Writing Research Summaries
Quick start
Collect or infer:
- •Raw research findings or synthesis document
- •Target audience (executives, designers, engineers, PMs)
- •Summary length constraint (brief, standard, detailed)
- •Key decisions the summary should inform
Then produce output using TEMPLATES.md. Validate with RUBRIC.md.
Workflow
- •Identify the audience and their decision-making needs
- •Extract the 3-5 most impactful findings from raw research
- •Prioritize findings by relevance to audience goals
- •Write the summary using the appropriate template for audience type
- •Add clear recommendations tied to specific findings
- •Run the rubric check. Revise until it passes.
Degrees of freedom
- •Low: Summary structure and required sections
- •Medium: Finding prioritization based on audience needs
- •High: Narrative framing and recommendation specificity
State awareness
- •If audience is executives: lead with business impact, minimize methodology
- •If audience is designers: emphasize user behaviors and pain points
- •If audience is engineers: include technical constraints users mentioned
- •If multiple audiences: create layered summary with TL;DR + details
Failure modes to avoid
- •Burying key insights in methodology description
- •Including findings without clear "so what" implications
- •Using research jargon with non-research audiences
- •Presenting all findings as equally important
- •Omitting confidence levels or sample context
References
- •Templates: TEMPLATES.md
- •Rubric: RUBRIC.md
- •Examples: EXAMPLES.md
- •Summary structures: reference/summary-structures.md