The Human Insight Blog

From Running Studies to Driving Strategy For decades, the role of the researcher was well defined and relatively contained. Design a study. Collect the data. Analyze the results. Deliver the findings. Move on to the next project. That model worked when data was scarce, timelines were long, and insights teams were the primary gatekeepers of…

For years, creative inspiration has followed a familiar path. A brand brief. A set of personas. A deck of trends. A few carefully selected quotes from research. Then the creative work begins often several steps removed from the real people it’s meant to reach. Today, many CMOs are questioning that model. In a world where…

Surveys are structured. Screen recordings feel detailed and precise. Together, they create the comforting sense that we’re seeing the full picture.But we’re not. Most human behavior doesn’t happen neatly within research environments. It happens in between tasks, outside interfaces, and in moments people rarely think to mention. These are the hidden moments and they are…

Insights teams have never been more productive. Dashboards update in real time. Reports are richer, cleaner, and more statistically robust than ever before. And yet, a familiar frustration lingers across organizations: stakeholders nod in meetings, praise the work, and then… nothing happens. No decisions change. No strategies shift. No products evolve. This is the paradox…

Travel is one of the most emotional and storytelling-rich categories anticipation, discovery, connection, and nostalgia all rolled into one. Yet, most travel research happens after the trip, missing the real highs and lows. Mobile ethnography changes that, allowing tourism boards and travel brands to follow travelers’ journeys in real time from planning to posting. Travel…

Beauty isn’t just about products; it’s about ritual, identity, and emotion. Every brushstroke, every scent, every texture connects to how people express who they are and how they want to feel. Traditional research methods like surveys and focus groups can tell us what consumers think about beauty products, but they often fail to reveal how…

Introduction In recent decades, research approaches have increasingly shifted away from traditional, top-down models that treated communities as passive subjects of study. Researchers and activists have begun to embrace participatory methodologies that position communities as active partners in the research process. Among the most prominent approaches in this movement are Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Participatory…

Understanding human behavior has always been at the heart of research, design, and marketing. For decades, traditional methods like surveys and interviews have been the go-to approaches for gathering insights. While they offer valuable information, they often capture only fragments of people’s lives—static snapshots that can miss the nuances of daily experiences. In contrast, mobile…

Understanding human behavior as it naturally unfolds is essential for gaining meaningful insights whether in healthcare, psychology, marketing, or user experience research. Traditional methods like retrospective surveys and interviews often miss the subtle shifts and contextual factors that influence thoughts, emotions, and actions. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) addresses this gap by enabling real-time data collection…

Designing effective healthcare experiences requires more than just functional interfaces and efficient workflows. To truly understand patient needs and behaviors, researchers must go deeper—into the context of real lives, daily routines, and emotional journeys. This is where ethnographic methods play a critical role, offering a window into the lived experiences of patients and healthcare providers.…