The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap: The Genealogy Framework That Turns a Dead End Into a Next Step
If you've hit a point in your genealogy research where you're not sure what to do next, you are in very good company. Almost every genealogist reaches this place — a point where the path forward just isn't obvious and searching a little longer doesn't seem to be helping.
Here's something worth knowing: that feeling isn't a sign that you've done anything wrong. It's a sign that you've outgrown the approach most people start with — and that there's a different way to work through this.
Most people who begin genealogy today start by searching online. And it works beautifully at first. Records come back, people get added to the tree, and the momentum carries you forward naturally. But at some point the easy finds run out — and the approach that got you this far stops working as well as it did.
What most people do at that point is search more. Try a different site. Look for a record they might have missed. That makes complete sense, because searching is what genealogy research looks like from the outside. It's what the platforms show you. It's what feels like forward motion.
What most people who got started that way don't know — because it wasn't part of how they began — is that searching is only part of the genealogy research process. There's a whole framework behind it that most researchers never see. By the end of this post, you'll understand what that framework is, why it changes everything, and how to get your hands on it.
Why do I keep hitting brick walls even though I've searched everywhere?
Most genealogists who feel stuck have actually done more searching than they realize — the problem isn't that they haven't looked hard enough. What's missing is the step that comes before searching: a structured review of what they've already found. From my experience doing reviews for clients, the pattern is remarkably consistent. More searching without that review step just adds more material to an already confusing pile. The answer is rarely another record. It's a different process.
What's the difference between a genealogy research process and learning to search better?
Learning to search better means finding more records more efficiently. The genealogy research process is something different entirely. It's a structured sequence that tells you what to do before you search, what to do with what you find, and what it means when you don't find anything. Professional genealogists have followed this process for decades — but it's rarely taught through the channels most people use to get started today.
Why Searching Eventually Stops Being Enough
Genealogy research gets harder as you go. The further back you reach, the fewer records exist — and the ones that do exist require more context to understand. At a certain point, just searching for the next record isn't enough. You need to know what to do with what you've already found.
Think of it like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Early on, you're finding edge pieces and obvious color blocks and the puzzle comes together quickly. But there comes a point where the easy pieces are in and you have to slow down — look at what's already on the table, think about what shape you're looking for, and make a deliberate choice about where to try next. Grabbing random pieces out of the box and hoping one of them fits isn't a strategy anymore.
That's the moment most genealogists hit their first real brick wall. And it's the moment when having a research framework changes everything.
RELATED: How to Break Through Genealogy Brick Walls
What a Genealogy Research Framework Actually Is
The word "framework" might sound more technical than it is. In genealogy, a research framework is simply a structured set of steps that guides you through the research process in the right order — so you always know where you are and what to make sense of next.
Here's what many researchers who got started online never learned: genealogy has a research process. It always has. Professional genealogists and serious researchers have followed it for decades. It just never made it into the experience most people had when they started by searching online — because the platforms they started on were focused on helping them search, not on teaching the process behind the searching.
The process isn't complicated. But it does involve more than searching. There are steps that happen before you search, and steps that happen after — and those steps are exactly where most researchers who feel stuck are missing the biggest opportunities.
Why I Built the Brick Wall Solution Roadmap — And Why It's Different
The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap is the framework I developed after more than 30 years of genealogy research — but its real origin is more specific than that.
When I was making the transition toward professional-quality research, I went through the process of learning the formal genealogy research process myself. And I found it genuinely confusing — not because it was being taught badly, and not because I wasn't capable of understanding it. The traditional explanations present the research process as steps. But they aren't actually steps. They look like steps. They're labeled like steps. And that framing — repeated across multiple sources with only slight variations — made it easy to misunderstand what the process was actually asking you to do.
The traditional research process isn't wrong — it was never actually steps to begin with. That's the part nobody told you.
When I started teaching and doing reviews for clients, I saw the same confusion happening repeatedly — not always in exactly the same way I'd experienced it, but rooted in the same cause. So I reframed it completely. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap takes the genealogy research process and turns it into six clear, genuinely repeatable steps — language and structure that makes it possible to actually follow, not just understand in theory.
RELATED: How to Start Busting a Brick Wall Without New Research
Want to see what the framework looks like? The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap is free — and it comes with a multi-part email series that walks you through how to apply it to your own research, step by step.
Ready to see the framework?
Why do genealogists misunderstand the research process even when it's explained clearly?
The traditional genealogy research process is typically presented as a cycle of phases — plan, research, analyze, report. The problem is, those aren't actually steps. They're labels for phases, and some of those actions — like analysis and writing — need to happen throughout the process, not just at one designated point. That framing leads researchers to misapply the process even when they think they're following it. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap reframes the process into genuinely actionable steps that don't carry that built-in ambiguity.
What makes the Brick Wall Solution Roadmap different from other genealogy frameworks?
Most genealogy content tells you what to try next — a new record type, a new website, a new search strategy. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap doesn't start with searching at all. It starts with a structured review of what you've already done, because from my experience performing reviews for clients, that's almost always where the real answers are hiding. The Roadmap gives researchers a repeatable process that gets faster with every use. It's not a list of tactics that run out.
