Humanizing the Data Experience

This article was co-authored by Andrea Ramirez, Director of Product Management & Hannah Galloway, Director of Product Design at 4 Mile Analytics.

Data provides a powerful, competitive advantage, accelerating the speed at which organizations operate and scale growth. The market for powerful technologies and evolving data products is growing rapidly; however, the reality for many is that data is coming in faster than the organization can handle, leading to underutilization and decreased confidence.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Below are some common challenges that can impair an organization’s ability to derive value from its data, followed by some strategic improvements to help shift its impact in a positive direction for both the business and the people within it.

Common Data Challenges

1. It’s Messy!

Nobody likes a mess, yet often data lives everywhere in an organization without a clear strategy. As a result, data consumption becomes a tactical effort dependent on human-powered workarounds and institutional knowledge. The net effect is eroded confidence in the accuracy of the data, lack of scale across the organization, and unrealized growth and efficiency.

2. Too Many Systems!

In today’s technology landscape, change is constant and every merger, acquisition and upgrade impacts the data ecosystems, sometimes for better and often for worse. When systems lack structure and integration, the consequences associated with data messiness are compounded. The business value of enforcing continuity between disparate systems is measured in efficiency, scale and speed.

3. Business User as Analyst?

The user base for data consumption has changed. No longer is it relegated to specialized teams; rather, data’s value has become democratized and non-technical users across organizations now make data-informed decisions on a regular basis. This changes the nature of how the tools need to be designed, elevating usability and usefulness as core to its consumption.

Strategic Opportunities

1. Assign Value to Usability & Usefulness

To ensure that organizations maximize the power of their data tools, designers and product managers need to be engaged throughout the product development and implementation process. In order for the technology to be fully utilized, it is critical to define upfront who will be using it, including their goals, objectives, success criteria and environmental context (e.g. devices, environmental constraints). These criteria should guide the behavior of features and functions, and be tested against to ensure usability and usefulness is not obscured by technical details.

2. Eliminate Internal Disconnects

Be cognizant of how data tool decisions are made within organizations. Siloed teams often contribute to product decisions that are not aligned with the evolving needs of the people who use it. Ensuring a cross-section of stakeholders that represent the user groups in evaluation and implementation elevates usefulness and usability to its rightful place in the process.

3. Data Monetization is Key

Investing in powerful technology that is difficult to use comes at a tremendous business cost. The right analytic tools designed with usability and structure in mind will alleviate users’ greatest pain points in the most streamlined way possible and realize both business and economic value from the data stream. Speed and accuracy of information translates into increased organizational confidence, speed in decision making, measurable growth, and targeted business impact at scale.