6 common insight types and examples
Explore 6 commonly used insight types in TheyDo
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Factual insights
The first step of creating Insights in TheyDo is capturing facts from customer research. These are ‘factual insights’ which are free of any assumptions and should be backed up by evidence. Factual insights help you capture the ‘what’. There are several common types of factual insights:
Quotes
Quotes are word-for-word comments made by participants in a research study. For example: “I can never find a place to store my tools; it’s so frustrating. I wish there was a way to keep them organized and out of the way.”
Observations
Observations describe observed customer behaviors or interactions with a product or service. For example: “During the usability testing, several customers were observed to be more efficient and organized in their workshops after using a tool storage solution that fit their space. They were able to find tools more quickly and easily, and they reported feeling less stressed and cluttered.“
Trends
Trends are patterns or consistencies observed across a large group of customers, market, or industry over a period of time. When considering external trends the DESTEP framework can be useful. It identifies 6 trend categories to look out for: Demographical, Economical, Sociocultural, Technological, Ecological and Political/Legal trends.
For example: Especially younger demographics are increasingly living in smaller homes, reducing the room space they have available for doing DIY projects.
Interpreted insights
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Insights can also be used to capture your interpretations of the facts. These ‘interpreted insights’ explain the ‘why’ behind the facts. You can support interpreted Insights with factual Insights, for example by adding several quotes and observations to a pain point. Common types of supporting Insights include:
Jobs or needs
Customer jobs refer to the tasks or actions that customers are trying to accomplish. They are the problems that customers are trying to solve or the goals that they are trying to achieve.
Customer needs refer to the underlying motivations or desires that drive customer behavior. Needs can be functional, but are often also emotional or social. They are the reasons why customers have certain jobs or goals. Because the difference between 'needs' and 'jobs' is quite subtle, we often recommend that organizations choose just one to use.
Example of a 'need' “Customers want to feel organized and efficient in their workshop.”
Example of a 'job': “Customers have to store their tools in a small workshop.”
Pains
Pains are the barriers or obstacles that prevent customers from achieving their jobs or fulfilling their needs. For every pain you identify, you should be able to point to an underlying need or job by asking yourself why people experience this as a pain point.
For example: “Customers are often faced with a messy workshop with tools lying around everywhere”.
Gains
Gains are the benefits or positive outcomes that help customers achieve their goals or fulfill their needs. For every gain you identify, you should be able to point to an underlying need or job by asking yourself why people experience this as a benefit or positive outcome.
For example: “Cleaning up gives customers a great sense of accomplishment.”