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

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.02065 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.02065/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 6 Mar 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Choosing the Right Weights: Balancing Value, Strategy, and Noise in Recommender Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.17428/) (2023)
- [System-2 Recommenders: Disentangling Utility and Engagement in Recommendation Systems via Temporal Point-Processes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.01611/) (2024)
- [Mind the Prompt: Self-adaptive Generation of Task Plan Explanations via LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.21092/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

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?