Operating LogicA system for problem solving.

1.1 
Desk

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." —Daniel J. Boorstin






Desk research is the first move: the easiest, fastest, and most available way to start building understanding. It's your first immersion into the world of the problem you're trying to solve. 

Done well, desk research surfaces the early themes, questions, and tensions that shape everything to come. Done poorly, it leaves you skating on the surface—collecting without building a real foundation. The goal of desk research is to start seeing the hidden structures underneath the information. The forces, assumptions, and dynamics that define the terrain you're entering.







Four lenses for desk researchWhen you first start researching, it’s tempting to chase every article, whitepaper, and search result you find. But avoid volume and stay focused.

Rather than wandering blindly, you’ll structure your desk research around four lenses, each designed to reveal a different dimension of the problem space.

Each lens will sharpen your understanding: From inside the organization. Through the eyes of the people they serve. Against the forces of the market. And inside the cultural currents shaping behavior today.

These lenses act like calibration tools, helping you see sharper, think faster, and ask better questions as you move forward.



I. Company (inside-out view)Start from the inside. Before you look outward, you need to understand the primary subject itself. Not just what they offer, but who they are, how they operate, and how they see themselves. You’re feeling for alignment, ambition, anxiety—the forces that shape behavior from within.

  • What does the subject offer? How do they describe themselves?
  • What is their tone, attitude, and overall energy?
  • How do they show up publicly — and where do they stay silent?
  • What recent moves (launches, campaigns, leadership changes) have they made?
  • What language, symbols, or patterns seem to define their identity?
  • What does their stated mission or vision suggest — and what tensions might exist between words and actions?




II. Consumer (human story)Shift your view outward, toward the other humans the subject serves (or hopes to serve). This is where you move into real, lived behavior. You’re looking for emotional drivers, everyday tensions, unspoken desires. The human factors that data alone can't reveal.

  • How do these people live, work, socialize, dream?
  • What tensions or trade-offs define their lives right now?
  • What do they genuinely value? What do they reject or resist?
  • How do they talk about their needs, frustrations, hopes?
  • What language do they use naturally?
  • Where are the gaps between what they say and what they do?




III. Category (competitive environment)Zoom out to the broader field. Who’s winning, who’s losing, and what rules seem to govern success? Category research is about sensing how competition works — and where it might be breaking down.

  • Who leads the category today — and why?
  • What patterns define how they compete?
  • What areas are saturated with sameness?
  • Where are new entrants gaining unexpected ground?
  • What assumptions seem baked into how everyone operates?
  • What spaces or needs seem underdeveloped, underserved, or ignored?




IV. Culture (macro-forces)Finally, take the widest view: What cultural forces are shaping the way consumers think, behave, and make decisions — often without realizing it? Culture is the invisible water your project swims in. Ignore it, and you’ll miss the deeper currents moving everything.

  • What broader cultural forces (social, technological, economic) are rising or receding?
  • How are current events, movements, or technologies shifting behavior?
  • What collective hopes, fears, or frustrations are shaping the moment?
  • How is language evolving — around identity, trust, status, success?
  • Where are old norms dissolving, and what new norms are emerging?




Desk MindsetDesk research is easy to fake. You can feel productive collecting links, screenshots, and facts. But surface-level information won’t get you to strong insights later.

Push yourself to:

Dig into unlikely sources: Customer reviews, Reddit threads, online subcultures, niche blogs, support forums.

Read between the lines: Notice what people aren’t saying as much as what they are.

Gather friction, not just facts: Pay extra attention to contradictions, frustrations, or moments where the narrative seems to strain.

The goal isn’t to become an expert overnight. It’s to build a living mental model detailed enough that you can start sensing where opportunities and tensions might live.

Desk research won’t produce brilliant ideas on its own. But it’s the soil your solution grows from. Shallow research produces shallow strategy. Deep, curious, tension-hunting research creates the conditions for real insight. With patience, desk research sharpens your instincts, your questions, and your ability to see the opportunities others miss.

In the next sections, we’ll move beyond the desk and into live conversations and real-world experiences. The place where deeper truths begin to emerge.
By Garrett HerzikPreviousNext