How to Write Insights That Change Product Decisions

Does your team's last output state what was observed, explain why, connect to a business objective, and recommend what should happen next? If it does all four, your team writes insights. If one or two, your team writes observations.

The Four Components

1. The observation.

Checkpoint: Does the observation include specific data and context?

2. The explanation.

Checkpoint: When writing an explanation, do you reference past research on the same topic?

3. The implication.

4. The recommendation.

Checkpoint: How many of your last three outputs include specific recommendations with trade-offs?

After Writing

Checkpoint: Where does the insight live after the debrief? If only in the deck, it is invisible to everyone who was not in the room.

Checkpoint: Of the insights produced last quarter, how many led to a documented decision?