Application customization through linked embedded areas

A computer-implemented method of customizing an application, the method comprising:

• generating a user-specific instance of the application, the instance of the application including a plurality of static content areas and an embedded area linked to a user-selected first content variant stored in a content variant repository, wherein the first content variant determines, at least in part, content displayed in the embedded area;
• and
• in response to receiving an indication of user interaction with the instance of the application:
• retrieving a second content variant from the content variant repository, the content variant repository storing additional content variants corresponding to the embedded area;
• and
• linking the second content variant to the embedded area in place of the first content variant, wherein linking the second content variant to the embedded area associates the second content variant with the embedded area for generation of subsequent user-specific instances of the application;
• and
• updating content of the embedded area to reflect the second content variant.

One or more server computers implementing an application customization system, the system comprising:

• a content variant repository storing a plurality of content variants associated with a user-customizable embedded area of an application, wherein the respective content variants describe different options for content displayable within the embedded area;
• a linking module that identifies a content variant, of the plurality of content variants stored in the content variant repository, that is linked to the user-customizable embedded area;
• a static content module that retrieves one or more static content portions of the application;
• and
• an application generation engine that generates a customized instance of the application upon receiving an instruction to initiate the application, the customized instance including the retrieved static content portions and the user-customized embedded area, wherein content within the user-customizable embedded area is determined by the content variant linked to the user-customizable embedded area.