Finding people to take part in research is easily the hardest part of the job.
You’ve been there. You come up with a good idea and a hypothesis to test. Then you spend three weeks searching for eight people who fit your oddly specific criteria, like “Must be a 24-year-old dentist who loves kayaking.” You try to reach them, half never respond, and the rest just want the gift card.
It’s tiring. Honestly, that’s why many teams end up skipping research altogether.
Teams end up guessing and releasing features based on gut feeling. Later, they wonder why no one uses them.
This is where “synthetic users” come in. The term might sound like something from science fiction, but it’s actually helping solve one of the biggest problems in product development.
The Bottleneck
Let’s be honest: recruiting is a nightmare.
A 2025 report from Maze found that while demand for research is up 55%, nearly two-thirds of teams say they don’t have the time to actually do it.
The timing doesn’t add up. Development teams work in two-week sprints, but traditional research takes two months. By the time you get the results, the product is already out. The report ends up sitting in a Drive folder, unused.
Enter the “Fake” Users
So, what if you didn’t need to recruit?
Synthetic users are AI personas built from real human data. There’s no need to schedule a Zoom call. You simply ask them questions.
You: “Would you buy this?”
AI (as ‘Sarah, 32, Budget-Conscious Mom’): “No. It’s too expensive for what it does.”
It might feel strange at first, but the data is surprisingly reliable. Stanford found that synthetic responses matched human survey data 85% of the time. Qualtrics says their models are 12 times more accurate than generic AI.
This isn’t just faster – it’s instant. You can run a study in ten minutes, with no scheduling, no incentives, and no awkward small talk.
Why Now?
It all comes down to cost.
For years, startups haven’t been able to afford real research. If you’re a small team, spending $300 per participant isn’t possible. Now, you can run a full study for the cost of a sandwich.
The speed is also a big draw. Tools like Articos work like a research vending machine: you enter a question and get a transcript. It’s actually simpler than it sounds.
But… Is It Cheating?
I know what you’re thinking. “It’s not real people.”
That’s true. But let’s be honest about human participants: they often aren’t truthful. They want to be polite and make you like them, so they say things like, “Oh yeah, I’d totally buy that!” just to be nice.
Synthetic users aren’t concerned with your feelings. They don’t get tired or try to please you. They simply provide raw, unfiltered data.
Is it perfect? No. The models are only as good as their training data. If the internet is biased – and it is – the bots will be too. You also lose those small, irrational human moments, like a hesitation or a nervous laugh, that can signal something is off. AI can’t do that yet.
The Takeaway
This technology won’t replace human researchers, but it might make their jobs much easier.
It removes the boring tasks like scheduling, transcribing, and asking for budget. That way, you can focus on the real work: deciding what If you’re still waiting eight weeks for a research report, you’re already falling behind. already behind.
