US Research Journey

This project is part of an Innosuisse‑supported pre‑study conducted in collaboration with the Lucerne School of Business (HSLU). From September 3 to November 8, 2026, we will travel across the United States, visiting approximately 20–30 cities to conduct qualitative interviews, observe contextual identity patterns, and engage with diverse audiences at major creator and entrepreneurship events. The goal of this phase is to explore how identity, environment, and decision‑making interact across different cultural and situational contexts — forming the empirical foundation for a new context‑sensitive assessment system.

Why the Research Begins in the United States

The United States offers a uniquely suitable starting point for this pre‑study. It is one of the few countries where people openly discuss identity, personal development, emotional patterns, and life decisions — making qualitative interviews richer and more accessible.

Moreover, English as a shared language allows for consistent interviewing, clearer communication, and internationally comparable insights without the linguistic fragmentation that often complicates European field research.

Additionally, the U.S. is a highly diverse environment: cultural norms, social expectations, values, and everyday behavior differ significantly across states, cities, and regions. This internal diversity allows us to observe how identity and decision‑making shift across contrasting environments within one single country.

Insights from this U.S. research phase will form the foundation for the next stage of the ContextMind program: a multi‑country European research tour planned for 2027. The U.S. phase provides the initial contextual baseline; Europe will later expand the model across different cultural, linguistic, and societal systems.

Supported by Innosuisse

This project is supported by an Innosuisse Innovation Cheque, granted for the pre‑study “ContextMind: Development of a context‑sensitive personality assessment toolbox.” The Innovation Cheque enables collaboration with a research institution — in this case, the Lucerne School of Business (HSLU), which is among the few 6% of business schools worldwide holding AACSB accreditation. AACSB accreditation is the world’s most rigorous quality standard for business schools.

As part of this funding, the project adheres to Innosuisse’s official requirements: ensuring scientific integrity, complying with all applicable legal and ethical standards, and integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into the design and execution of the pre‑study.

Supported by Innosuisse

Short Project Description

ContextMind explores how identity, emotional patterns, and decision making shift across different environments and life situations. Between early September and early November 2026, a multi city research journey through the United States will gather qualitative interviews and contextual observations across 20–30 cities, including several major events relevant to the project’s target groups. The research route begins in New York and continues through major cities such as Boston, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. From Seattle, the journey continues by air to Atlanta, followed by a gradual return to New York over land. This path allows us to capture a wide range of cultural, social, and environmental contexts across the United States.

The project examines diverse groups across generations, roles, environments, and real world settings to understand how people express identity differently depending on where they are and what surrounds them. The research aims to address a long standing gap in traditional psychological models by integrating contextual factors more systematically, while still building on established frameworks as a scientific foundation.

The Lucerne School of Business (HSLU) is responsible exclusively for the scientific and empirical components of LevelUpLifePath. Innosuisse supports this phase through an Innovation Cheque. All project descriptions, contextual examples, use cases, roadmaps, routes, events, partnerships, and any interpretation of identity, context, or decision making presented on this page are independently created by LevelUpLifePath and are not reviewed, endorsed, or co developed by Innosuisse or HSLU.

As with all Innosuisse pre studies, this early research phase is designed to prepare and enable a larger Innosuisse innovation project that will build on the results of this study.

Within the subsequent development project, a new framework is planned that will enable a context aware analysis of individuals across different life situations and ultimately support the creation of an AI based application.

From July to August 2026, we are preparing the project and refining the research structure; this page will be updated and expanded regularly as the work progresses.

Why This Research Matters

Many established psychological and coaching frameworks already explore important aspects of human functioning — such as personality traits, values, identity, emotional regulation, or limiting beliefs. However, these approaches typically operate as isolated subsystems. They examine one part of the human experience, but not the full interaction between stable traits, contextual conditions, and dynamic expression.

As a result, they provide valuable insights, yet they do not capture how identity, motivation, emotional patterns, and decision‑making shift across different environments and life situations. ContextMind aims to bridge this gap by studying these interactions directly in real‑world settings, forming the foundation for a more integrated, context‑sensitive assessment approach.

Existing Models Are Not Enough

Traditional psychological models were developed in historical periods with stable environments, predictable life paths, and limited contextual complexity. Today, identity, emotional patterns, and decision‑making shift rapidly across digital, cultural, social, and situational contexts.

