Meeting Template
Research interviews that surface what people actually do
A structured interview guide for discovery calls — context, goals, workflows, pain points, workarounds, decision process, and standout quotes.
Good user research isn't about asking people what they want. It's about understanding what they actually do, where it breaks down, and how they cope. The difference between a research session that changes your product direction and one that confirms your existing assumptions is usually the quality of the questions — and whether you had the structure to get past surface answers to the workarounds and hacks that reveal what's really happening.
Why research sessions produce less than they should
Most research sessions go well on the first few questions — context, role, current tools — and run out of time before reaching the questions that matter most: decision criteria, workarounds, what would actually trigger a behavior change. Without a consistent structure, you also can't compare across sessions. If you asked about pain points differently in session three than session seven, you can't pattern-match the responses. A consistent interview template means every session covers the same ground, in the same order, so synthesis across ten participants is comparing structured notes rather than reconstructing from memory.
What a research session looks like with Thunder Kitty
Before the session
Load the user research template. Eight items: participant context, goals and motivations, current workflows, pain points and constraints, workarounds and hacks, decision process, standout quotes, and next steps. Add hypotheses specific to this participant. Your guide is ready.
During the session
Hit record. Thunder Kitty transcribes in real time on your Mac. The agenda panel tracks which areas you've covered — so you can see at a glance what's still ahead without losing eye contact with your participant. No frantic note-taking. No missed transitions. You stay present in the conversation.
After the session
Each interview section gets its own AI summary generated on your Mac. Synthesizing across ten sessions means comparing structured notes — pain points from session one alongside pain points from session ten — rather than rewatching recordings or reconstructing from scattered notes. The standout quotes section preserves the participant's exact language, which is usually the most valuable thing a research session produces.
The workarounds section is where the product insight lives
In most research sessions, workarounds and hacks is the question that produces the most valuable answer — and the one most likely to get cut when time runs short. Thunder Kitty tracks your interview guide in real time. If you're running long and haven't reached decision criteria or workarounds, you'll see it while you can still redirect. Post-session, each section gets its own AI summary on your Mac. Your research archive is a collection of structured, searchable notes — not a folder of recordings you'll never have time to rewatch.
Common questions
Can I customize these templates in Thunder Kitty?
Yes. Every template is a starting point, not a locked format. Add agenda items, remove ones that don’t fit, reorder them, rename them. The agenda is yours.
Can I create my own meeting templates from scratch?
Yes. Open a new note and write whatever agenda structure works for your meeting type. Save it as a template and reuse it. You’re not limited to the built-in frameworks.
Does the AI summary follow the template structure?
Yes — that’s the point. After the meeting, Thunder Kitty generates a summary for each agenda item individually: what was discussed, what was decided, what’s still open. You get a structured record of the meeting, not a single paragraph summary of the whole thing.
Do templates require internet to load or use?
No. Templates are built into the app. Loading a template, tracking agenda items during a call, and generating the post-meeting summary all happen locally on your Mac.
What’s in the user research template?
The default structure covers: participant context and background, the specific problem or job-to-be-done being explored, current solutions and workarounds the participant uses, pain points and friction, and moments of delight or things working well. It’s designed for synthesis across multiple interviews — the same agenda across every session makes pattern-finding much easier.
Can I search across multiple user research sessions to find patterns?
Yes. Your notes are Markdown files — open all of them in Obsidian or a similar app for cross-session synthesis, or connect Claude Desktop to your notes folder and ask questions across every interview you’ve done. Thunder Kitty runs as a local MCP server, so you can query your entire research archive from Claude’s interface without copy-pasting.
Does Thunder Kitty work for moderated usability tests, not just interviews?
Yes. As long as the session is happening on your Mac — screen share via Zoom, FaceTime, or any other platform — Thunder Kitty can capture it. Works for think-aloud protocols, card sorting sessions, moderated walkthroughs, and any other format where conversation is part of the research.
Does recording user research sessions require participant consent?
Yes, typically. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, organization, and whether your research falls under an IRB protocol. Thunder Kitty doesn’t join as a bot or send any notification — disclosure is your responsibility, as it would be with any recording method. Many researchers include recording consent in their screener or intro script.
Try it free for 7 days.
Load the interview template before your next research session. Same structure every time means patterns emerge across participants.
Download for macOS