How to use classifications
What are classifications
Classifications help you assess, organize, filter, and compare findings in FIBRES.
You can use classifications for any type of assessment that is relevant to your foresight work. For example, you might classify findings by certainty, maturity, affected business area, strategic relevance, risk severity, opportunity potential, or suggested action.
Classifications can be configured as either:
Single-choice classifications
Use these when one clear answer should be selected.
Example:
Phenomenon certainty
Certain / Uncertain / Highly uncertain / Wildcard
Multiple-choice classifications
Use these when several values may apply to the same finding.
Example:
Affected operations
Finance and legal / HR / IT / Production / Products and services / R&D / Sales and marketing
Why use classifications?
Classifications turn your foresight data into something easier to analyze and act on.
They help you answer questions such as:
Which trends are most strategically relevant?
Which findings affect our business units or geographic markets?
Which weak signals are still uncertain?
Which emerging risks connect to existing operational risks?
Which opportunities should we explore, test, or scale?
Once classifications are in place, they can be used as filters in the Findings, Network, and Radar views.
Classifications, sectors, horizons, and tags — what is the difference?
FIBRES includes several ways to organize findings. They each serve a different purpose.
| Element | What it answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Finding type | What kind of finding is this? | Signal, trend, megatrend |
| Radar sector | What category or domain does this belong to on the radar? | Technology, Regulation, Customer Change |
| Radar horizon | Where should this be placed on the radar? | Act now, Prepare, Monitor |
| Tags | What keywords help with searching and grouping? | AI, climate, regulation |
| Classifications | How should this finding be assessed, filtered, or acted on? | Strategic relevance, affected operations, risk severity |
A simple example how to think about it:
Sectors describe the theme.
Horizons describe timing, maturity, or action stage.
Classifications describe business meaning.
How to use classifications
When you have the right Classifications in place, Classifications are easy to use.
- Open a finding.
- Scroll down to Classifications.
- Select value(s) to classify your finding.
Classifications can only "hold" one answer at a time. If you want to vote on findings with a group of people, we recommend using Joint evaluations and Polls.
Change your classifications
We can configure your account for any number and type of classifications. to get the type of classifications you need.
Best practices
Start simple. A small number of well-designed classifications is usually more useful than a long list that users do not apply consistently.
Use classifications that support decisions. Before creating a classification, ask: “What will we do differently when we filter by this?”
Avoid overlap. If two classifications or values mean almost the same thing, users may classify findings inconsistently.
Keep sectors and classifications separate. Radar sectors are best for the visible structure of the radar. Classifications are best for filtering and deeper analysis.
Examples of useful classifications
Below are examples of common classifications used in different foresight use cases.
General foresight classifications
| Classification | Example values |
|---|---|
| Phenomenon certainty | Certain / Uncertain / Highly uncertain / Wildcard |
| Phenomenon maturity | Weak signal / Emerging pattern / Growing trend / Established trend |
| Affected operations | Finance and legal / HR / IT / Production / Products and services / R&D / Sales and marketing |
| Suggested action | Monitor / Explore / Analyze further / Run workshop / Launch experiment / Integrate into planning |
| Geographic relevance | Global / Europe / North America / Asia-Pacific / Middle East & Africa / Latin America |
Strategy classifications
Use these when your radar supports strategy work, market understanding, or executive decision-making.
| Classification | Example values |
|---|---|
| Strategic relevance | Low / Medium / High / Critical |
| Strategic implication | Growth opportunity / Competitive threat / Regulatory pressure / Capability requirement / Business model disruption |
| Business impact area | Revenue growth / Profitability / Customer demand / Competitive position / Operating model / Brand and trust |
| Recommended strategic response | Monitor / Discuss in strategy process / Run scenario analysis / Build capability / Escalate to leadership |
Innovation classifications
Use these when your radar supports opportunity discovery, R&D, product development, or innovation portfolio work.
| Classification | Example values |
|---|---|
| Opportunity potential | Low / Medium / High / Transformational |
| Innovation type | Product innovation / Service innovation / Process innovation / Business model innovation / Customer experience innovation |
| Customer value | Low / Medium / High / Critical unmet need |
| Feasibility | Easy / Moderate / Difficult / Requires major capability build |
| Next innovation step | Research further / Customer interviews / Concept development / Prototype / Pilot / Scale |
Risk intelligence classifications
Use these when your radar supports emerging risk monitoring, early warning, resilience, or risk intelligence.
| Classification | Example values |
|---|---|
| Risk intelligence type | Weak signal / Emerging risk / Critical uncertainty / Early warning indicator / Known risk evolution / Wildcard |
| Risk assessment | Risk / Opportunity / Both risk and opportunity / Neutral or unclear |
| Operational risk relationship | People risk / Process risk / Technology risk / Data risk / Cyber risk / Third-party risk / Compliance risk / Legal risk |
| Business exposure | Revenue exposure / Cost exposure / Supply exposure / Technology exposure / Regulatory exposure / Reputation exposure |
| Risk severity | Low / Medium / High / Critical |
| Risk velocity | Slow-moving / Developing / Fast-moving / Immediate |
| Control and mitigation maturity | No clear controls / Early mitigation ideas / Existing controls in place / Controls need strengthening / Strong mitigation capability |
| Recommended risk response | Monitor / Collect more evidence / Review existing controls / Assign risk owner / Escalate to leadership / Prepare mitigation plan |