Despite this, most existing assessment systems still focus on stable personality traits and do not capture how people change across environments. This gap affects coaching, mental health, education, leadership, and personal development.

The ContextMind project aims to explore these contextual dynamics directly in real‑world settings across the United States. By observing how people adapt, interpret situations, and express identity across diverse environments, this research lays the foundation for a new generation of context‑sensitive assessment tools.

Underlying Framework & Scientific Architecture

The ContextMind project is built on a new conceptual architecture that integrates stable psychological fundamentals with contextual life conditions and dynamic expression patterns. It respects and incorporates established legacy models while addressing their long‑standing gaps by systematically including contextual and dynamic factors such as emotional patterns, thinking styles, conformity tendencies, and external influences.

Instead of describing people through isolated subsystems, the architecture connects these elements into one coherent, context‑sensitive framework. It provides a use‑case‑agnostic foundation for understanding individuals across different life situations — always in relation to their environment, internal narratives, and adaptive patterns. This integrated perspective aims to help people understand themselves more clearly and navigate toward environments, decisions, and life paths that genuinely fit who they are.

Real‑World Contexts Across Life Stages

Adolescents often lack clarity about strengths, interests, and the contexts in which they function well. Their decisions are shaped by peer influence, cultural narratives, family expectations, and internal limiting beliefs. By examining how they interpret their environment — and how identity, creativity, and critical thinking interact with these contexts — it becomes possible to see which educational or vocational paths genuinely align with who they are.

Young adults frequently feel lost because they cannot explain why they thrive in some environments but struggle in others. Their self perception is shaped by cultural conditioning, unresolved limiting beliefs, and narratives about success or failure. Understanding how they interpret social and professional contexts — and how creativity, critical thinking, and emotional patterns influence their choices — reveals which environments strengthen them and which paths offer meaningful direction.

Early career professionals may quickly sense that their chosen field does not fit, yet struggle to understand why. Contextual mismatch, team dynamics, cultural expectations, and internal narratives often distort motivation and performance. Examining how they interpret workplace structures and social interactions — and how critical thinking, creativity, and limiting beliefs shape their experience — clarifies which roles and environments allow them to unfold their potential.

Adults in their 30s or 40s often feel dissatisfied without knowing the underlying reasons. Cultural conditioning, outdated narratives, and limiting beliefs can keep them stuck in roles that no longer fit their identity. Understanding how they interpret their life context — professionally, socially, and personally — reveals blocking patterns, unused strengths, and supportive environments. This clarity enables meaningful realignment and renewed direction.

Across all life stages, the goal of ContextMind is to help individuals identify environments that genuinely fit who they are — instead of spending years trying to adapt to contexts that were never designed for them.

Founder’s Background & Field Experience

Over the past decade, LevelUpLifePath’s founder Gino has traveled through approximately 70 countries, engaging in countless real‑world conversations with people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. These informal exchanges were not part of a formal research process, but they provided early insight into how identity, environment, and life situations interact across different contexts.

Guided by a long-standing growth mindset, deep curiosity, and big‑picture thinking, Gino has spent years observing how people adapt, reinvent themselves, and navigate identity shifts across changing environments. His global immersion and continuous exploration of human development laid the experiential foundation that later inspired the formal ContextMind research program.

Gino’s long‑standing interest in identity, context, and human development led him to develop the conceptual architecture that underpins the ContextMind project. This framework emerged from years of system‑level thinking, cross‑cultural observation, and top‑down analysis of how people adapt across environments. It forms the theoretical foundation of the pre‑study and guides the scientific work conducted in collaboration with HSLU.

Collaboration Opportunities

We welcome collaboration with researchers, universities, organizations, and mission‑aligned partners who share an interest in identity, context, and human development. Whether through joint research activities, event participation, knowledge exchange, or project‑based cooperation, we are open to working together to expand the impact and reach of the ContextMind initiative.

Partnerships & Funding Opportunities

The multi‑year development of ContextMind is structured as an international research and innovation program. We are open to collaboration with foundations, sponsors, and mission‑aligned organizations who wish to support the long‑term development of this multi‑year international research and innovation program.