The Case for DX: Why Data Experience Matters (Part 1)

DX of Internal Stakeholders

DX is more than interacting with the data itself. It includes how much your company talks about data, how often you make data-driven decisions, and how data-minded your team is.

What is DX?

Data Experience: The various way(s) in which stakeholders — both internal and external — interact with your data and the data culture of your company.

Much of this “X”perience follows traditional user or customer experience definitions, and it certainly includes the UI/UX of your SaaS vendors, but DX goes beyond the warehousing and BI tools that you use to store, manage, and view data. DX is more than interacting with the data itself. It includes how much your company talks about data, how often you make data-driven decisions, and how data-minded your team is. (Among others…)

The data culture of your company is a derivative of the cumulative DX’s that happen every day.

So why does data culture matter?

Because data is becoming easier and easier to generate, and top-notch companies are finding ways to leverage it towards achieving their business goals — through UX, operations, sales, etc. (Just Google “embedded analytics” and you’ll see what I mean.) Meanwhile, the byproduct of this focus on data is that consumers/users/stakeholders of all kinds are becoming to expect more regarding their implicit and explicit data experiences.

While not yet quantitatively investigated to nearly the degree that UX or CX has been, DX matters. DX should be designed with the same investment as user experience (UX) is designed because soon (maybe not yet, but soon) those data-related interactions will undoubtedly affect your stakeholders’ perceptions, engagement, and investment in your company as much as UX does.

One of the biggest differences between UX and DX, however, is that DX directly affects both internal and external stakeholders (whereas UX design is primarily an external stakeholder issue). We’ll get into why DX matters externally in Part 2 of this post, but the TL;DR for internal stakeholders is that there are four key components of their DX interactions:

1. Consumption
2. Inquiry
3. Exploration
4. Discovery

Below is a description of each, as well as actionable suggestions as to how these interactions can improve the DX of your internal stakeholders.

Consumption:

Working definition: The one-way street of data inflow and absorption your stakeholders experience. This includes but is not limited to viewing dashboards, looking at charts, listening to a report, etc.

Thoughts and suggestions to enhance DX:

• Design and UI matters, so invest in making the data more attractive to look at and consume. People like pretty things, or at least things that aren’t ugly or boring. Consider using your design team for help with reports and dashboards, but sometimes something as simple as the font type or size can make a big difference in standard reports.
• Why dashboard design is critical to analytics success

Inquiry:

Working definition: The creative process of designing and asking the right questions when there is something you want to know more about. Inquiry is about challenging and changing the current state on behalf of improvement and growth.

Thoughts and suggestions to enhance DX:

• Provide an opportunity for teammates and stakeholders to ask good questions (in weekly meetings, designated Slack channels, online forms, etc.)…and then make sure you try and answer them! Brainstorming has always been a means of inquiry and even if the first question doesn’t lead to much, the second and third sub-questions just might. A culture of inquiry leads to new opportunities.
• The power of curiosity
• Knowing how to ask good questions

Exploration:

Working definition: The journey upon which stakeholders can follow their curiosities and questions to learn more. This can be as simple as modifying filters on existing reports or digging into something no one has looked at yet.

Thoughts and suggestions to enhance DX:

• Data exploration is made easier through BI tools like Looker, but even if you’re too small to need one or the tools are too expensive for you, be sure to provide opportunities for your teammates to explore data through conversation, projects, etc. The key is to encourage exploration and avoid stagnation. From interns to C-suite execs, everyone can contribute to the exploration of data, and the collective mindshare is truly more than the sum of the parts.
• Airbnb’s data exploration platform

Discovery:

Working definition: The value that comes from learning something new via data exploration. Even if it’s not actionable or fully connected to core business interests at the moment, data discovery moves the company forward.

Thoughts and suggestions to enhance DX:

• Someone on your team will have a “Eureka!” moment during their data exploration…and that moment should be celebrated. Whether it’s discussed at a meeting, integrated into the KPIs of your new product feature, or simply acknowledged with a quick email from a manager, those discovery moments add to your core data culture. There’s no textbook to follow for your particular business or product, so who knows what the next discovery will be or how it will impact your business. Don’t get distracted by minutiae, but celebrate the value of new information when it matters to your business. And don’t be afraid to dig into the signals and clarity metrics of your business — that’s where the gold is!
• Catching the third wave of BI

Ready for Part 2?

The Case for DX: Why Data Experience Matters (Part 2)