How to use finding types

Signals, Signal clusters, Trends, and Megatrends are different types of findings in FIBRES. Depending on your account setup, you might have other finding types in addition to these or completely different finding types.

What are finding types

Not all findings are created equal. Finding types are a way to organize the findings in your findings database from big to small. This helps you see what kind of findings you have collected.

Other ways to organize findings in FIBRES are tags and classifications. Together with finding types, you'll be able to create just the type of syntax and metadata that you need.

Default finding types

Every finding you save in FIBRES has a finding type. The finding type is indicated with a colored pill icon right above the finding title. The default finding types are:

• Megatrend
• Trend
• Signal cluster
• Signal

Change finding type

If you ever need to change the finding type of an existing finding, such as a Signal to a Trend, you can do so easily by clicking the pill icon when you have the full finding open.

You need to be the owner of the finding to be able to change its finding type. If nothing happens, you may not have the needed editing rights to change the finding type.

Recommendations for different finding types

Ultimately, it's up to you what kind of building blocks to use for your foresight work. For example, if Megatrends are not a relevant data type for you, you can choose not to work with them.

The default finding types are a suggestive way of how to organize your futures intelligence. When asked, this is how we recommend using them:

• Signals for individual observations and pieces of news. For example, articles added with the web clipper automatically get the finding type Signal.
• Signal clusters for topics that are somewhere between Signals and Trends. For example, thematically related Signals that you've yet to make sense of. Signal clusters can also be used to describe phenomena in a specific context, such as NLP in healthcare.
• Trends for recognized developments, phenomena, or technologies. Consider linking your Trends with Signals that support them, or Megatrends that they're a part of.
• Megatrends for long-lasting, known developments. Consider linking your Megatrends with Trends that support them.

Using top-level findings for clustering

Top-level findings – that is Megatrends, Trends, and Signal clusters – can be used to cluster lower-level findings.

For example, if you have a bunch of Signals on a topic, you can create a Signal cluster to describe that topic as a whole. Then, you can link all those Signals with the Signal cluster.

Clusters between Megatrends, Trends, and Signal clusters are visible as bubbles on the Network view.

Findings vs. summaries

What's the difference between findings and summaries? Typically, findings are used for saving or writing out individual phenomena or developments. Summaries, on the other hand, are used to pull together information or draw conclusions, kind of like their name suggests. Ultimately, it's up to you how you want to use the different content types in FIBRES.

Custom finding types

Finding and summary types can be customized to perfectly match your foresight needs. You can request new finding and summary types by emailing us at support@fibresonline.com.