The best product data is what you have at hand while you're sketching wireframes or tinkering with a prototype.
Is "on-stage" too theatrical for someone visible on a video call? Does "off-stage" clearly mean muted and camera-off?
These hyper-specific, time-sensitive questions hit mid-flow in the process, and by the time traditional research delivers answers, you’ve already shipped.
Fast-moving teams often see UX research as slow, academic, or detached. But with the right setup, it becomes an invisible engine powering better, faster decisions.
At Pulse Labs, here’s how we keep it nimble while building:
1. Give Research Tools to PWDRs ("People Who Do Research") - With Smart Guardrails
Why it works: Everyone on a product team has questions. Not everyone needs to be a researcher to ask them.
The move: Hand PMs, designers, and engineers the ability to run research with tools that are powerful but protected. Add light-touch peer review: before results are circulated, have a researcher give it a once-over, flagging biases or shaky assumptions - like spellcheck for credibility.
In action: With Pulse Labs, teams can launch targeted studies and recruit participants in minutes, - turning "we should test this" into "oh wait, we already did."
Learn more at Pulse Labs Surveys
2. Embed Research into Work You're Already Doing
Why it works: Research works best when it's a steady presence in the background. Always on and quietly informing every decision.
The move: Don’t make teams stop and "do research." Instead, weave it into sprints, QA, and design reviews. Use session replays, in-product prompts, or short async interviews triggered by real usage to capture insights without adding friction.
In action: We use our own FlightRecorder SDK to surface user reactions in real time. Engineers see real user pain points tied to their components. Designers get feedback baked into design critiques. No extra meetings or back-and-forth required.
Learn more at Pulse Labs App Integrations
3. Use AI as a Research Sparring Partner
Why it works: Insights don’t matter if they’re buried in Confluence or siloed in someone’s personal knowledge. You need fast synthesis, and clean signals.
The move: Pipe your transcripts, surveys, and chat logs into tools like NotebookLM, Notion AI, or even into a ChatGPT project. Add a PRD or two for context. Now you’ve got a queriable, semi-intelligent sidekick that can help you spot patterns, sense-check your hunches, or gently tell you when your new idea misses the mark.
In action: We often load study data into NotebookLM alongside internal docs. Then we treat it like a collaborator; asking it to find contradictions, summarize themes, or simply notice what we didn’t.
Conclusion
Good research doesn’t slow you down, it speeds up things that matter most. When it's embedded in the way your team already works, it becomes a force multiplier.
Try one of these tactics this sprint. Let your team feel what it’s like to get answers when they still matter. And if you need tools to make it seamless? We’ve got you covered.
About the Author
Drew Raines is Head of Product at Pulse Labs, where he leads product strategy and development. He brings deep experience across design research, UX research, and product management to help build innovative tools for modern user research.
Reach out to speak to one of our experts for a free, no-obligation consultation about how your team can better embed UX Research into your product roadmap: conversations@pulselabs.ai