What Changes When You Have a Framework
The difference a research framework makes isn't just about breaking through a specific brick wall. It changes how research feels — even before you've found the answer you're looking for.
- You have a starting point. Instead of staring at your research wondering where to begin, you know which step comes first.
- Being stuck means something specific. Instead of a vague sense that nothing is working, you can identify exactly where in the process you are — and what the next step actually is.
- Searching becomes purposeful. You're not looking for something because you haven't tried it yet. You're looking for something because the process has told you this is the right move right now.
- The framework repeats — and gets faster every time. Every brick wall you encounter from this point forward gets worked through the same process. The first time through can feel slow, especially if you haven't yet built the working documents the process depends on. Once those are in place, what once felt like a long process can take just minutes.
Searching is Step 5, not Step 1. That's the shift that changes everything.
RELATED: The Genealogy Research Process
Is there a magic solution for breaking through a genealogy brick wall?
There's no magic — but there is a system. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap is a six-step repeatable framework that makes the genealogy research process actionable for researchers who feel stuck. Each pass through the Roadmap is designed to be short and focused. The more times you complete it correctly — building the working documents the process depends on along the way — the faster each pass becomes. What feels slow the first time can take minutes once the system is in place.
Why doesn't searching a different genealogy website help when I'm stuck?
Because the problem usually isn't the website — it's the step in the research process that's missing. Switching platforms feels like progress, but if you haven't reviewed what you already have and made a deliberate research plan, you're just searching in a new location without knowing what you're actually looking for or why. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap addresses this directly: searching is Step 5, not Step 1.
The Framework Was Always There — You Just Hadn't Found It Yet
Hitting a brick wall doesn't mean you've reached the end. It usually means you've reached the point where the research process becomes more important than the searching — and that's actually a good place to be, because it means there's a whole framework you haven't used yet.
The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap gives you that framework. Six repeatable steps that show you where you are, what you've already found that you might not have fully understood, and what to do next — every time you sit down to research, on every brick wall you'll ever face.
If you're ready to see what the process actually looks like, the Roadmap is free and it's waiting for you.
Ready to stop wondering what to try next?
- The answer to your brick wall is never another record — it always involves using everything you've done, which happens fastest by following a consistent process.
- The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap gives you six repeatable steps you can follow on every brick wall you'll ever face.
- The framework gets faster every time you use it — and it works alongside whatever tools you already have.
How do I know if the Brick Wall Solution Roadmap will work for my specific brick wall?
The Roadmap is designed to work on any brick wall because it addresses the research process, not the specific records or ancestors involved. It works alongside whatever tools, websites, and resources you already use. It doesn't require any subscription or software. If you've been stuck for a while and more searching hasn't helped, the Roadmap was built for exactly that moment. It's free, and it comes with an email series that walks you through applying it to your own research.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a genealogy brick wall?
A genealogy brick wall is a point in your research where the path forward isn't clear — the records seem to dry up, or an ancestor seems to disappear. Brick walls are extremely common and are not a sign that you've done anything wrong. They're usually a signal that the research is getting harder and that a more structured approach will help.
What is the Brick Wall Solution Roadmap?
The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap is a free framework developed by Jennifer Patterson Dondero, author of The Occasional Genealogist blog. It's a six-step repeatable process that makes the genealogy research process actionable — turning what looks like steps into steps you can actually follow every time you sit down to research. It's available as a free download along with an email series that walks you through how to apply it to your own brick wall.
Why isn't searching more records helping me break through my brick wall?
Because searching is only one part of the genealogy research process. If you started genealogy by getting online to search for records, you may not have been shown the other steps — the ones that happen before and after searching — and those are exactly where the most important work happens. More searching without those steps just adds more material without adding more clarity.
Who is the Brick Wall Solution Roadmap for?
It's for hobbyist genealogists who have hit a brick wall and aren't sure what to do next. You don't need to be an advanced researcher to use it — you just need to be genuinely stuck and open to a different approach. If you started genealogy by searching online and you've hit a wall that more searching isn't breaking, the Roadmap was built for this moment.
Is the genealogy research process something I should have already known about?
If you got started by searching online, probably not — because the platforms most people use to get started are focused on searching, not on teaching the process behind it. The research process that professional genealogists follow has always existed. It just rarely gets passed on through the channels most people use today to begin their family history research. Learning it now isn't catching up. It's moving forward.
What's the difference between a research framework and a tip list?
A tip list tells you things to try. A framework tells you where you are in the research process and what the right move is for your specific situation. Tip lists can be useful when you're looking for ideas. A framework is what helps you understand why you're stuck — and what to do about it in a way that actually moves your research forward.
Do I need any special tools or subscriptions to use the Roadmap?
No. The Brick Wall Solution Roadmap is a process framework — it works alongside whatever tools and resources you already use. It isn't tied to any particular website, software, or subscription service.
