"So, Tell Me What Users Want, What They Really, Really Want!"

2018/03/06 by Ulrik Lyngs, Reuben Binns, Lyngs, Ulrik +5 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Psychology · #Computers and Society (cs.CY) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Human-Automation Interaction and Safety #Innovative Human-Technology Interaction #Persona Design and Applications

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1803.02065

openalex publication_date 2018/03/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Equating users' true needs and desires with behavioural measures of 'engagement' is problematic. However, good metrics of 'true preferences' are difficult to define, as cognitive biases make people's preferences change with context and exhibit inconsistencies over time. Yet, HCI research often glosses over the philosophical and theoretical depth of what it means to infer what users really want. In this paper, we present an alternative yet very real discussion of this issue, via a fictive dialogue between senior executives in a tech company aimed at helping people live the life they `really' want to live. How will the designers settle on a metric for their product to optimise?

Citations

• Patients' memories of painful medical treatments: real-time and retrospective evaluations of two minimally invasive procedures
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