1 min lesson
Designing under Cursor-style constraints
Tell someone how to act on this idea: "Cursor is a small, flat research function on a product that ships weekly."
Step 1 of 4
Cursor is a small, flat research function on a product that ships weekly. The bar is not the most rigorous study. It is the smallest study that can still change the decision, run before the decision is made.
“Scrappy” gets misread as “sloppy.” It isn't. Scrappy means you cut the parts of the study that don't change the answer and keep the parts that do. The skill the panel is grading is whether you know the difference.
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Advanced table
Reference table
- Question type
- Find usability problems in a flow
- Smallest study that works
- 5–6 moderated sessions
- Why this size
- A handful of users surfaces most severe issues; more sessions hit diminishing returns
- Question type
- Understand a need or workflow
- Smallest study that works
- 6–10 interviews to thematic saturation
- Why this size
- Stop when new sessions stop producing new themes, not at a fixed count
- Question type
- Size how widespread an attitude is
- Smallest study that works
- A survey powered for your subgroup cuts
- Why this size
- n is driven by the smallest segment you need to report, not the total
- Question type
- Confirm a behavioral effect
- Smallest study that works
- An A/B test powered to your MDE
- Why this size
- Sample size falls out of the effect you'd act on, not a round number
| Question type | Smallest study that works | Why this size |
|---|---|---|
| Find usability problems in a flow | 5–6 moderated sessions | A handful of users surfaces most severe issues; more sessions hit diminishing returns |
| Understand a need or workflow | 6–10 interviews to thematic saturation | Stop when new sessions stop producing new themes, not at a fixed count |
| Size how widespread an attitude is | A survey powered for your subgroup cuts | n is driven by the smallest segment you need to report, not the total |
| Confirm a behavioral effect | An A/B test powered to your MDE | Sample size falls out of the effect you'd act on, not a round number |
Naming the right n and why is more convincing than a big n with no rationale.