Design Research

Build a Says, Thinks, Does, Feels map for one user or segment. Use when sharing user understanding quickly. For a composite archetype with goals and behaviours use `user-persona`; for cross-session themes use `affinity-diagram`.

Map one persona's end-to-end experience with stages, touchpoints, emotions, and pain points. Use when improving an existing experience. For the multi-channel ecosystem use `experience-map` (ux-strategy); for screen-level paths use `user-flow-diagram` (prototyping-testing).

Build research-grounded personas with goals, frustrations, and behavioural patterns. Use when decisions need a consistent user reference. For one session's emotional snapshot use `empathy-map`; for motivation framing use `jobs-to-be-done`.

Design unbiased survey instruments — question wording, scales, and sampling — to measure attitudes at scale. Use when you need quantitative breadth. For behavioural experiments, use `a-b-test-design` (prototyping-testing).

Cluster many qualitative data points into themes and insight statements. Use when synthesising across multiple sessions or sources. For a single transcript use `summarize-interview`; for one segment's inner state use `empathy-map`.

Design a diary study — prompts, cadence, duration, participant criteria, and analysis frame. Use when behaviour unfolds over days or weeks. For a single-session study, use `usability-test-plan`.

Write a structured interview guide — warm-up, core exploration, and wrap-up. Use before running interviews. For analysing what comes back, use `summarize-interview`.

Analyse open or closed card sort results into a proposed grouping and label set. Use after running a sort study. For turning that evidence into a full structure, use `information-architecture` (ux-strategy).

Build a repository that makes findings findable, reusable, and cumulative across teams. Use when the same research keeps getting redone. For synthesising one study, use `affinity-diagram`.

Turn one interview transcript into themes, supporting quotes, and action items. Use immediately after a session. For synthesising many sessions at once, use `affinity-diagram`.

Design a usability study — research questions, methodology, participant criteria, metrics, and facilitation guide. Use when planning the study as a whole. For writing the task scenarios inside it, use `test-scenario` (prototyping-testing).

Read funnels, retention curves, and event data as a designer — separating a design problem from a tracking artefact. Use when handed product data you did not design and asked why people drop off. For choosing what to measure, use `metrics-definition` (ux-strategy); for running a controlled test, use `a-b-test-design` (prototyping-testing).

Reconcile what the numbers say with what users say, and design the study that settles it rather than restates it. Use when behavioural data and research findings point different ways. For reading the data on its own, use `behavioural-analytics`; for synthesising interviews on their own, use `affinity-diagram`.