Our Insights feature will be renamed to Docs for all Dovetail workspaces from October 2025.
Insight as an atomic finding
The most common type of insight created by researchers in Dovetail is an atomic finding. Often referred to as a “nugget”, an atomic finding represents a single, high-level finding from a project. This type of insight is useful for bringing together related pieces of evidence that contribute to any critical discoveries that require immediate attention or action.
These could look like:
- A discovery about human behavior and the underlying motivations behind that behavior
- Information that challenges what we believe about users and how they exist in the world
- Knowledge that uncovers fundamental principles that drive us towards seeing users in a new way
There are a few key pros and cons to creating insights that represent atomic findings from a project.
| Reasons for | Reasons against |
|---|
| Easy format for stakeholders to grasp the key takeaway without being overwhelmed. | Atomic findings may lack the broader context of a project, which can lead to misinterpretation or an incomplete understanding of the issue. |
| Quick and easy share any early findings during analysis process. | Focusing on one finding might oversimplify complex issues, potentially ignoring underlying factors or contributing data from other projects. |
| Effective for drawing attention to urgent or critical information. | Stakeholders may selectively use single findings to support their arguments, which can lead to biased decision-making. |
If you decide to create insights as atomic findings, here are a few tips we recommend:
- Contextualize: Encourage teams to provide context when sharing single-finding insights. This can include background information, related findings, or how the insight fits into the larger picture of the project or organization.
- Link to broader goals: Help teams understand how single findings connect to broader organizational objectives or customer needs. This can foster a more strategic approach to decision-making.
- Encourage collaboration: Promote discussions around single findings in team meetings or workshops to explore their implications and potential actions collaboratively. This can help mitigate the risks of oversimplification and cherry-picking.
Insight as a research report
The second most common insight is a research report. This typically is an in-depth summary of a single project with a collection of findings.
There are a few key pros and cons to creating insights that represent a research report of a project in Dovetail.
| Reasons for | Reasons against |
|---|
| Allows for a deep dive into specific project data, leading to more detailed and actionable insights that are directly relevant to the project’s objectives. | Insights are limited to the context of a single project, which might miss broader trends or opportunities that could be identified across multiple projects. |
| Easier to manage and communicate insights within a single project, reducing the complexity and potential for misinterpretation. | Focusing on a single project might lead to underutilization of resources that could be shared across projects. |
| With insights tied to a specific project, it is easier to assign responsibility and track progress. | Can lead to siloed thinking, where teams are not aware of or do not benefit from insights gained in other projects. |
Insight as a product requirements doc
To drive action from your research, product teams can use insights to create and share a product requirements doc. As you can link decisions directly to evidence from customer conversations, using insights is a compelling way to align teams on what to build, why it matters, and how to measure success.
