The ultimate guide to UX research with MCP
The guide to running UX research from inside Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT. Written for the people approving it, the people rolling it out, and the people actually using it.
Check back for regular product updates.
The Great Question MCP server connects your research repository to your AI client of choice. Every study, every transcript, every highlight, every insight. Once connected, your AI can read your research, design new studies, recruit panelists, and synthesise findings without leaving the chat.
Customer research is moving inside the AI client. The MCP is how Great Question gets there with you.
The guide
Who this is for
This guide covers security, how to start quickly, and how to best roll it out across your organization. Start where it's most useful to you, or share the section that matters most to whoever else needs to say yes.
Security, IT, ReOps, vendor risk.
Head of Research, Product, Design, CIO.
Researcher, PM, designer, CSM, exec. The "what can I actually do?"
Same nuance as above. The evidence you want is in customer stories.
Quick start
Install it yourself. No engineer. No API key.
No procurement gate. Pick your client, paste the server URL, authorize in the browser. First prompt in under 5 minutes.
- Profile picture → Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector
- Name: Great Question. URL: paste the server URL. Click Connect.
- Authorize in the browser window that opens.
- Restart Claude Desktop.
- Try: “What studies have I run in the last 6 months?”
claude mcp add --transport http GreatQuestion https://greatquestion.co/api/mcp/v1
Approve in the browser. Verify with claude mcp list. Done.
Open settings (Cmd-Shift-J). MCP tab → New MCP Server. Paste:
{"mcpServers":{"great-question":{"url":"https://greatquestion.co/api/mcp/v1"}}}Save, Connect, authorize.
Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → toggle Developer mode. Create app with name Great Question, paste server URL, OAuth. Authenticate via browser.
Windsurf, Zed, VS Code, Codex, Jules, Cline, Gemini, Cowork — standard MCP HTTP transport with the server URL above. Standard OAuth 2.0. No API keys.
What you can do
11 MCP prompts for inspiration
Get an insight into how you can use the MCP for UX research.
real mcp use cases
How our customers are using the MCP today
Get inspiration on how to use the MCP for everyday research.
“Building our own research stack makes no sense.”
“This feels like a long-time vision coming together. The value comes from the connection of all of these data sources together — that’s huge.”
“It can 10x our output.”
“The time to plan, conduct, and analyze research is the biggest bottleneck. If we can integrate automated workflows, the potential for research to be more impactful is so much more evident.”
“Are you in Claude all day now? Basically, yes.”
Lone researcher. Enabled MCP live on the call.
“No prototype, no meeting.”
Built a Claude skill on top of Great Question MCP that creates synthetic users from past interview transcripts and pre-validates designs against them.
“The MCP is our wedge.”
“UI will shrink, CLI will grow.” T is deprecating UserTeting specifically because it’s not AI-native.
Running a pilot on MCP + repo
Paying to integrate research with Claude for “speeding up the creation of shaping docs and PRDs.”
“For us internally, we basically don’t work with any vendors anymore that don’t have an MCP and aren’t leaning aggressively into AI.”
Security
What happens when you turn MCP on?
The most common enterprise question: “If I flip it on, can my entire org suddenly see everything?”
[ AI Client ] [ Great Question ] [ Your LLM ]
Claude/Cursor MCP server Anthropic/
ChatGPT/Code api/mcp/v1 OpenAI/etc.
| | |
| 1. OAuth 2.0 | |
|-------------------> | |
| 2. Tool call | |
|-------------------> | |
| RBAC + PII redaction |
| 3. Result | |
|<------------------- | |
| 4. Client -> LLM | |
|----------------------------------------->|mcp features
MCP coverage across the entire research workflow
Read + write access across candidate management, study design, scheduling, recruitment, analysis, synthesis, and more.
