1 min lesson
Lead with the tradeoff, not around it
Use "Every defensible plan optimized for one thing at the cost of another" to describe the practical rule.
Step 1 of 2
Lead with the tradeoff, not around itname what you optimized for and what you sacrificed
Every defensible plan optimized for one thing at the cost of another. Say it before they find it. “I optimized for speed and depth on the mechanism and I gave up prevalence: this won't tell us how common the problem is, only that it's real and why.” Owning the limitation removes the panel's best line of attack and turns a weakness into evidence of judgment.
Pre-empt the “how would you do this in half the time” question by answering it before it's asked. End your plan with: “If we had to cut this in half, I'd drop the survey and run the qual on internal power users first, accepting weaker external validity.” You'll almost always be asked the speed question at Cursor, so arriving with the answer reads as someone who already works this way.