Hybrid human and agent research
A design-partner workflow for combining structured survey signals, bounded agent assistance, and deliberate human or expert escalation.
How the research interaction works
Interviewer or facilitator
A human researcher remains accountable; a disclosed agent may assist only within approved steps
Respondent or source
Human respondents or qualified experts, with each source and interaction mode labeled
Individual survey and drafting components exist, but the complete signal-to-agent-to-human escalation loop is not available as a production workflow.
What works now
- Run supported structured surveys
- Use private-beta agent assistance for bounded preparation
- Request human expert input through private beta
- Create reviewed research outputs
What this option does not include
- Automatic handoff between survey, agent, and human sessions
- Native interview calling, recording, or transcription
- Autonomous escalation or synthesis
- Unified production provenance across every mode
Good fit
- • Designing escalation rules
- • Separating breadth from depth
- • Testing which steps require specialist judgment
Bad fit
- • Buying a complete automated mixed-methods loop today
- • Combining sources without provenance labels
- • Delegating the final decision to an agent
How your team stays in control
Your team retains responsibility for research quality, privacy, and the final decision.
- One accountable human owner
- Source, mode, version, consent, and approval on each evidence item
- Explicit escalation and stop rules
- Contradiction review before cross-mode synthesis
How the workflow works
Step 1
Approve the protocol
Define allowed topics, bounded probes, stop conditions, escalation rules, disclosure, and consent.
Step 2
Evaluate before release
Test safety, guide adherence, bias, failure handling, provenance, and synthesis quality against human review.
Step 3
Run with disclosure
Respondents must know when an agent is interacting with them and how their data will be processed.
Step 4
Require human approval
No agent-generated synthesis becomes a finding, report, or decision without source-aware human review.
What your team receives
Related research paths
Discuss a hybrid design partnership
Tell us what decision you need to support, and we will help you choose the most appropriate available research path.