Most research sessions end with ten open tabs and no decision. This skill turns research into a pipeline that ends in one: lock the question as a decision before opening a single tab, set a stopping rule so it cannot run forever, gather sources by role, and synthesise into a criteria by option matrix instead of a summary.
The two source types everyone skips are the two that change decisions: primary documents and counter evidence. The skill forces both, and every claim keeps its source link so it stays checkable after synthesis.
The verdict on The Gaffer and Status came out of this process. A few hours of structured research killed two ideas that would each have cost months to build.