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Research Prep is the stage where you define what you need to learn from your users, market, and competitors before starting the design or development of an app. It helps guide decisions with real insights, not assumptions.
Why It Matters
- Sets a clear direction for your product based on evidence, not guesswork
- Saves money by avoiding unnecessary features or misaligned designs
- Speeds up decision-making with targeted, data-informed priorities
Use This Term When...
- You’re starting a discovery workshop or strategy session
- You're planning user interviews or surveys
- You need to validate a product idea or key assumption
- You're preparing for UX research or usability testing
- You're entering a new market or targeting a new user segment
Real-World Example
In one of our projects, we conducted research prep by aligning with stakeholders on goals, selecting user segments, and preparing interview scripts. This groundwork ensured our user research was focused, efficient, and directly informed design decisions.
Founder Insight
Many founders rush past research to start building. But skipping preparation leads to vague goals, weak designs, and costly rebuilds. Research Prep ensures you build the right thing from the start.
Key Metrics / Concepts
- Research Goals – What you aim to understand through your research
- Hypotheses – Assumptions that need validation before development
- Target User Segments – The groups of people you're researching for insights
Tools & Technologies
- Google Forms / Typeform – For collecting early survey responses
- Notion / Confluence – To document research plans and outcomes
- Miro – For mapping research plans, personas, or interview flows visually
What’s Next / Future Trends
With the rise of AI-powered research tools, founders can now analyse feedback and trends faster than ever. Expect real-time sentiment analysis, AI-moderated interviews, and automatic insight clustering to become part of the standard research workflow.
Related Terms
User Interviews – Talking directly with users to learn about their needs
Surveys – Structured questionnaires used to gather user input
Secondary Research – Using existing data, reports, or studies for insights
Persona – A profile representing your ideal or typical user
Hypothesis Statement – A formal guess that guides research and testing
Helpful Videos / Articles / Pages
Blog: Why Market Research Is Important: A Breakdown
Blog: How To Do Customer Research to Build a Successful Website
Blog: UX Research Methods – How and When to Use Them
Call to Action
Want to make sure your app starts with the right foundation? Book a quick session to plan your research prep with our strategy experts.