DataIsNotEnough:Itneedstobeturnedintoinsights

“Thekeytogooddecisionmakingisnotknowledge.Itisunderstanding.Weare

swimmingintheformer.Wearedesperatelylackinginthela;er.”

-MalcomGladwell,Blink

Datavs.Insight

Data=facts,eitherquan@ta@veorqualita@ve

Dataiseasy,quick,one-dimensional

ResponseRates

TopTwoBox

Impressions

Likes

LikelihoodtoPurchase

PageViews

ClickThroughRates

Importance

JustgeKngdataislikegoingtoarestaurantandthewaiterplopsalltherawingredientsofyourdishonthetable.

Data Insightsvs.

Datavs.Insight

Insight=outcomeofaprocessthatcombinesfactswithbusinessknowledge,observa@onandexperience.Insightsaremore@meintensiveandmul@-dimensionalandyouhavetoknowthebusinessques@onandthebusinessinordertocreateinsights.

Howtoturndataintoinsights

1.  Knowthebusinessques@onyou’retryingtoanswer2.  Studythebusiness

3.  Analyzethedataavailable

4.  Bringthedatatolifethroughvisuals5.  Lookforthemesinthedata

6.  Combinewithotherknowledgeanddetermineinsights

Data Insights

1.Knowthebusinessques@onyou’retryingtoanswer

It’snotenoughtojustfieldastudyorlookupananswertoaques@onthatisthrownatyou.Youneedtoknowthebackground.Whatledtothisques@onorproject?Howdoesitfitintothebiggerpicture?Whatwillyoudowiththisinforma@on?Allofthisinforma@onwillhelpyouobtaintherightfactsthatwillleadtoinsights.

Example:Someofourbankbranchesaremoreprofitablethanothers.Wewanttoknowifitisthecustomers,loca@on,orsalesteam.

2.Studythebusiness

Looktounderstandthebiggerpicture.Howdoesthebusinesschallengeorques@onrelatetotheirplansortheindustrytheyarein?Talktopeopleabouttheimpetusfortherequest.Howdoesyourprojectfitintotheoverallstrategicplan?Whatproblemisitsolving?Inotherwords–doyourhomeworkandgetsmartaboutthebusiness.Usethisinforma@onwhencrea@nginsights.

ToDo:Readtheannualreportandexis@ngstrategicplansorotherbackgroundinforma@onaboutthecompany,industry,andcompe@@on.

3.AnalyzethedataavailableNowyouhaveapileofdatafromeitherastudyyou

fieldedorsecondarysearching.Readthroughit.Whatisittellingyou?Ifit’sadataset,runyoursta@s@calanalysisonit.Lookatsignificantdifferencesacrossvariousgroups.Allofthisanalysiswillleadtoaddi@onalques@ons.Trytofindtheanswerstothoseques@ons.Fillyourmindwithasmuchdataandinforma@onaspossible.

Lookat:Addi@onalresourcescanhelptheques@onsthatwillcomeup.Googlesearches,secondaryresearchandpastprimaryresearcharegreathere.Alsotalktoindividualsatthecompanytoseeiftheyhaveanswers.

4.Bringthedatatolifethroughvisuals

It’sodeneasiertoseethemostrelevantpointsonceisvisualized.Thiscantakemanyformsfromasimplepiecharttoamorecomplexchartincorpora@ngmul@pledatapoints.Themainpointhereisthatthevisualaccuratelyshowsthedataandthatitiseasytounderstand.Whilewordsshouldalwaysbeincludedtoexplainit,thegraphshouldbeabletostandonitsownifneeded.

Thinkabout:Whatisthebestwaytohelpthereaderunderstandthemeaningofthedatainthequickestandmostcompletewaypossible?

5.Lookforthemesinthedata

Nowthateverythingisvisual,it’seasiertoseehowthedatarelatestoeachother.Spendsome@melookingforsimilari@esanddisconnectsamongthedatapoints.Whatdoesthedatatellyou?Whatstoriesarebeginningtoforminyourmindfromthedata?Whatarethemostimpaceuldatapoints?Dotheyallrelatetoonearea?

LookFor:Trends,anomaliesandoutliers.What’sdifferent,what’sthesame?Arethererela@onships?Developahypothesisastowhythedatalooksthewayitdoesandthinkofwaystotestyourtheory.

6.Combinewithotherknowledgeanddetermineinsights

Bythispoint,thedatashouldbemakingsense.You

knowwhatitissaying.Thekeynowistocombineitwithotherresearch,businessknowledgeandexperiencetohelpformtheinsights.Onceyou’vecombinedsomepoints,thinkaboutwhatit’sreallytellingyouaboutthebusiness.Nowstar@ngwri@ngthemout.Combinetheseandaddtothem.Nowyouhaveinsights.

Tip:Stepawayfromalltheworkforabit–goforawalkorsleeponit.Whenyoucomebackwithafreshmindornewperspec@ve,youmightseenewthingsandalsodeterminethemostimpaceulinsights.Theseshouldbeusedtobuildrecommenda@ons.

Data Insights Recommenda@ons

Dataaloneisnotenough.Youhavetotakeittothenextlevelforittobeuseable.Datatoinsightstorecommenda@onswinsevery@me!

Thebrandstoryyourclientsthinktheyhavemaynotbethesameonethattheircustomersarethinking.ThisiswhereLong&ShortofItcanhelp.Weuseinsightsbasedsolu@onstoprovideclear

strategicdirec@on.

BrandingBrandelementsconnecttheinternalvisionwiththeexternalbrandexpression.

StrategicPlanningMeasurableobjec@ves,insights,strategyandtac@cstoachievethedesiredoutcome.

Idea8onStructuredbrainstormingyieldingmanyideasandthendis@lledintoashortlisttobetested.

Innova8onDesignthinkingprocess,tools,andmethodologiestohelpcreatenewproducts,system,orsolu@ons.

CustomerInsightsResearchtodeterminewhatcustomersarethinking,feelinganddoing.

ResearchThecornerstoneofeverything;weemployallqualita@veandquan@ta@vemethods.

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