Stakeholder alignment
What decisions this engagement must unlock. And what is explicitly out. Research without a decision frame is wallpaper.
Research & Discovery
Research and discovery gathers market, user, and competitor evidence so design decisions are justified. Clarity before pixels.
Opinions are expensive in Figma
Design reviews become politics. Personas multiply. Everyone "knows" the user until metrics disagree. You ship UI for a journey users do not take. Then pay again in Product & Interface Design or Rapid MVP Development to fix it.
Discovery converts opinions into a ranked brief: who, what job, what to test first, what to cut.
Who it's for
- Teams arguing from anecdotes in design reviews
- Founders validating a wedge before MVP spend
- Products planning Legacy UX Modernization who need evidence on what actually blocks users
- Product leaders entering a new segment or role who cannot rely on old assumptions
- Orgs that want Content Design & UX Writing and UI aligned to real language users use
Problems discovery solves
- "We have three personas and no agreement which one pays"
- "Competitors all look the same. We do not know where to differentiate"
- "Stakeholders want features; no one mapped the job-to-be-done"
- "We are rebuilding blind"
- "Research reports sit in Drive; nothing ships"
What we tackle
User evidence
Interviews, targeted sessions, or structured synthesis when access allows. Plus honest gaps when it does not.
Journey mapping for paying flows
Activate, configure, buy, complete the core job. Not every edge admin path in v0. Maps feed scope directly.
→ Learn more about Journey mapping for paying flowsCompetitive and pattern teardown
Where peers solve the job, what is table stakes, where whitespace exists. Without copying UI for its own sake.
Opportunity prioritization
How-might-we opportunities ranked by impact and confidence, a brief, not a 200-slide deck.
What you get
- Research plan tied to decisions (not unlimited interviews) - Interview / workshop synthesis, themes, quotes, implications - Journey maps for paying flows with pain points and moments that matter - Competitor / pattern teardown where useful for your category - Prioritized opportunities and recommended Creation buying path - Playback session to align stakeholders before design starts
Often a focused sprint when goals are clear. See Rates.
How it works
1. Frame: decisions to unlock, audiences, constraints. *Deliverable: research charter.* 2. Gather: interviews, workshops, analytics/support signals, competitive scan. *Deliverable: raw notes + evidence log.* 3. Synthesize: themes, journeys, opportunities. *Deliverable: synthesis doc + journey maps.* 4. Brief Creation: ranked opportunities + recommended SKU and cut list. *Deliverable: design-ready brief.*
Engagement shapes
- Discovery sprint: one decision, one primary audience, tight timeline
- Discovery → MVP: brief then Rapid MVP Development
- Discovery → modernization: evidence before Legacy UX Modernization
- Light competitive scan: when the question is positioning, not full ethnography
How it connects
Outputs become the brief for Creation. Web UX, product UI, MVP, or modernization. Pair with Product Strategy when the bet is still forming. Optional later: Discovery reach when the product is real.
Fit / not for
For teams who will act on a brief and fund Creation. Not for research commissioned to delay a decision already made. Not for unlimited ethnography with no ship path.
Frequently asked questions
Why not jump straight into UI?
UI without evidence optimizes the wrong journey. Research is cheaper than rebuilding a product people do not understand.
How long does discovery take?
Often a focused sprint when goals are clear. We size to decision needs, not research theater, see [Rates](/rates).
Does research always include users?
When access allows, yes. When it does not, we still structure expert review, data you have, and competitive evidence, and name the gaps.
How many interviews do you run?
Enough to answer the decision frame. Typically a small set per segment, not dozens for show. Scope is in the charter.
What deliverable do we actually use?
Journey maps, prioritized opportunities, and a Creation brief. Not a shelf document. The output should fit sprint planning.
Can discovery run in parallel with design?
Sometimes for known areas. But we flag when you are designing while still guessing on the core job. Parallel is a risk tradeoff we name explicitly.
How does this differ from a UX audit?
Audit diagnoses an existing product's friction and IA. Discovery often precedes build or enters new segments. It can include audit methods but targets decisions, not only findings.
Do you do quantitative research?
We use analytics and support data you provide; large-scale surveys are scoped separately when needed.
Brief the design
Tell us the decision you need to make and who the paying user is. We will propose a discovery sprint with a clear deliverable list, not open-ended research.
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