By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
Apply at least 10 of the 15 power-user research workflows
Match workflows to specific professional research needs
Build a personal workflow template library for recurring research tasks
Apply appropriate verification standards for each workflow type
Lesson Content
15 Power-User Research Workflows.
Intelligence and Competitive Research:
Competitor deep dive: "Research [Competitor] comprehensively: business model, product positioning, target customers, recent announcements, growth signals, and reported challenges. Prioritize sources from independent tech media, practitioner discussions, and the company's own communications – balanced for accuracy."
Market entry landscape: "Research the market for [product/service category]. Who are the key players, what is the competitive dynamic, where are the underserved segments, and what signals indicate growth or contraction? Sources: industry research, investor communications, and practitioner communities."
Emerging threat monitoring: "What new competitors, substitute technologies, or market shifts in [your industry] have been reported in the past 90 days? I am looking for early signals, not established trends I may already know."
Academic and Research Workflows:
Literature review start (Academic Focus): "Search academic literature for research on [topic]. What are the major studies, their key findings, and where does the academic consensus currently sit? What are the most cited foundational papers and the most recent significant publications?"
Research gap identification (Academic Focus): "Based on recent academic literature on [topic], where do researchers identify gaps in current evidence? What questions remain underresearched?"
Evidence synthesis for policy: "Research what evidence shows about [policy question]. Synthesize findings from peer-reviewed research, government reports, and evaluations of real-world programs. Include what worked, what didn't, and under what conditions."
Professional Intelligence:
Regulatory landscape current status: "What is the current regulatory status of [area] in [jurisdiction]? What has changed in the past 12 months and what significant regulatory changes are anticipated? Source: official regulatory bodies and established legal/compliance publications."
Technology readiness assessment: "Research the current readiness of [technology] for [use case]. Where does the technology stand – research prototype, early deployment, production-ready? What are practitioners reporting about real-world performance versus vendor claims?"
Expert perspective aggregation (Reddit Focus or Academic): "What do practitioners in [field] say about [specific challenge]? I want real-world experience and professional opinion, not vendor or theoretical perspectives."
Monitoring and Currency Workflows:
Field development monitor (Space + recurring): "What significant developments have occurred in [field] in the past 30 days? I am especially interested in: new research findings, product announcements, regulatory changes, and significant practitioner discussions."
Claim currency check: "This claim was published two years ago: [claim]. What does more recent evidence show – has this finding been confirmed, updated, challenged, or superseded by newer research?"
Source discovery: "What are the most authoritative and regularly updated sources for [topic]? I want sources I should monitor regularly rather than search ad hoc – including publications, organizations, and data sources."
Decision Support Workflows:
Risk landscape research: "Research the main risk categories for [decision/project type]. What do case studies and research show are the most common, most costly, and least obvious risks? Include mitigations that research shows are most effective."
Precedent research: "Research precedents for [decision I am facing]. What have organizations in similar situations done, and what were the outcomes? I want both success cases and failure cases."
Due diligence research: "Research [organization/person/product] for due diligence purposes. What is publicly known about their reputation, past performance, any concerns or controversies, and current status? Prioritize independent sources."
Building your personal workflow library.
Identify your three most frequent research types. For each:
Build a refined workflow template with your standard context, constraints, and format
Test on a real research task and refine based on the output
Store in a Perplexity Space or notes system for immediate reuse
Three well-calibrated workflow templates for your highest-frequency research needs produce more cumulative value than occasional use of all 15.
