AI-Assisted Research Assignment — Intro to Entrepreneurship

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Complete before Week 3

AI Ethics Foundation

What Claude Is Good At — and Where It Gets It Wrong

Claude is a powerful thinking partner. But it is not a research database. Understanding the difference will make your work stronger.

✓ Claude can help you	✗ Claude will get it wrong
Understand a concept in plain language	Cite real sources accurately — it often invents plausible-sounding citations that don't exist
Generate questions to ask your research subjects	Provide current statistics — its training data has a cutoff and it may confuse dates
Challenge your assumptions and poke holes in your thinking	Know what is actually true about your specific local community or market
Brainstorm competing solutions or similar businesses	Replace real conversations with real people — it can't do customer discovery for you
Help you articulate something you already understand	Tell you whether your specific idea will work
Summarize a topic and point you toward areas to explore	Guarantee that any specific website, study, or organization it mentions actually exists

How to Verify What Claude Tells You

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Check every source

If Claude mentions a study, article, or statistic — search for it yourself. Don't assume the link is real. Google the title. If you can't find it, it may not exist.

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Check the date

Claude's training has a knowledge cutoff. Statistics about demographics, markets, or technology may be outdated. Always look for the most recent version of a figure.

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Cross-reference with a second source

If something Claude says seems important to your work, find one other real source that confirms it — a news article, government report, academic study, or organization website.

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Ask Claude to explain its uncertainty

Try: "How confident are you in that? What might you be wrong about?" Claude will often tell you where its answer is weak if you ask directly.

Using AI Ethically in This Class

The Rule AI is a thinking partner, not a ghostwriter. Your ideas, your words, your conclusions. Claude can help you think — it cannot think for you. Work you submit must reflect your own understanding.

What Transparency Looks Like In this assignment, you will document every Claude conversation you use. That's not a punishment — it's good practice. Real entrepreneurs and researchers disclose their tools. You'll note what you asked, what Claude said, and what you did to verify or push back on it.

What Not to Do Don't copy Claude's text and present it as your own writing. Don't use Claude's output as your final answer without thinking critically about it. Don't share personal information about your research subjects with AI tools.

Privacy Note If you conducted interviews or surveys for your research, do not paste your subjects' names, quotes, or identifying information into Claude. Summarize anonymously: "a woman in her 60s who told me..." instead of a real name.

AI Use Agreement

Sign below to confirm you've read and understood the ethics section before using AI in this assignment.

I, , agree to use Claude honestly — as a thinking partner, not a replacement for my own ideas and research. I understand that:

Claude can generate false or inaccurate information, and I will verify anything important before using it in my work.

I will document the prompts I used and what I did with the responses.

I will not share identifying information about my research subjects with AI tools.

The final ideas and writing in this assignment are my own.

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Save your ethics agreement before you continue.

This page does not auto-save. Click the button, save as PDF, then come back to open the document and continue in Week 3.

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Phase 2 · Know Your People

Week 3 — Describe Your Target Group

What you're doing this week You've identified a group of people you want to help. Use Claude to understand their world more deeply — their daily experience, frustrations, and the context around the problem you're exploring. Then verify and push back.

Step 1 — Describe Your People to Claude

Start here. Tell Claude who you want to help and ask it to help you understand their experience. A good starting prompt:

Example prompt to try

I want to help [describe your target group — be specific: age, situation, context]. I think their main challenge is [describe the problem]. Help me understand what their daily experience might look like around this challenge. What are the frustrations, workarounds, and unmet needs that people in this situation commonly face?

Who is your target group? (Be specific — not "seniors," but "adults over 65 living alone in urban areas who are managing a chronic health condition.") What did Claude say about their daily experience? Summarize in your own words — don't copy-paste. What surprised you, seemed off, or raised a question for you in Claude's response?

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Week 3 Save Point — save before you close.

This page does not auto-save. Save a PDF of everything you've completed so far. When you come back for Week 4, reopen your saved PDF to pick up where you left off — then save again at the end of Week 4.

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Phase 2 · Know Your People

Week 4 — Research Questions & Verification

What you're doing this week Generate questions you'll use with real people — questions only humans can answer. Then fact-check one thing Claude told you. Both steps happen before your design thinking class activity.

Step 2 — Generate Questions for Real People

Use Claude to help you think of questions you'd want to ask someone in your target group. The goal is to find questions Claude can't answer — ones that only real people can.

Example prompt to try

Based on what we discussed about [target group], what are 10 open-ended questions I could ask someone in this situation that would help me understand their experience better? Focus on questions that would reveal what they've already tried, what they wish existed, and what they feel is missing.

List 5 questions you want to ask real people (pick the best ones Claude helped surface, or write your own): Which of these questions do you think will reveal the most — and why?

Step 3 — Verify One Thing Claude Told You

Required: fact-check exercise Pick one specific claim, statistic, or assertion Claude made about your target group. Search for a real source that confirms or contradicts it.

