The real research happens in conversation, so why does setup take so long?

The world is moving at breakneck speed. Everyone needs to understand their users and test their ideas, but existing research tools make research processes unnecessarily complicated and risky.

When someone agrees to be interviewed about their life, work, or struggles, they're sharing incredibly personal information. Stories about failures, health issues, financial stress, relationship problems. Yet they're often asked to do this through processes that feel institutional and extractive.

Research recording tools treat this sensitive data like any other content. Participants encounter dense legal language written by lawyers, not real people. They click "I agree" to consent forms they don't actually understand, sometimes just to access a small incentive or because they feel obligated to help. This creates a troubling power imbalance where people unknowingly make themselves vulnerable.

The problem gets worse when we consider cultural differences in how people relate to authority and disclosure. What feels like standard practice in one context can feel invasive or inappropriate in another. Yet most research tools assume a one-size-fits-all approach to consent and participation.

Meanwhile, researchers, especially those new to the field, get overwhelmed by compliance requirements and struggle to find willing participants. They spend more time preparing for research than actually facilitating meaningful conversations. When they do uncover valuable insights, there's no easy way to maintain the human connection needed for deeper follow-up conversations.

Current research tools weren't built with participant dignity or cross-cultural sensitivity in mind. They simply adapted legacy institutional processes to a digital world, preserving the power dynamics that make people uncomfortable in the first place.

We need research methods that feel more like genuine conversation and less like data extraction. Methods that respect different cultural approaches to privacy and disclosure. Methods where participants truly understand and control their involvement.

Dort is building sayday.com, new research software and hardware that puts participant privacy first while making research feel more human and accessible to everyone.