Juice Analytics

(A conversation about data)

The other day my seven year old asked, “How do you say indigo in Japanese?” I said, “Why do you want to know?” His response: “Just curious.”

I love every interaction with my kids, but especially the ones where they surprise me. This particular interaction got me thinking about how tightly linked certain questions are to specific conversations.

When it comes to data, it’s no different. The conversation that surrounds a question is as important as the question itself. Both have context, a set of relevant questions and hopefully a little curiosity. You would think that because of the similarities between data and conversations, that a conversation about data would be easy. Unfortunately, not so much. Every day we see folks wrestling with how to have a conversation about their data.

Think about it. How many “data-based” conversations have you sat through that are REALLY overstuffed Power Point presentations, metric-filled reports or chart-engorged dashboards? Not a conversation, but more like an annoying advertisement. People are so afraid of “The Indigo Question”, that they try to answer EVERY possible question by pommelling their audience with lots and lots of data or worse, innumerable slides.

How about trying this: communicate with data by thinking of it in the context of a conversation: Ask questions; listen to answers; don’t try to cast the conversation before it happens, but allow it to form as it takes place.

Start with understanding the questions that your audience will want to know about your data:

• How has number of bench presses for defensive tackles changed over time?
• Where are my sales coming from?
• Do field goal attempts drive total points per game?

The questions give you great insight into how you would want to show the results. For instance,

Changes over time are shown by trend lines,

comparisons can be shown with distributions,

and outliers might be revealed in a bubble chart.

In the coming months you’ll hear more about the concept of a conversation with data from us. In fact, turning spreadsheets into conversations is something we think can be a transformational way to think about your data.

So, after my son and I got home from running errands that day, we went to Google translate to figure out “How do you say Indigo in Japanese?”: http://translate.google.com/#auto|ja|indigo. This then led us to wonder when would a Japanese person talk about the color indigo or the Indigo plant?  By afternoon both of us walked away from the conversation feeling like we had learned a bunch, cherishing the time spent and looking forward to the next conversation.  After all, isn’t that what we hope to achieve with all our conversations: to feel that sense of reward that makes us anxiously await the next one?

Here’s to great data conversations!

I grew up in a bilingual household where we spoke French and English. Many of us who’ve been exposed to other languages realize that there are some words that just don’t translate well into English.

One of the words that got used often in our family was the French word gourmand.  Its closest translation in English is gluttony, but how often does anybody ever say that word?  Probably the simplest way to think of it is the antithesis of gourmet, or even better, someone who prefers quantity over quality.

While there can sometimes be a negative connotation with the phrase, “Il est gourmand,” (“He is gourmand”), it can also be just a recognition of someone’s preferences.

To this day, even though my French has gotten pretty bad, I still occasionally refer to people as gourmet or gourmand.  It could be when I’m sitting in a restaurant, standing behind them in line at Costco or even hearing about their current data initiative.

What is a data gourmet?

Just like a food gourmet, a data gourmet is someone interested in something distinctive, visually appealing and inspired by results or action taken. It isn’t about hordes of numbers or metrics. It’s about getting the right metrics in place, putting them in the right context and letting them stand out.

Think of the chef who prepares the meal like the one in the picture. He or she not only wants to stimulate your taste buds, but also hopes that their use of color, plating and white space will appeal to you and your visual senses, as well.

What is your data gourmand?

So, as I alluded to earlier, not everyone is a gourmet. Many people value quantity over quality. As it relates to data, someone who is a gourmand is probably unsure of what they really want to do with all the data they are requesting. They figure it best to get as much as they can while they can, especially if they aren’t sure what they will do with it.

Unfortunately, they probably have never been exposed to a really useful dashboard or visualization. Ultimately, what they think will satiate them and potentially their users is as much data as possible. However, the volume of data would net a number of metrics, charts and gauges, etc. that would be more than they could ever consume.

Working with a Data Gourmand

When you find yourself in a situation where you are working with a data gourmand (and you will – it’s just a matter of time), don’t look down your well-trained visualization palate at them.  Instead, gently guide them along a path of visual-epicurean transformation.

Most likely, they’re going to want to load up their dashboard plate with every bit of data junk they can find.  Start by getting them to see their dashboard as a blank palette to meet specific goals vs. an empty pallet to load up everything they don’t need.

As they select different metrics, invest the extra time to train them to carefully select just the right information that provides the balance their data diet needs for a healthy body.  As they make their selections, help them to see that it’s okay to have favorite metrics.  As Amanda Cox of the New York Times says, “Data isn’t like your kids.  You don’t have to pretend to love them equally.”

Finally, if you need some help, refresh your skills with the Juice white paper, “A Guide to Creating Dashboards People Love to Use“.

Once you’ve finished, ask yourself these questions.  Does everything in front of your gourmand now have a reason to be there? Did they pause in appreciation or comment that they can’t wait to use it?  If so, you may be well on your way to executive data-chef status.

Have a data gourmand/gourmet story of your own?  We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.