Comic Book Lessons in Analytics — Black Bolt
The silent king of the Inhumans would be heard
If you watch Agents of Shield or watched the first episode of the ABC Inhumans mini-series, you are familiar with Black Bolt. You also picture him like this:
If you’ve read Marvel Comics for any significant period of time, chances are you know Black Bolt pretty well.
Blackagar Boltagon (“Black Bolt”) is King of the Inhumans, husband to Medusa, and brother to Maximus (“the Mad”, a well-earned moniker).
His childhood exposure to the Inhumans’ Terrigen Mists gave him a great and terrible power: his voice. Black Bolt is the “Silent King” because he dare not speak.
His slightest whisper once broke every bone in the (very, very angry at the time) Hulk’s body.
When the US military sent regiments from all branches to try and force the Inhumans to surrender (on Earth, after they had rescued Gorgon from a US government facility that was experimenting on him), his reply was simple.
In the Earth X storyline, Black Bolt summoned Galactus from the other side of the universe. By calling his name.
Point being, he doesn’t talk much. He prefers not to destroy everyone and everything around him.
This applies to me how…?
Well, if you’re the King of the Inhumans or have a destructively loud voice, it should be obvious.
For the rest of the world, remember that the best data and the most impressive analytics in the business mean nothing if your clients cannot understand the results.
And if you have to explain those results, you’re doing it wrong.
I’m taking away your voice. Find a better way to get the job done.
So… “Show, don’t tell”?
At its core, yes, that’s the message. Stop rolling your eyes. I know you’ve heard it before. I’m willing to bet you think you have this skill mastered. You’ve done data visualization. You’ve delivered results to clients in the past and been able to just walk away.
So why do they call you with questions?
I’m not just talking about your needing to stand over the CFO’s shoulder, explaining why these bars and lines are so important and what each color means. I’m talking about analytics that mean nothing without extensive documentation on every data point, KPI, chart type, or other object.
Yes, you still need to create documentation. Don’t be ridiculous.
A data visualization solution has one purpose: to relay key information quickly and easily, in a manner friendly to the user.
Documentation exists to help users learn the tool (dashboard, report, solution, or whatever buzzword you prefer) and to explain, clearly, the source data and calculations used to produce results. It should not be needed by a casual user who just wants to look at daily revenue by region or department.
An executive dashboard should be simple and intuitive. Bells and whistles are for trains.
Silent Ruling
So, how does a silent king rule his kingdom?
On the ABC show, Black Bolt is seen using sign language to communicate. I’m going to disregard that, partially because it goes against comic canon, but mostly because it undermines my point. Sign language is complex.
In comics, Black Bolt communicates through facial expressions, common hand gestures, body language, and other signals that most reasonably intelligent people can interpret. Sometimes, however, more is necessary.
Black Bolt relies heavily on his advisors, Medusa and Karnak. George Earl did an excellent job of describing Karnak here, so I won’t belabor the point that he is both highly intelligent and incredibly observant. Medusa does make some decisions as Queen, but not usually without consulting with her husband.
Karnak and Medusa are both adept at interpreting even the slightest gesture or expression from Black Bolt, and are capable of interpreting his intent. Few occasions have seen Black Bolt contradict them (stand and shake his head).
With Medusa, there is something deeper. It’s not quite telepathy, but she has an uncanny ability to determine when her husband is hesitant or concerned. It might be an Inhuman ability; it might simply be a wife knowing her husband.
Make Your Point
My point is simple: learn from the Silent King.
The results of your work, the product you deliver, should be seamlessly intuitive to the intended users. Whether it’s data visualization, process modeling, analytic toolkits, presentations, Web sites, or browser-based interfaces to anything from revenue models to AI interaction.
That’s not always possible, so fall back on this ubiquitous acronym: KISS.
Keep it simple, stupid.
There are nicer versions, but I prefer to be as clear as possible.
I advocate a completely minimalist design in everything I build or oversee. Clean, clear, and easy to use. Anything added beyond that point must be justified. I have no interest in adding in “special features” that serve no purpose other than to stroke developers’ (and project managers’) egos.
There are almost always compromises from that design. The cleanest design isn’t always what the Sales & Marketing types want to use in their demos. Bells and whistles and “pretty pictures” do help to make sales, even if they don’t ultimately provide the best user experience.
By all means, document your work. Add a descriptor where it’s needed. Add a popup where it’s needed. But make it clean, clear, and easy to use.
You’re not building the tool for you.
You’re building it for someone who just needs to know the answers.
All right, I hear you
We are not amused.
