Everyone's experiences and perspectives are meaningful

Why is it that in a world so connected and interactive we find ourselves ignoring our unique individual humanness? How has it come to be that technology meant for engagement has resulted in so many being disengaged? Why have we allowed an obsession with metrics, spreadsheets, and popularity erode fundamental human values and respect for diversity and differing viewpoints?

SenseMaker® is the world’s first crowdsourcing method for human judgement, meaning, and feeling. Everyone’s voice deserves to have an impact and SenseMaker® offers a science-based approach to guide collective impact and leverage the strengths of being human in uncertain times.

Thick data at scale starts one perspective at a time...

Thick data goes beyond big data…it focuses on answering why and what instead of only what. The “why” is the critical missing piece of big data and artificial intelligence puzzle… human intelligence.

SenseMaker® engages human intelligence in reflecting qualitative data related to personal experiences, observations, and situations – the what. The magic occurs in the way quantifiable data is then gathered which contains the meaning, feelings, and motivations in the context shared. In simple terms, human, not artificial, intelligence provides the why.

Meaning is deeper than just the context

Meaning, feelings, and motivations vary by situation and person to person. So what people say or share on social channels cannot be interpreted solely on the basis of what was said or typed. The context or qualitative part is only the tip of the iceberg.

SenseMaker® by design goes deeper. Setting the context is an individual observation, a micro-scenario, or a presented sense-making item. Such items are then expanded by each respondent by adding more layers of meaning with unique question forms. Rich in elements of thick data, SenseMaker® starts to illuminate beneath the waterline.

Every moment we observe, we perceive, we make sense of our world

Individual observations, of our own experiences, others, and of concepts we are presented, are all sense-making situations. They reflect our perceptions, perspectives, and our past influences. They also reflect a partial sense of a wider reality.

By simultaneously gathering both the “what” and the “why” in high volumes, SenseMaker® offers a more authentic sense of reality as well as an awareness of population re-enforcing perceptions that may be skewing reality. With sufficient diversity and volume, it gives us a unique ability to make sense of complex, ambiguous, and rapidly changing environments which allows far better decisions to be made.

Our collective sensing and meaning is where deep insights emerge

SenseMaker® reflects thick data back to users in visual forms that allow exploration and insight discovery to allow for rapid identification of threats and opportunities. It enables change, innovation, risk management, and decision-making with the benefit of the collective knowledge of the participating contributors. It reveals the landscape of a collective meaning, so that with an understanding of both “what” and “why”, change, opportunities, or threats can be managed effectively under conditions of uncertainty and complexity.

SenseMaker® is all about fairness in knowing...

In academic terms fairness in knowing is called – epistemic justice. People are experiencing life as both actors and observers and with every moment there is a personal knowing and perceiving that is occurring. Whether its workplace experiences, public health observations, or simply social activities. The knowledge about each moment is deeply personal. SenseMaker® recognizes that human knowing is partial and biased. But its ability to map a field of knowingness across a diversity of people and perspectives is what gives a far deeper and authentic sense of reality. By distributing the power of situational interpretation, SenseMaker® brings epistemic justice to employees, to consumers, and to citizens.

Get SenseMaker® to discover actionable insights beyond surveys and focus groups.

More than a decade of experience with harvesting and visualising the patterns underlying narratives to reveal new insights not possible otherwise.