Candidates
Participants & panel
Candidates
write
read
Create & update profiles
Manage custom attributes
Permanently forget (GDPR)
Full profiles & history
Search by name, email, study, date
Candidate Segments
read
new
View & search saved segments
Filter candidate search by segment
Consent Forms
read
Browse signed consent forms
Search across consent forms
Design
Studies & screeners
Studies
read
View, list & search all study types
Interviews, Surveys & Prototype Tests
write
read
new
Create, update & delete studies
Assign to teams & transfer ownership
Incentives (manual / Tremendous) & currency
Participation caps (total + weekly)
Study language & localization
Build unmoderated blocks — card sort, tree test
Interview scheduling, provider & duration
Screeners with qualification & skip logic
Study Messaging & Templates
write
read
new
Compose & revise per-study emails
Templates across 13 message kinds
Merge tags
Scheduling
Calendar & team assignment
Interview Calendar
write
read
Booking limits, livestream, notice
View booking settings
Interview Moderators
write
read
Add/update/remove moderators & observers
View assigned team members
Teams
read
new
View & search teams for assignment
Recruit
Shortlist & invite
Shortlist Candidates
write
Shortlist onto any study type
Interview, survey or prototype studies
Auto-skips ineligible candidates
Screener Invitations
write
Invite for interview studies
Invite for survey studies
Invite for prototype test studies
Analyze
Sessions, transcripts & responses
Sessions
read
Details, tags & metadata
Speaker-attributed transcripts
Search by candidate, creator, study
Transcripts
read
Full speaker-attributed transcripts
Full-text search
Highlights
read
Annotated excerpts with video
Search by candidate, creator, study
Screener Responses
read
Answers, match scores & status
Search by submission date
Survey & Prototype Submissions
read
new
Survey answers & status
Prototype answers, metrics & timings
Aggregate analytics & heatmap URLs
Recording transcript on prototype responses
Synthesize
Insights & knowledge base
Insights
read
new
Findings & stories
Export as PDF
Search by creator, study, title
Reels
read
Curated highlight reels with video
Search by creator, study, title
Legend: Write = action · Read = search · New = shipped recently
Rolling out MCP across your org
Customers who get the most out of MCP roll it out in waves rather than blasting it organization-wide on day one.
Research + ReOps
Senior researchers and your ReOps lead. Prove value, build the prompts library, set the tone for governance.
Product + Design ICs
PMs and designers who consume research the most. Shift research consumption left. Reduce find-me-a-quote requests.
CS, Sales, Support, Exec
Customer-facing teams and leadership. Spread customer voice deeper into your organization.
Governance and quality
The biggest risk with MCP is not security. It is sloppy AI-generated synthesis that looks authoritative but is not. Our customers have shared their real use cases and how they're managing governance and quality.
The fix: ReOps becomes the enforcer. Tag the repo well, author rubric prompts, run AI outputs through a human review loop. Most customers use MCP for synthesis and still bring humans in for the final framing.
Frequently asked
The questions we hear on every prospect and security call.
If I turn it on, can my whole org access everything?▾
No. MCP inherits your existing Great Question RBAC. A user can only see and do via MCP what they can already see and do in the UI.
Is my data used to train AI models?▾
No. We do not train models on your data. The LLM your AI client uses is governed by your contract with that provider.
Where does my data go when I use MCP?▾
From Great Question to your AI client to the LLM provider you chose. We do not proxy MCP responses through any LLM provider ourselves.
What about PII?▾
A workspace-wide Hide PII via MCP toggle is on by default. Names, emails, and phone numbers are redacted at our server before responses leave. Admins can turn it off for approved workflows. The toggle is audit-logged.
Can I limit which users in my workspace can use MCP?▾
Today the toggle is workspace-wide. Per-user enable and disable is on the Q3 2026 roadmap. In the meantime, use RBAC to scope what each user can see. That scoping applies to MCP automatically.
Does it work with my AI client?▾
If it speaks MCP over HTTPS, yes. We officially test Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code, Codex, Jules, Windsurf, Zed, Cline, Gemini, and Cowork.
Does it support audio or video?▾
Not via MCP. Text transcripts only.
Is there a separate DPA or sub-processor list for MCP?▾
No. Your existing Great Question DPA covers MCP. There are no MCP-specific sub-processors.
Can I run a trial before paying?▾
MCP is included on Pro and above. A trial or sandbox path is in exploration. Talk to your CS rep for early access.
Five ways to engage
In order of commitment. Start with the one that fits where you are.
30-minute setup call for customers
Customer Success walks you through your first three prompts on your actual repo. Free on Pro.
Contact success@greatquestion.co→Want to learn more if you're not a customer yet?
We'll walk through your AI use case, and run you through our enterprise security.
B→Want to be featured?
Doing something interesting with the Great Question MCP? We would love to put you on stage, write a customer story, or co-host a salon at your office.
Submit here →Your repo is already the best dataset you will never use. MCP is how you finally use it.
No metering. Five-minute install. Your existing permissions, your existing data, now in the AI tool your team already lives in.