Laundry washing machine (1) having an outer casing (2), a washing tub (3), arranged inside the casing (2), a rotatable drum (4), arranged in axially rotating manner inside the washing tub (3) and designed to receive laundry to be washed, and a detergent dispensing assembly (12), designed for supplying laundry detergent into the washing tub (3). The washing machine also has a water softening system (14), designed to receive fresh water from a water mains (13) and reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water in order to supply softened water the detergent dispensing assembly (12) and/or to the washing tub (3), during one or more softened water laundry washing phases, and a control panel (28) configured to allow operator to input information associated with washing performance/s. A controller (15) is configured to control the water softening system (14) in order to perform a washing program comprising one or more softened water laundry washing phases based on input washing performance/s information.