5 Steps to turn data into insights with Notably

Welcome to Notably! In this post, we’ll walk you through the fastest workflow in order to learn something new from your research in your very first session.

Notably is an all-in-one platform to collect, analyze, and share research. We help you do that through a series of AI features, trusted research methodologies, and best practices that we have made more accessible through technology. Our goal is to enable researchers to turn data and information into knowledge and wisdom by not just creating insights, but saving you time in the messy middle part of research to get to higher quality insights, faster.

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Step 1: Add your data: Setting the stage for Analysis‍

The first step in Notably is to create a project and begin adding data. A project can be as formal or informal as you would like it to be - think of this as a space for related research to live. Whether that is a dedicated research study, ongoing customer conversations, or user feedback. 

‍Uploading your data

Wherever you are conducting research, we support it in it’s most basic format. In the Data tab, upload data like video, audio, transcript files, or documents.

• Video, Transcripts, and Audio: Upload video (.mp4, .mov, .m4a ) or audio (.mp3) from customer interviews or focus groups and Notably will automatically transcribe them. Transcribing elsewhere? Import a transcript (.srt, .otf) to Notably and it will retain the formatting. If you use Zoom, connect the integration to make it faster to import cloud recordings.

• Document: Import a Document (.txt, .docx) like secondary research or industry whitepapers in the data section of a Notably project and it will turn into a native Notably document, ready to summarize and analyze.

• Spreadsheets: Research data shouldn’t be locked away in a spreadsheet. Whether it originated as survey responses or sticky notes in Miro or Figjam, you can import them directly to Notably. Learn more about csv import.

Step 2: AI Summaries: Your super-capable research assistant

The fastest way to get value out of Notably is with Summaries. You only need one data file to debrief your conversations and jumpstart analysis. 

AI Summary Templates give context to raw data in order to create a really accurate summary of your video. Click “Summarize” in the toolbar and choose a summary template that best matches the structure and content of the research conversation. 

They surface information like:

• Who did we talk to?
• What was surprising?
• What topics came up?
• What patterns are emerging?

There are templates for dozens of use cases - Check out our entire library of templates to save your favorites!

Read more about how to generate a summary here.

Step 3: Auto Highlight & Tag: Turn data into Information instantly

After running the summary of your choice, turning data into Information instantly by automatically highlighting and tagging the summary output.

While there will always be the need for researchers to read and label data for the high degree of accuracy and quality some projects require, there is also an opportunity to leverage technology to make this process faster and easier.

Automatically Highlight and Tagging your summaries will help to reduce friction to generating insights almost entirely.

Read more here about how it works, along with tips on improving the accuracy of your suggested tags.

Step 4: Analysis: the Heart of Notably

When you’re ready, push your highlights to analysis for the real magic. Here you have a multi-dimensional workspace to play with your data and find likeness and tension across all highlights in a project.

There are three different ways to visualize the same data set:

1. The table to see your data organized in a spreadsheet
2. Charts to see your data in a quantitative way
3. The canvas where you have infinite space to view your data spatially to find themes and patterns.

Here, you may begin to apply lenses or segment your data with the Analysis toolbar, where kernels of insights will start to emerge or bubble up from your canvas.

For example: try recoloring by sentiment to show where the pain points show up across your data.

In a hurry and don’t have time for tagging and theming your data? Come back to this later and just jump to step 5 to generate insights from your whole project!

Step 5: AI Insights: Bridging the gap between knowledge and wisdom‍

One of the most powerful features in Analysis is the ability to generate insights with AI. Insights combine information, inspiration, and a little bit of intuition. They move you from just knowing something to doing something about it. They turn knowledge into wisdom.

Our AI Insight templates, inspired by trusted design thinking and strategy frameworks stimulate generative, divergent thinking. With just a click and a few seconds, you’ll get an insight that captures the heart of your research.

Experiment and play with a combination of tags, themes, and different AI templates. You can even create your own custom AI template based on your unique research goals and questions.

Check out these 10 prompts to get you started on your own custom templates.

Because Insights are evidence-based, centering the needs of real people, they become a powerful starting point for creating truly valuable and meaningful solutions that impact people’s lives. 

Now you’re all set! This is the fastest workflow to get started and learn something new about your research during your very first session. In your next session you can start to refine your insights, add evidence, generate cover photos, and share your findings with your team.

If you have any further questions, check out our live group demos, or book some time with us for an individual demo for your whole team.