We, as UX researchers, have tried to understand users by investigating their behavior and the thoughts behind them and then incorporated those insights via segmentation and creating personas. However, users today are now exposed to an increasing amount of information and stimuli due to the rapid development of technology, and with that their actions and thoughts are becoming more diverse.
Take for example how Gen Z are said to be more efficient and want to accomplish more in less time. Are we sure that is really the case? Some skip the delivery order and customize meals while chatting with the staff at the counter or listen to silly podcasts without speeding them up. Others chat with strangers in online spaces that were introduced to them by an acquaintance and assimilated into the community.
In order to further understand users from now on, it will be necessary to pick up detailed information about how users think and make choices amid the complex interplay of situations and psychology they are placed in. It is especially important in global research when the inner workings of users are also formed by cultural backgrounds of their individual countries, differing from one’s own. I would like to introduce why it is important to look more closely at the inner mind of users and how to do it at this year’s conference.