for lists; role, the menus, catalogs and groups an administrator assigns; and screen, hiding or defaulting fields through variants. In Fiori it is tile arrangement and per-app columns and filters. It changes the experience; customising in SPRO changes how the system behaves.
- Watch out: Confusing personalization with configuration.
Levels of personalization
- Personal: favourites, user settings/parameter IDs, GUI options, layout variants for lists.
- Role/admin: role-based menus, Fiori catalogs and groups, default screen variants.
- Screen-level: hiding or defaulting fields via transaction/screen variants.
Layout variants
For list and ALV screens, users can save layout variants, chosen columns, sorting and filters, so a report always shows the way they want. This is a widely-used, high-value personalization that avoids re-configuring output every time.
Fiori personalization
In Fiori, users personalise the launchpad (favourites, tile arrangement) and often individual apps (columns, filters). Administrators shape what is available via roles and catalogs.
Personalization vs customization
Personalization changes the experience without altering business logic or configuration; customization (in SPRO) changes how the system actually behaves. Knowing the difference keeps changes in the right place, personal preferences stay personal, business rules stay governed.
Common pitfalls
- Confusing personalization with configuration.
- Not saving layout variants for repeated reports.
- Over-hiding fields and confusing other users.