Desk Research

Analysis of existing published information - competitive research, market data, customer reviews, analyst reports, academic literature - to establish a knowledge baseline before primary research.

Process

Key Fields

Question it answers	What is already known about this market, competitor, or customer segment? What gaps require primary research?
Participants & timing	No participants needed · 2-3 weeks research and synthesis
AI compatibility	AI searches and summarizes sources, extracts key data points, identifies contradictions between sources, and organizes findings by theme.
Output	Market/competitive overview, customer/market insights summary, research gaps identified, primary research recommendations

Use when

Project is beginning and landscape understanding is needed before primary research
Budget is limited (secondary research is cheaper than primary)
Quick understanding is needed (faster than conducting interviews)
Establishing a baseline for competitive or trend analysis

Skip when

Research question is highly specific or niche with minimal published material
Primary data on a specific customer or use case does not exist yet

Common Mistakes

Treating all sources equally

A 1,000-person Gartner survey carries more weight than a random blog post. Evaluate source credibility: who conducted the research, sample size, methodology, and recency.

Confirmation bias in synthesis

Finding sources that confirm your hypothesis while overlooking contradictory data. Actively look for contrary evidence; if it is strong, update your view.

Not documenting source URLs and quotes

Finding a great insight but forgetting the source means you cannot validate or cite it later. Organize findings with URL, direct quote, and date accessed from the start.