2 min lesson
The research-challenge round
Use "The research-challenge round" to tell the cases apart, then choose a response for each one.
Step 1 of 2
This is the single highest-signal round and it comes in two formats. Live, you whiteboard a research plan and then present it. Take-home, you get a few days, build the plan and present it to a panel of researchers. Either way the prompt is Cursor-shaped - design a study for a real product question about the developer user.
The deliverable is usually a research plan in roughly five to eight slides. Cursor's engineering onsite is paid and project-heavy, so a take-home version of this round is the most likely place that texture shows up for research.
Interactive diagram. Tab through its regions; each focused region shows its detail in the panel below.
The four things the challenge panel weighs - and where the round is actually won or lost. Mid and senior challenges expect end-to-end autonomy and a mix of generative and evaluative work, not a single-method plan.
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Full explanation
What the plan covers
- Question
- The decision the study serves, sharpened from the vague prompt into something answerable.
- Method choice
- Generative or evaluative, qual or quant and the alternatives you rejected and why.
- Participants / sampling
- Who, how many, how recruited - and how you reach real professional developers.
- Timeline
- A scrappy but credible schedule that fits the team's pace, not a six-month program.
- Expected outcomes
- What decisions each result would unblock, stated before you run anything.
- Analysis
- How raw data becomes a decision-ready narrative, including how you triangulate sources.