Nobody Was Frustrated: The Promise and Problem of Synthetic Users in UX Research

When and where

Date and time

Tue, Sep 15 · 6:30 p.m.EDT — local Ottawa time

Location

Impact Hub Ottawa (7th Floor)123 Slater Street (7th floor), Ottawa, ONOttawa

About this event

**First event of the 2026/2027 season!** Join us as we kick off this new season with a talk about whether AI-generated participants can really stand in for real ones. **Nobody Was Frustrated: The Promise and Problem of Synthetic Users in UX Research** by Dominira Saul (Founder & Principal at DFFRNT) Generative AI is making it possible to create hundreds of seemingly realistic research participants in seconds. Synthetic users can answer interview questions, react to designs, complete surveys, simulate personas, and even attempt usability tasks at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional user research. But are we actually learning about users, or generating plausible stories about them? This talk explores the rapidly emerging use of synthetic users in UX research, examining both their considerable potential and their methodological limitations. Drawing on recent HCI research and empirical comparisons between human and AI-generated participants, Dominira Saul will explore where s

Official details

Tickets:

Official ticket page for Nobody Was Frustrated: The Promise and Problem of Synthetic Users in UX Research

Price:

Free

Organizer:

CapCHI

Listing source:

meetup

Last verified September 15, 2026 · evntally doesn't sell tickets — we point you to the box office.