Forming Insights
Research notes are not insights. This lesson covers the step in between: clustering what you saw, finding the tension underneath it, and writing something genuinely surprising rather than a restatement of the brief.
After this lesson you can
- Tell an observation, an insight and a solution apart.
- Cluster raw notes into tensions rather than into topics.
- Write an insight that somebody who was not there will react to.
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Module Overview
An insight turns what you saw in the field into something worth designing against. It does not have to be provable. It can be a hunch, a belief or a point of view, and the film is straightforward that innovation needs an intuitive leap; the insight is what keeps that leap pointed at something people actually care about.
Weight Watchers is the example. The surface need is losing weight. The insight underneath is the fear of failure and the embarrassment of slipping off a strict plan, and designing for that, with slips accommodated and other members providing support, is what made the programme work.
To form one, find an underlying motivation or emotion in your research that strikes you as novel, then write one plain sentence that names the feeling and the tension behind it. From the airport: some inexperienced travellers hesitate to put electronics into the scanner because they do not know whether it is safe; some people treat their speed through security as a badge of being well travelled. Then judge them. A good insight reveals what matters at a deeper level, lands as a small surprise, and opens ground you have not been over. It is not a solution, it is not a judgement about the person, and it is not a restatement of something you already knew.
Where this usually goes wrong
- Clustering by theme, which produces a tidy summary and no tension.
- Restating the brief in the language of the research.
- Letting whoever has most invested in the answer run the analysis on their own.
Check it landed
3 questions, and one of them has no right answer. You get the reasoning either way.
Which of these is an insight?
Your research came back with no surprises in it. What is the most likely explanation?
How many insights should come out of a two-week research phase?
Sign in to answer these and see the reasoning behind each one.
Put it to work
2 templates go with this lesson. Each one has its own guide on when and how to use it.
