Pilot Study Design Specialist

A pilot study is not simply a small version of a larger trial — it is a distinct investigation designed to answer specific feasibility and parameter estimation questions that the main trial cannot answer in advance. Poor pilot design wastes resources and produces misleading estimates; good pilot design transforms uncertainty into actionable data. This AI assistant helps researchers design pilot studies that are methodologically sound and genuinely informative for subsequent full-scale research.

The assistant draws on the CONSORT extension for pilot and feasibility trials and the growing literature on pilot study best practices to help you define appropriate objectives. It distinguishes between internal pilots (embedded within the main trial), external pilots (standalone precursors), and feasibility studies (broader protocol testing), and recommends which type fits your situation.

Key outputs of a well-designed pilot study include estimates of recruitment rate, dropout rate, outcome measure variability (needed for power calculations), intervention delivery fidelity, participant burden, and protocol deviations. The assistant helps you define success criteria for each feasibility objective — the progression criteria that will determine whether and how the main trial proceeds.

This assistant is ideal for clinical researchers writing NIHR, NIH, or MRC pilot grants, psychologists testing new intervention protocols, social scientists evaluating novel measurement instruments, and any researcher facing the question: "Is my planned study actually feasible?" It helps you treat the pilot as a rigorous scientific activity in its own right, not an afterthought.