03/10/13
Extract Key Insights
Extract Key Insights
Dig into your research and you’ll be surprised to uncovering hidden meanings. Insights are revelations, the unexpected things that bringing visibility and clarity to your research. As you extract key insights you’ll turn individual stories into overarching truths and you’ll come to see your Design Challenge in new ways. Time: 45-60 Minutes Difficulty: Moderate Materials: Post-it notes Markers Participants: design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. After completing the Storytelling with a Purpose method, ask the team to go to the wall with all the www.hcdconnect.org/methods/extract-key-insights/print.html
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03/10/13
Extract Key Insights
stories and choose five key post-its (stories, quotes, observations) that are most surprising, interesting, or worth pursuing. Edit out the details that are not important. 2. Group these important notes into related thoughts. If some of the thoughts are linked, take several related pieces of information and re-write them as one big one. 3. Write a succinct insight statement that summarizes the big idea for each grouping. Write this on a new post-it note. 4. Post these new insight post-its where all can see. Refer to them as you move towards real-world solutions. Tips
Example Insight: A combination of an observation and quote from an interview yielded the following Insight. Observation: Farmers rely on farming information from their friends and neighbors, though they know this knowledge is limited. Quote: “If the Privatized Extension Agent lived outside my area, I would want to visit his farm so I could see his production.” Insight: Trust-building and knowledge sharing happens through ‘seeing is believing.’ Work at the same level. Check that the insights sit at the same level — that they are all big thoughts. If you find you have some lower level insights, consider whether they might be reframed at a higher level. If they need to be dropped a level, they may be best talked about as needs that inform and support the Insight. Remember P.O.I.N.T., a handy technique for translating the problems and needs identified in storytelling into Insights and Themes. P = Problems O= Obstacles I = Insights N = Needs T = Themes
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