---
name: synthesize-design-research
category: design
description: Turn research records into traceable, bounded design insights and decisions. Use when multiple sessions, methods, participants, or sources must be analyzed without erasing contradiction, minority needs, or uncertainty.
---

# synthesize-design-research

## Procedure

1. Confirm research questions, sample, methods, consent, data boundary, and decision.
2. Create a source index with participant codes, sessions, artifacts, completeness, and limitations.
3. Review raw evidence before relying on summaries.
4. Code observations and statements with source references and neutral language.
5. Group patterns by situation and outcome while retaining counterexamples.
6. Compare segments only when sampling and privacy support it.
7. Separate finding, interpretation, implication, idea, and recommendation.
8. Rate confidence from evidence strength, consistency, relevance, and coverage.
9. Build an insight report with quotes or examples used within consent, limitations, and open questions.
10. Review with another researcher and connect recommendations to tests or decisions.

## Guardrails

- Do not count repeated comments as representative prevalence without a valid sample.
- Never invent participant language or suppress inconvenient evidence.
- Protect identity in small or sensitive segments.

## Done

- A synthesis report traces findings to source evidence
- Contradictions, sample limits, confidence, and minority needs remain visible
- Independent review and decision links are recorded