Insights Maturity Framework

5 min readJun 11, 2023

TL;DR
The Insights Maturity Framework helps product teams turn research into action by prioritizing insights based on maturity and complexity. This fosters better collaboration and decision-making.

Intro

Ever felt like you’re stuck in a tug-of-war in your product development team? UX Designers, UX Researchers, and Product Managers each pulling in different directions? Researchers gather all these brilliant insights from studies and surveys — like how users are grumbling about your pricing strategy. They have solid data and patterns that keep cropping up. Yet, product managers often feel overwhelmed by complex, strategic changes and opt for quick, tactical tweaks instead. UX Designers find themselves caught in the middle, proposing small, immediate changes in a bid to keep everyone happy.

The result?
Frustration and inefficient collaboration.

The core idea

To address this problem, our research team and I put our heads together and developed the Insights Maturity Framework. We aimed to create something that made it easier to prioritize insights based on their development and complexity.

This framework lays out clear actions for each level and creates a transparent process for everyone involved. By adopting this structured approach, we ensure that gathered insights are strengthened and made actionable, bridging the gap between research and product development.

This article is broken down into two parts:

Why a Structured Approach Matters
How to use the insight maturity framework

1. Why a Structured Approach Matters

Figuring out how mature or reliable an insight needs to be is crucial. We need to know how well-understood and validated an insight should be before it can shape our products.

By recognizing the importance of maturity and confidence in insights, we can set up a framework to effectively prioritize and use these insights for successful product initiatives. Determining the required level of maturity or confidence for an insight to be relevant in product development is a crucial consideration. It prompts us to question what degree of understanding and validation an insight should possess before it becomes a valuable asset for shaping our products.

1.1 Confidence Levels of an Insight

Not all insights hold the same weight. They differ in complexity and the changes they demand. The Insights Maturity Framework helps you decide what steps to take based on how complex and validated an insight is.
It fosters a culture that values strategic alignment, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement.

1.2 Frequency of Recurrence

Insights can vary in how often they come up. Evaluating the longevity of a problem is crucial. Are customers consistently highlighting the same issue, or is it just a fleeting trend?
The framework helps prioritize and address insights based on their recurrence and alignment with company goals.

1.3 Strategic Complexity and Positive Product Change

The more complex a solution is, the more data and confidence you need to support it. While each insight holds value and importance, effectively leveraging them needs a method to categorize and extract information to meet our specific requirements. Enriching insights with supporting data enhances their significance and persuasive power.

1.4 Building Bridges to Product Teams

The framework is a valuable guide for everyone involved in product development, including UX designers, strategists, UX researchers, and product owners.
Using this framework helps everyone speak the same language, making collaboration smoother and decisions more informed.

2. The Framework Explained

Think of the framework as a 5 by 3 matrix of categorizes insights based on their maturity and strategic complexity.

2.1 Actions at Each Maturity Level

Different maturity levels unlock specific actions and stakeholder involvement. Here’s how the design thinking process maps to these levels:

Level 0: Findings
These are atomic-level observations and findings, not synthesized yet.
Acts as a Fresh Data Backlog
Level 1: Hypothesis (Empathizing phase)
At this level, findings are synthesized into hypotheses. You understand user desires, needs, and objectives, gradually discarding or validating assumptions. Methods include NPS analysis, generative interviews, user testing, and data analysis.
Level 2: Weak Insight (Definition phase)
UX Research and UX Design collaborate to validate assumptions with extensive data. Methods include Triangulate research with interviews, user tests, surveys, data analysis, benchmarks, and feedback to formulate a problem statement.
Level 3: Strong Insight (Ideation phase)
Collaborate with UX Research, UX Design, and PM to mature, size, and prioritize impactful insights. Methods include Transforming the problem statement into actionable product opportunities using the “How might we” approach.
Level 4: Mature Insight (Prototyping & Live Testing phase)
UX Research, Design, PM, and Engineering assess effort, feasibility, and define features. Ideation generates diverse solutions, followed by validation through testing efforts like clickable prototypes or A/B tests.

2.2 The Levels of Complexity

First Layer Insights:
Minor usability, layout, or content issues.
Second Layer Insights:
Mid-term product changes.
Structural Insights:
Core business model and strategy challenges.

How to get started

Team Workshops
Conduct team workshops to map current insights and findings onto the framework. Tools like Miro boards or a simple whiteboard can facilitate this process.
Engagement
Engage in discussions to determine the next steps and required stakeholder involvement.
Continuous Refinement
Continuously refine the framework to fit specific organizational needs.

Regularity of use

After completing the main mapping, how do you continue?
Based on the Maturity x Complexity of your insight you should be able to determine what the immediate next steps could be.

Use this tool as a general guide, as regularly as you see fit.
It is not meant as a one-time mapping but more as a guide.

You will have meetings about actionable insights
You will need Plannings to further mature some insights
There are always new insights coming in that need to be mapped onto the board too, you need to build a process for that.
Make this tool part of regular ideation meetings
Create additional Steps to update the Product team on changes in the Maturity of an insight.

Do not forget this framework is about transparency, so include others as early as it makes sense based on Maturity x Complexity.

Measuring Success

To measure success, start with a questionnaire or survey to assess the status quo regarding delivery speed, discussion effectiveness, frustration levels, empowerment, and transparency.

Perform a follow-up survey six months after implementation to evaluate improvements in these areas.

Feel free to use this board!
Make changes to fit your case.