Redefining Toolkits: Unbundling to Create a Perfect Match
Summary
"Redefining the Research Toolkit" not only applies to methods, but tools, too. The marketplace for research platforms continues growing and evolving, offerings professionals the opportunity to find a nearly perfect research match. This means that more teams are opting to "unbundle" their research stack, choosing best-in-class options for critical phases instead of an all-in-one. This session has two goals: 1) Highlight some of the of tools researchers are prioritizing for their stacks 2) Present a case study of a best-in-class stack in action Join to learn about the freedom of choice researchers have for their toolkits and some of the best-in-class options available.
Key Insights
-
•
All-in-one research platforms average $100,000 per year and may not flexibly adapt as research needs evolve.
-
•
BYO toolkits enable teams to select best-in-class tools tailored to their specific research methods and questions.
-
•
User Interviews specializes in upstream participant recruitment, maintaining an exceptionally low fraud rate of 0.3%.
-
•
AI-driven participant matching improves recruitment quality and reduces panel churn in User Interviews’ platform.
-
•
Calendly uses a BYO stack combining Sprig for in-app surveys and User Interviews for recruiting to address diverse research needs.
-
•
Flexibility in tool choice allows teams with limited headcount and budgets to scale research effectively.
-
•
BYO stacks support democratizing research by enabling controlled access for non-researchers like PMs and designers.
-
•
User Interviews offers direct integrations and flexible API partnerships, plus options to use any tool via URL links.
-
•
Effective fraud detection combines automated monitoring with researcher-controlled flags to maintain data integrity.
-
•
Focusing on a core strength—in this case, participant recruitment—and partnering with specialized tools leads to more effective research workflows.
Notable Quotes
"Budgets are tight across research, design, and product; all-in-one platforms are costly and often don’t fit those budgets."
"When you get a best in class tool, you are able to execute more rigorous research and show clearer ROI."
"We found a greater variety and depth of questions that require richer methodologies, so BYO works better for us."
"Our fraudulent participant rate is about 0.3%, compared to the industry average of 20 to 22%."
"We built AI that suggests projects to participants that pre-match what you’re asking for instead of mass blasting everyone."
"The world is your oyster with whatever tool you want to use, even if we don’t directly integrate with it."
"The only way to do research wrong is to not do it at all."
"BYO gives researchers more control over who gets access to the panel and where you want guardrails versus freedom."
"My time is more expensive than my money; fraudulent data wastes valuable time."
"We focus on getting top quality participants and let others specialize in testing or analysis tools."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The epidemic of isolation is tied to digital design that creates connectivity without connection."
Daniel GloydDesigning Warmth
February 26, 2025
"User intent exists in a probabilistic superposition of multiple possible actions until a choice is made."
David SternbergUncovering the hidden forces shaping user behavior
July 17, 2025
"The real value of AI in IA is as a collaborative tool requiring significant human support, not a magic knob to turn."
Karen McGrane Jeff EatonAI for Information Architects: Are the robots coming for our jobs?
November 21, 2024
"Everyone is circling around similar topics but in very different ways—there’s a battle of models but more similarities than differences."
John CutlerOxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)
December 3, 2024
"Being delightful is the only thing that a video game does. It has no other purpose."
Erin Hoffman-JohnThis Game is Never Done: Design Leadership Techniques from the Video Game World
November 6, 2017
"Every claim and recommendation inside HITS has its own URL so partners can share and track knowledge."
Matt DuignanHITS, Microsoft's internal human insight system: From research library to living body of knowledge
July 16, 2019
"Elevation of design leadership to no more than two levels below the CEO signals that design is important company-wide."
Peter MerholzDesign at Scale is People!
June 11, 2021
"Investing time in people, relationships, and collaboration pays off in stronger teams and better user experiences."
Davis Neable Guy SegalHow to Drive a Design Project When you Don’t Have a Design Team
June 10, 2021
"Visions capture held knowledge that a team has maybe not been able to yet take action on."
Catt SmallCraft a Vision that Actually Gets Shipped
April 30, 2026
