The research graph
Every kind of research item in Crux, how to filter the list, and how evidence connects into the experience graph.
Every Crux project has two linked graphs, shown as two tabs: Research and Experience. The research graph is the evidence layer — everything you know, from raw files to synthesised personas — and the experience graph cites it to explain why the product is the way it is.
Item kinds
| Kind | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Frame | The starter research-frame summary for the project |
| Question / Assumption / Evidence / Gap | Frame line items — what you're asking, believing, learning, and missing |
| Note | Free-form research notes |
| Activity | The meeting, workshop, deliverable, or audit behind the evidence — and everything grouped under it |
| Highlights | Passages captured from uploaded documents |
| Persona / Journey / Flow | Synthesis artefacts describing people and how they move through the product |
| Feature | Feature-level research findings |
| User test | Structured tests with setup, sessions, and results |
| Usability scan / Usability finding | A scored page and the issues found on it |
| Table | Spreadsheet-style research tables |
| File | Uploaded documents, transcripts, and links |
Filtering and sorting the list
The research list is filterable by type, label, source, activity, milestone, status, priority, date range, people, creator, and a text query — so you can narrow to Dovetail-sourced evidence labelled "onboarding", or everything Urgent that came out of one workshop. Source filters show provenance: CRUX, Google Drive, Figma, Dovetail, Website, or MCP.
Your filter choices are remembered per project and per list, the sort control reorders whatever is left, and favourited items float to the top of the default ordering. See Filtering, sorting, and favourites.
Put an item on the plan
Research items carry an Assign button beside Label. It attaches the item to an activity or a milestone — either an existing one, searchable by name with its status and priority shown, or a new one you create in the same dialog. The item then appears on that activity's Linked tab, so the evidence behind a piece of work sits with the work itself.
Document tabs and revisions
Opening an item opens it as a document tab, so you can keep several items open while you work. Every item keeps a revision history — and any version in it can carry a change note saying why it changed. Detail fields include Generate when you want AI to draft or refresh content — always yours to review before it sticks.
The detail pane is the same shape for every item type: a properties rail, the Create type, Link evidence, and Use with Agent actions, a Graph panel you can follow several hops back through, and an overflow menu with favourite, history, download, and delete. See Working with an open item.
Evidence for the experience graph
Research items don't stay siloed. Pages, features, and other experience entities link back to research as evidence, and Ask answers questions from both graphs with citations. Keep the research graph well-labelled and the rest of Crux gets sharper.
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Related articles
Documents: Research graph