Aha and Insight: Where Curiosity Meets Clarity

Unpacking the nuances around realisation and revelation

This is going to sound controversial but an insight is not the same as an ‘aha’ moment.

Alright, this isn't as dramatic as I had built it up to be in my head but to folks in the research space, this may be a bit intriguing.

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A little context

Before I explain this ‘controversy’, let me set the scene:
I entered the space of Behavioural Research and Learning Design a little over 3 years ago. I did a bunch of things before that such as graduating from design school and working as a graphic-turned-UX-designer for a small studio. I was aware of the term ‘insight’. It was common design terminology which seemed simple enough to understand—I even ‘generated insights’ for the projects I worked on.

I was sure I knew what insights meant; they were ‘aha’ moments or epiphanies. That seemed to be the general consensus of everyone around me; fellow students, teachers, colleagues and even the internet. 

When I started my role as a behavioural researcher at Fold Labs, the first project I worked on was a behavioural study of teachers in India and their ability to deliver learning in adverse situations.

While analysing a few interviews with my team, I termed a specific and standalone observation I found interesting as an ‘insight’. Not so surprised at my casual usage of the term, my senior (an expert in the field) asked me to explain what I understood as an insight. Confidently, I told her - “It’s an aha moment!” Spoiler alert, I was wrong.

This started my journey of understanding what an insight really means and how it is more than an aha moment.

The Big Reveal

Aha moments and insights are not twins; they are cousins.
They are similar but not the same.

Aha moments and insights are both acts of realisation but the nature, process and the potential impact of the two differ. This makes them both important yet unique aspects of the thinking process. 

Insights are defined as ‘an accurate and deep understanding’ of something or someone. This makes sense.

But what does an accurate and deep understanding entail? Is it that small nuance about the research subject that wasn’t apparent at first? Is it those recurring patterns that we find when we analyse data? Is it a unique behaviour? Short answer - No.

Often, researchers casually call such exciting observations, ‘insights’ because they feel significant. And while they may feel significant, there’s something crucial that sets insights apart from other discoveries. 

To find an insight is to discover a relationship.

And an important one at that.

Something that explains the peculiarities of the ecosystem being researched. It could be a completely unexpected connection between two or more elements. Or it could be a connection that feels obvious but takes new meaning because the data reveals how something so ‘common sense’ and seemingly unspecial is playing a critical role in the ecosystem.

……..

In my first project with Fold Labs, we explored teachers' ability to deliver learning in challenging situations. The project began right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing everyone, especially teachers, to adapt overnight. It wasn’t easy for most.

In Phase 1 of the project, we worked with a small group of teachers. On the surface, they all seemed great—empathetic, well-liked, and going the extra mile to deliver quality teaching. However, despite facing similar challenges with online classrooms, their outcomes varied. Some managed to teach effectively, while others struggled. This puzzled us. Their demographics, resources and situations were nearly identical. So, what made the difference?

We dove deep into the data, categorising and analysing it to uncover the reason behind this gap. After much deliberation, we found the answer—it felt like finding a missing puzzle piece. The insight lay in how these teachers defined their roles.

Let me explain. To make it simple, I’ll call them Group A and Group B.

For Group A teachers, their role was centred around themselves. They worked hard to be a good teacher, grow in their role and win accolades as a teacher. Their core driver for action was knowing they did their bit, being recognised by the community and feeling proud of themselves. They were good at teaching and were liked by students. They genuinely wanted students to learn and succeed, but it wasn’t their main marker for success.

The Group B teachers, on the other hand, had a student-centred definition of their own role. Armed with a strong understanding of their students, they had an arsenal of internalised student-centred strategies to transfer learning in various situations. For them, success as a teacher was all about engaging with students and ensuring they learned.

Group A teachers failed in delivering high-quality learning during the pandemic, often crippled in the face of disengaged students and turned off cameras. However, Group B teachers managed to keep students engaged and delivered high-quality learning even during the pandemic.

This was an insight.

Student-centricity can seem so ‘common sense’, but analysed this way, it becomes clear the critical relationship it has with the resiliency of a teacher.

An insight is a window into the inner workings of a system.
Only by seeing these key relationships clearly can we, as researchers, develop recommendations that drive meaningful change. That is the beauty of an insight!

A Balancing Act

While insights and aha moments serve distinct roles, both are essential in research. Aha moments bring flashes of excitement, ensuring sense-making is engaging and emotionally fulfilling. But they are subjective—rooted in individual perspectives and biases. What surprises one person may seem obvious to another.

Take, for example, a teammate who found it fascinating that learners were rushing through online lessons just to earn a green tick, while another—experienced in such research—saw it as routine.

Insights reveal objective truths, free from personal bias—rare and often hard to pin down, yet critical to driving change.

Aha moments, though fleeting, are powerful because they spark curiosity, encouraging us to dig deeper.
Why are they behaving this way?
Why did they say this?
What does this pattern mean?

These questions, when explored thoughtfully, often lead to insights.

In my journey, arriving at an insight always feels like a monumental aha moment. But not every aha moment is an insight.

The magic lies in the dance between them — aha moments push us forward, while insights ground us — ensuring we find invaluable truths that can change perspectives, inform decisions, and create lasting impact.

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un:fold is a space where folks from fold labs write about learning, behaviour, systems, tech, equity and whatever else is occupying our mind.

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