See what moved in your StoryLines program each wave, and why

A StoryLines program brings in a new wave of video conversations every few weeks, and every wave raises the same two questions: what moved, and why? Until this release, the answer took a search. You started on the insights list, found the change, then went back into the interviews for the reason. By the time the reason was ready, the meeting that needed it had often already happened. StoryLines V2 puts the change and the reason on the first page you open.

StoryLines V2, how it works and what it changes, no sound needed.

How it works

• Open on highlights. A program now opens on the highlights page for its most recent wave. You can pick an earlier wave from the same page. A carousel at the top shows the top highlights of the wave.

• See which signals moved. Signal movements list the changes detected over time, with the topics tied to each signal.

• Read the shift behind each one. Shifts are new. For each facet value, a shift explains wave by wave what changed and what participants said about it. A shift explains one signal. An insight brings several signals together, and insights now sit on the highlights page too.

• Ask the assistant. The assistant on every page knows what that page shows: the signals, the shifts and the insights. Ask it what is interesting here and it points you to it. It can also change the view or add something to your dashboard.

Explore shows which themes are big and which are picking up speed

Explore now opens on a matrix grid, with size on one axis and growth on the other. Every theme lands in one of four quadrants: big and growing, big and shrinking, small and growing, small and shrinking. A small theme that keeps growing wave after wave is the early signal worth a closer look. The circle view shows the same movement over time, sorted on size or growth, along with the themes that tend to come up together. You choose the facets and lenses on screen.

Drill from a theme down to what people said

Click a theme to open its facet page: a short description, all its values, its shifts, the insights linked to it, opportunities to dig further in Talk to your data, and quotes. One level down, the facet value page summarizes a single value over time. Pin either page to your dashboard.

Research teams asked for it in five situations

These come from teams we work with in consumer goods, beer, travel, media and streaming, retail and medical devices. We kept them anonymous.

• The why behind a brand health score. Brand teams wanted the reason a score moved next to the score itself, wave after wave.

• Weak signals. Insights leads asked to catch a theme while it is still small, then follow it as it grows.

• Shoppers under price pressure. Teams wanted to see how people change what and where they buy as prices move, and hear them explain it.

• What grew or eased this wave. Media and consumer teams asked for a quick read of which themes came up more, and which came up less, than in the last wave.

• Evidence for leadership. Teams asked for the quotes and videos behind a trend, so they can show a change in participants' own words.

What this means for your research

The change and the reason now arrive together, on the page you open when a wave closes. Less time goes into finding what moved, and more into deciding what to do about it. The program runs alongside your ad hoc studies, and the judgment stays with your team.

Signals and shifts compare waves, so they appear once a program has more than one wave. The dashboard, Talk to your data and outputs work as before.

Three minutes on StoryLines V2, start to finish

A narrated walkthrough of the highlights page, signals and shifts, Explore, drill-down and the assistant, with the five situations research teams asked for.

Watch Adriaan walk through StoryLines V2

Adriaan Slechten, who worked on the release, shows the highlights page, shifts, the new Explore views, drill-down and the assistant in under five minutes. StoryLines V2 went live for StoryLines programs in September. Ask your Research Impact Lead about setting up a program, or see how StoryLines works.