A lighting system comprises at least one luminaire arranged to illuminate an area shared by a plurality of users. From at least one of the users, at least one level adjustment instruction is received, denoting an illumination level instructed by that user for the shared area. When operating in a manual control mode for the shared area, the at least one luminaire is controlled to emit illumination at the illumination level denoted by the most recently received of the level adjustment instruction(s). A plurality of user profiles is generated, each of a respective one of the users and comprising preference information, wherein the preference information for the at least one user is derived from his at least one level adjustment instruction. A consensus illumination level for the shared area is determined, by combining the preference information of at least two of the user profiles stored in the memory. In an automatic control mode, the at least one luminaire emits illumination at the determined consensus illumination level.