Chapter 4 of 7
Turn notes into decisions
Learn to turn a pile of notes into a decision. By the end, you can find the real pattern and keep the case that doesn't fit. You can read numbers without being fooled, and write it all on one page.
- 7 lessons
- A game, a thought experiment and a skills check
- Free, no sign-up
What you'll learn
- 1 Count people, not notes
Turn a pile of notes into patterns you can trust. Group by what people did, and count the people behind each one.
About 19 minutes
- 2 Make personas that change decisions
Group people by what they do, not who they are. A persona is only worth keeping if it changes a decision.
About 19 minutes
- 3 Map today's journey to find what to fix
A journey map shows today, in as much detail as the decision needs. The fix belongs in a test, not on the map.
About 19 minutes
- 4 Read the numbers before you trust them
When a total goes up while every part goes down. How to read numbers without being fooled.
About 19 minutes
- 5 Write a readout that carries a decision
One page: the finding, how sure you are, what would change it, and what not to lose.
About 19 minutes
- 6 Test your skills
Check the key words, then use all five lessons on a new case. One score at the end.
About 21 minutes
- 7 Make your readout
The chapter's project: one page from real research, with every claim traced to who said it.
About 31 minutes
By the end of this chapter
What you'll make: a one-page readout
One page from real research. The finding and its proof, the case that doesn't fit, and how sure you are. Then the next test, and what would change your mind.
You make it in lesson 7See what goes in it
Use your own research, or Tiffin’s six interviews and 40 help requests. Write one page, in plain sentences.
- Question. The decision this research serves, in one sentence.
- Who you heard from. Count people, not notes.
- Groups. Group people by what they do, not who they are.
- Finding. One sentence, then the evidence: a number and a quote, each traced to who said or did it.
- The case that doesn’t fit. One person or moment, named and kept.
- How sure you are. The rung, 0 to 6.
- Next test. What, with whom, the number that means stop, and the date.
- What would change your mind. Evidence that would go against the finding.
- Don’t lose. The rare, serious thing that nothing above solves.
Along the way: The map as big as the land, a thought experiment from Jorge Luis Borges, On Exactitude in Science, 1946.