What is An Insight?

What is an insight?

"Insights" are one of the three record types that exist in the magical world of Nela. Now, it seems that a lot of people have a misconception on what an insight is. The official definition of an insight is the capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something. This is one of our favourite infographics that accurately depict what an insight is!

To briefly explain what an insight is, let's use this as an example: a company "Orange" is trying to create a new product. They know that people are unhappy with the current earphone range. They are investigating on how to create a product that will be appealing to their customers, using the data effectively they already have to make such a large decision. What do they do?

• First, they will analyse the raw data that exists (i.e. feedback forms, web traffic, social media engagement metrics).
• Then, they will start to make interpretations of the data - this data is no longer just numbers, but information. 
• By analysing the information gathered from the data, the team will then start to form links and patterns, adding meaning to the information they received - this is knowledge. 
• The company may notice that a lot of the knowledge they discovered is nothing new, but there may be one or two things that really stand out, providing new information about the customer they never knew before - that's an insight. 
• An insight is something that provides a new understanding of change that makes a difference to decision making, thinking and action. 
• Further link these insights on an even deeper level, it becomes valuable wisdom! And that is your company's competitive advantage.