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Presenting insight to decision makers
In the previous section we looked at how you might generate insights from your data. It’s likely that you’ll also need to share these findings with a wider group, including external project partners. The format of this may also influence methodology design, so it should be thought about before starting.
At Ctrl Group, our rule of thumb is to focus on the research deliverables to inform decision making. It’s better to start the conversation with the decision that needs to be informed and then decide what format the deliverable should take.
A good starting point for this is to understand:
- What decisions need to be informed (this will already have been dealt with in the research design but it is worth recapping here as some time may have passed since the inception of the research and elements of the product story may have changed)
- Role and responsibilities within the project
- Any milestones or points of governance agreed in the plan
- Documentation that needs to be created as outlined in the Design Development Plan
- The wider RASCI matrix or view of people who feed into decision making
The task now is to bring the insight to life for an audience that has not had the same proximity to the research and participant as you have as a researcher.
Some ideas that we have found useful in the past are:
Interactive website
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Pros
- Encourages long-term engagement and use amongst stakeholders
- Enables multi-media storytelling
- Allows for hyperlinks and non-linear ways of sharing insights
- Allows explicit connections between different elements of a project (e.g. design decisions, insights)
- Dynamic resource which can be updated
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Cons
- Time and resource intensive
- Assumes digital compatibility and literacy amongst stakeholders
Report document
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Pros
- Familiar format to most stakeholders
- Allows elaboration of insights in writing, support with images and illustrations. Easy to navigate with clear delineation of a line of thought/argument.
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Cons
- Limited media inclusion
- Can be less inviting for engagement and long-term use
- More static format
Video
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Pros
- Brings to life participants, context and research conducted
- Helps generate compassion and empathy between stakeholders and research participants
- Provides direct evidence for shared insights
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Cons
- Time and resource intensive
- Does not allow a quick snapshot
- Assumes digital compatibility with formats used
Presentation
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Pros
- Opens an opportunity for discussion across stakeholders
- Allows a more dynamic, personal storytelling approach
- Gives a chance to share work-in-progress, with dynamic sense to insights
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Cons
- Exposes work-in-progress if insights are still in the making
Guidelines
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Pros
- Helps translate insights into action
- Provides a demonstration of the importance of insights to drive design decisions
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Cons
- Can insinuate a closed set of solutions
Clinical study report (CSR)
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Pros
- Complies with NHS ethics requirement
- A familiar format to healthcare professionals
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Cons
- Less engaging and interactive format
- More limited opportunities for storytelling