Analysis is an under-appreciated part of the research process, but it's actually where the magic happens. Good analysis takes the data as a starting point, and goes beyond it to discover the insights that others will have missed. These slides go through a core method for analysing qualitative data, allowing you to slot in techniques and activities for specific research objectives as required

1. Research analysis
Getting more out of your data

2. Today we’ll…
Walk through a four-stage analysis process
Try out some of the activities
Introduce some bonus options

3. Analysis: why bother?

4. 1. Organise
2. Absorb the data
3. Discover patterns
4. Work with patterns

5. ORGANISE

6. First, consider…
What do you need to get out of it?
How much time have you got?
Who will you work with?
What tasks / activities will you use?

7. What do you need to get out of it?
Insight vs evidence vs ideas

8. Who will you work with?
ABSORB
THE DATA
DISCOVER
PATTERNS
WORK WITH
PATTERNS
On your own 2-3 people
Research, designer
2+ people
Research, designer,
product owner …

9. How much time have you got?
ABSORB
THE DATA
DISCOVER
PATTERNS
WORK WITH
PATTERNS
Min: 1/2 day
Max: 2.5 x the duration
of your recordings
Min: 1/2 day
Max: 2 days
Min: 1/2 day
Max: 2 days

10. What tasks / activities will you use?
ABSORB
THE DATA
DISCOVER
PATTERNS
MAP ONTO
DIMENSIONS
DRAW DIAGRAMS
(e.g. MAPS)
THINK REFLEXIVELY
DEDUCTIVE RULES
HIGHLIGHTING /
DOT VOTING
THOUGHT
EXPERIMENTS
APPLY
FRAMEWORK
AFFINITY SORT
ANALOGY,
METAPHOR
COMPARE &
CONTRAST
CHECK
COGNITIVE BIASES
RETHINK THE
PRODUCT
RANDOMNESS
EXTENSION
ROLE PLAY
PYRAMID > STORY
WORK WITH
PATTERNS
WHO WERE THE
PEOPLE
PRIORITISE
TRANSCRIBE
WATCH WHOLE
RECORDINGS
CREATE A SPACE
COLLATE
CODE
HIGHLIGHT
& NOTE
REFORMAT
TABLECLOTH
REVIEW
TIMESTAMPS
PROTOTYPE
TOYBOX
RAINBOW
TABLECLOTH
TRIADS
CO-ANALYSIS

11. Our core process
DAY 2
Discover patterns
REVIEW
OBJECTIVES
WHO WERE
THE PEOPLE?
VISUALISE
PATTERNS
AFFINITY
SORT
LABEL
THEMES
CLUSTER
THEMES
DAY 3
Work with patterns
THOUGHT
EXPERIMENTS
PYRAMID >
STORY
DAY 1
Absorb the data
PRIORITISE
CREATE A
SPACE
GENERATE
POST-IT NOTES

12. DAY 1
ABSORB THE DATA

13. ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
Tables & walls
to work on
Mixed media
on walls
Plenty of
standing space
2 sq m wall space
for day 2
Visible to
your colleagues
Natural light
NICE TO HAVE:
DAY 1, 9:00
CREATE A SPACE

14. DAY 1, 9:30
ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
PRIORITISE
1. After each interview, give it a
rating out of ten
2. Give a high rating if either a) the
interview was very clear, and
summarised matters well or b) it
was confusing and contradictory
3. Timestamp key events
4. Make particularly good notes on
those with lower ratings
1. Return to your interviews in
order, from highest to lowest,
until you’ve got an hour left
2. In your remaining hour, listen to
at least five minutes of each of
the other interviews, homing in
on timestamps of most interest in
your notes
While interviewing In analysis

15. ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
Lots of time?
PRIORITISE
TRANSCRIBE
WATCH WHOLE
RECORDINGS
CREATE A SPACE
REMOVE
BAD DATA
COLLATE
CODE
HIGHLIGHT & NOTE
REFORMAT TABLECLOTH
Very little time?
PRIORITISE
REMOVE
BAD DATA
COLLATE
HIGHLIGHT & NOTE
REVIEW
TIMESTAMPS
Middling
amount of time?
PRIORITISE
TRANSCRIBE
CREATE A SPACE
REMOVE
BAD DATA
COLLATE
HIGHLIGHT & NOTE
REFORMAT
REVIEW
TIMESTAMPS
WATCH (SOME)
RECORDINGS
DAY 1, 10:00
GENERATE POST-IT NOTES

16. DAY 1, 10:00
ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
P doesn’t notice
the Find My
Address button
P5
“Not being able to
find the Find My
Address button is
driving me mad!”
P5
Find My Address
button would be
easier to find if it
was next to
postcode field
P5
GENERATE POST-IT NOTES
Observations Quotes Hypotheses
15:36-15:58 15:36-15:58 15:36-15:58

17. Have a go
ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA

18. How to cook a stir fry

19. Have a go
ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
Identify themes, by highlighting phrases of
interest and writing notes in the margin.

20. ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
Need to feel
on top of it
Losing control,
chain reaction
i.e. not able to be carefree
Inhibits
experimentation
P1

21. Identify themes, by highlighting phrases of interest
and writing notes in the margin.
Have a go
ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
What to highlight / make notes on
• State the obvious
• Look for contradictions, triangulate
• Focus on things that confuse you
• Look for the emotional consequences
• Pay attention to what didn’t happen too
Some tips
• Highlight emotions. What’s causing
them?
• Highlight pain points. What’s causing
them?
• Highlight the social context. Who’s
present / not present / implied?
• Highlight their objectives. What are
participants trying to achieve, and why?

22. ABSO
RB
TH
E
DATA
“The smoke
alarm can go
off, and it sets
the dog off,
and it’s chaos”
P1
Needs to feel
prepared & in
control
P1
Unpreparedness
= burning food
= losing control
= chain reaction
P1
If food was
less prone to burn,
would she be more
likely to try new
ingredients?
P1
Reluctant to
experiment
with new
ingredients
P1
Not able to relax
(cf other kinds
of cooking)
P1
Quote Observation Observation
Hypothesis Observation Observation

23. DAY 2
DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
VISUALISE PATTERNS

24. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 9:00
REVIEW THE OBJECTIVES

25. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 9.30
WHO WERE THE PEOPLE?

26. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 10.30
VISUALISE PATTERNS

27. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 13:00
AFFINITY SORT

28. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 14:00
LABEL THEMES

29. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 14:30
HIGHLIGHT OTHER THEMES

30. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
DAY 2, 15:30
CLUSTER INTO THEMES
THEMES
META-THEMES
OBSERVATIONS
*
* *
*

31. DAY 3
W
O
RK
W
ITH
PATTERN
S
WORK WITH PATTERNS

32. W
O
RK
W
ITH
PATTERN
S
DAY 3, 9:00
THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS
• What if cooks didn’t have access to spatulas,
what would they use instead and why?
• What would be missing if there was no sound
whatsoever?
• What if cooks had someone to help them, what
would that person be doing?
• What if cooks were able to build their kitchen
specially to create this meal, what would it
include / look like?

33. Can you come up with
any other thought
experiments?
W
O
RK
W
ITH
PATTERN
S

34. DISCO
VER
PATTERN
S
OBSERVATIONS
FINDINGS
THEMES
*
* *
*
DAY 3, 13:00
PYRAMID > STORY

35. W
O
RK
W
ITH
PATTERN
S
DAY 3, 13:00
PYRAMID > STORY
ETC
ANSWER
(CONSISTING
OF THEMES)
FINDING
*
EVIDENCE
(e.g. VIDEO )
FINDING
OBJECTIVE THEME
ONE
FINDING THEME
TWO

36. DAY 2
Discover patterns
REVIEW
OBJECTIVES
WHO WERE
THE PEOPLE?
VISUALISE
PATTERNS
AFFINITY
SORT
LABEL
THEMES
CLUSTER
THEMES
DAY 3
Work with patterns
THOUGHT
EXPERIMENTS
PYRAMID >
STORY
DAY 1
Absorb the data
CREATE A SPACE
GENERATE
POST-IT NOTES
Insight
Ideas
Story
Evidence

37. A FEW
BONUS TECHNIQUES

38. BO
N
U
S
TECH
N
IQ
U
ES
RAINBOW TABLECLOTH
• Create a ‘tablecloth’, i.e. a spreadsheet
with your research questions in rows,
and participants in columns
• Apply conditional formatting to the
cells to highlight results
• Look for patterns!

39. BO
N
U
S
TECH
N
IQ
U
ES
TOYBOX
• Choose objects or toys to inform insights
and ideation
• Get your colleagues to choose
objects which they think are relevant to
the topic, and explain why
• Or, use them for inspiration, e.g.
projecting qualities of your chosen object
onto the research topics (e.g. ‘what would
be the difference between the way that
Spiderman and a robot cooked a stir-fry?”

40. BO
N
U
S
TECH
N
IQ
U
ES
CO-ANALYSIS
• Ask users to explain / make sense
of your data
• Hold as a workshop for added
stakeholder engagement
• Don’t expect it to do all of your
analysis for you!

41. James Lang
james.lang@cxpartners.co.uk
07787 425440
Thank you
London
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King’s Cross Station
London, N1C 4AX
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