What claim did Claude make that you decided to verify? What did you find when you searched for it? (Name the source — include the website or publication.) What does this tell you about how much to trust Claude on this topic?

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Week 4 Save Point — save before you close.

This page does not auto-save. Save a PDF of everything completed so far. Come back in Week 5 with this PDF and continue from the Week 5 section.

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Phase 3 · Research Deep Dive

Week 5 — Primary Research

What you're doing this week You've talked to real people (primary research). Use Claude to help you make sense of what you heard — but don't let Claude substitute for real conversations. It should help you see patterns, not replace them.

Step 4 — Use Claude to Understand Your Primary Research

Don't share real names. Describe anonymously what you heard from your interviews/surveys, and ask Claude to help you make sense of it.

Example prompt to try

I've been talking to people in [target group]. Here's what I'm hearing: [summarize 3–4 anonymized findings from your interviews]. What patterns do you see? What questions does this raise that I haven't asked yet? What assumptions might I be making that I should challenge?

Summarize what you heard in your primary research (interviews or surveys). Anonymize — no names. What patterns or gaps did Claude help you see that you hadn't noticed? What follow-up questions did this surface? Is there anyone else you should talk to?

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Week 5 Save Point — save before you close.

This page does not auto-save. Save a PDF now. Come back in Week 6 and continue from the Week 6 section below.

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Phase 3 · Research Deep Dive

Week 6 — Secondary Research

What you're doing this week Use Claude to point you toward real reports and data sources — then go find and verify them yourself. What does the data say about the scale and context of the problem you've been researching?

Step 5 — Use Claude to Find Secondary Research Starting Points

Ask Claude to point you toward reports, data sources, or types of research that might tell you more about the scale and context of the problem. Then go find the real sources yourself.

Example prompt to try

What kinds of data, reports, or research organizations might have information about [your problem/target group]? I'm looking for credible sources — government data, nonprofit research, academic studies, or industry reports. Give me search terms and types of sources to look for, not specific URLs.

What types of sources did Claude suggest you look for? What is one real data point, statistic, or finding you found from your own searching? Name the source. How does this data connect to what you heard from real people in your interviews?

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Week 6 Save Point — save before you close.

This page does not auto-save. Save a PDF now. Come back in Week 7 for the competitive landscape section.

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Phase 4 · Ideate & Value Proposition

Week 7 — Competitive Landscape

What you're doing this week Before you build a solution, you need to know what solutions already exist — and why they aren't enough. Use Claude to surface the competitive landscape, then use your own judgment to identify what's missing.

Step 6 — Map the Competitive Landscape with Claude

Example prompt to try

My target group is [group] and the problem I'm focused on is [problem]. What existing products, services, organizations, or approaches are people already using to deal with this? What are the main limitations or complaints about each? Where do they fall short for the specific group I'm focused on?

What existing solutions did Claude identify? List at least 3. Did you verify that these solutions actually exist? Note which ones you confirmed and how. Based on what exists, what gap do you see? What is none of these solutions doing well for your specific group?

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Week 7 Save Point — save before you close.

This page does not auto-save. Save a PDF now. Weeks 8–9 complete your final deliverable — come back with this PDF and finish strong.

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Phase 4 · Due End of Week 9

Weeks 8–9 — Brainstorm & Final Deliverable

What you're doing these weeks Week 8 you brainstorm solutions using Claude. Week 9 you synthesize everything into your one-page research summary and venture concept — then submit your completed PDF to Blackboard by the end of Week 9.

Step 7 — Brainstorm Solutions with Claude (Week 8)

Example prompt to try

Given the gap I've identified — [describe the gap] — what are 10 different ways someone could address this problem for [target group]? Think across a range: low-tech and high-tech, product and service, for-profit and nonprofit, local and digital. I want a wide range of ideas, not just obvious ones.

List the 3 solution ideas from Claude (or your brainstorming) that feel most promising — and briefly explain why each one appeals to you. Which one are you leaning toward pursuing — and what makes it feel like the right fit for you personally?

Final Deliverable — Due End of Week 9

Section A — Research Summary

The problem in one sentence: What is the specific unmet need or painful experience your target group faces? Who specifically is affected? (Be concrete — not "everyone" or "many people.") What evidence do you have? List your 2–3 strongest sources — real people you talked to AND data you found. What did you learn from this process that surprised you — something you didn't expect going in?

Section B — Venture Concept

What is your venture idea? Describe it in 2–3 sentences: what it is, who it's for, and what problem it solves. Why is this the right solution for this specific group — based on what you actually learned? What is still uncertain? What would you need to learn or test next to feel more confident? How did using Claude change (or not change) how you see this problem and solution? Be honest.

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Final Save — Submit this PDF to Blackboard.

This is your submission. Save your completed PDF and upload it to Blackboard under Phase 4 by the end of Week 9. This page does not save — the PDF is your only copy.

Know Your People:An AI-Assisted Research Journey

AI Use Agreement

Section A — Research Summary

Section B — Venture Concept

Know Your People:
An AI-Assisted Research Journey