Case Study - Streamlining Research with AI-Powered Insights

The Opportunity

We were approached by a founder seeking to streamline the way people conduct research and gather insights. The vision was to create a tool that simplified the process of querying AI assistants by eliminating the need for repetitive copy-pasting, allowing users to instantly transform selected text into actionable AI responses.

From this, pastePrompt was born.

Why Build pastePrompt?

Traditional research and writing workflows often involve multiple time-consuming steps: selecting text, copying it, pasting it into another window or tool, and then analyzing the results. This process disrupts focus and reduces productivity.

pastePrompt sought to solve these issues by allowing users to simply highlight text and instantly query AI with custom prompts via a browser extension.

Common Pain Points:

• Manual copy-pasting: Users had to switch between apps to copy and paste content for research or writing purposes.
• Disjointed workflow: Research and writing often involved multiple steps and tools, interrupting the creative flow.
• Lack of integration: Existing tools didn’t offer seamless AI interaction or customization for individual research needs.

With pastePrompt, we focused on:

• A streamlined, frictionless research experience.
• AI-powered insights delivered directly from highlighted text.
• Customizable prompts for diverse research, writing, and translation tasks.

The Goal

• Create an easy-to-use browser extension that connects users directly to AI-powered insights.
• Enable users to speed up research, writing, and feedback processes by eliminating unnecessary steps.
• Provide a customizable system for adapting to a wide range of user needs.

Our Process

1. Designing Around the User

We prioritized simplicity and seamless integration into the user’s existing workflow. With minimal setup, the extension allowed users to select any text on a webpage and instantly query AI with pre-set or custom prompt templates.

2. Choosing the Right Stack

To build a fast, responsive extension that integrates easily with any webpage:

• React served as the foundation, offering a dynamic, component-based structure for the extension.
• Chrome Extension APIs were used to integrate the extension directly into the browser environment.
• OpenAI provided the AI-powered insights, ensuring real-time and accurate results.

This stack allowed us to create a smooth experience that was both powerful and lightweight.

3. Iterating and Refining the Experience

We worked closely with early users to test and refine the extension. Features like customizable prompt templates, one-click text querying, and intuitive UI elements were all designed with simplicity in mind.

Creating Video and Marketing Assets

To promote pastePrompt effectively, we focused on creating engaging video content and visually appealing marketing assets:

• Explainer Video: We developed a concise and clear video that demonstrated how pastePrompt worked. It highlighted the pain points of traditional research workflows and showcased the instant AI-powered insights users could access by simply highlighting text. This video served as the centerpiece for promotional campaigns.

• Marketing Mockups: We designed a series of mockups and promotional graphics to showcase the extension’s features. These assets included images of the extension in use on various websites, with emphasis on its simplicity, speed, and integration.

• Social Media Content: We created a set of social media posts and banners, emphasizing the value of pastePrompt for students, writers, and researchers. These assets were designed to encourage users to install the extension by showcasing its benefits in an engaging and visual way.

We also integrated analytics (via Plausible and custom tracking) to track user behavior and refine the landing page for higher conversion rates.

The Result: pastePrompt

pastePrompt launched as a fully functional browser extension in record time. It allows users to instantly query AI with selected text, seamlessly fitting into their existing research or writing processes.

Highlights

• One-click AI querying from highlighted text
• Customizable prompt templates for personalized results
• Lightweight and intuitive browser extension
• Zero interface clutter, pure functionality

From Idea to Impact

“pastePrompt saved me countless hours of copy-pasting. It's a game-changer for anyone who needs quick, AI-powered insights without switching tabs.”
— User, Student

What’s Next

The initial version is already providing real value to users in research, writing, and translation. Future iterations will focus on expanding AI capabilities, further customizing prompts, and adding cross-platform support for other browsers.

For us, this project represents our commitment to empowering users with the best tools for their workflows.

See it in Action

Try pastePrompt now!

What we did