What Can User Research Teach Us About Designing for the Elderly and Driving Growth?

In April, the MEUX Design Day – "Internet User Research" special session at Peking University concluded successfully.

At the opening, Associate Professor Chen Lihan, deputy director of the School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, and Mr. Zhou Wei, secretary of the Youth League Committee of the Sociology Department, introduced the development background and teaching philosophy of Peking University’s Sociology and Psychology departments and warmly welcomed the Baidu MEUX speakers.

The morning session featured Baidu MEUX senior user‑research engineer Qi Shuo, an alumnus of Peking University’s Psychology Department, who presented “Internet User Research: Two and Three Things”. He traced the origins of user research, the current state in China, and the landscape of internet user research, then dissected what user research actually does and how to conduct it professionally, with growth and empathy.

The afternoon continued with a talk titled “What Can User Research Do for the Elderly?” by Baidu MEUX senior user‑research engineer Yong Sheng, also an alumnus of Peking University’s Sociology Department. He highlighted that in 2019, China’s population aged 45 and above reached 590 million, yet less than 30 % of them used smartphones. Yong analyzed how to capture the true characteristics of older users, support age‑friendly product design, and promote the aging‑friendly upgrade of mobile internet applications.

Later, senior user‑research engineer Li Hui presented “Researching User Growth from Micro, Meso, and Macro Perspectives”. He examined user growth through three lenses—user layer, product layer, and industry layer—offering a comprehensive framework for growth analysis.

The event concluded with enthusiastic discussions among teachers and students, and the organizers expressed hope to build more connections with universities to share design value.