schemas for the real world [madison rubyconf 2013]
DESCRIPTION
Social app development challenges us how to code for users’ personal world. Users are giving push-back to ill-fitted assumptions about their identity — including name, gender, sexual orientation, important relationships, and other attributes they value. How can we balance users’ realities with an app’s business requirements? Facebook, Google+, and others are grappling with these questions. Resilient approaches arise from an app’s own foundation. Discover schemas’ influence over codebase, UX, and development itself. Learn how we can use schemas to both inspire users and generate data we need as developers. -- META Where: Madison Ruby Conference 2013 (Madison, Wisconsin, USA) Date: August 23, 2013 Video: http://www.confreaks.com/videos/2627-madisonruby2013-schemas-for-the-real-worldTRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Schemas for the Real World
Carina C Zona cczona
Well hello [As Jim noted] my name is Carina C Zona You can find me all over the internet as cczona
Im a developer Im also a sex educator I volunteer for an organization called San Francisco Sex Information or SFSI SFSI has been operating a phone hotline for over 40 years Our mission is to answer any question accurately confidentially and without judgement Youd think that people would ask all sorts of questions And they do But the majority of questions boil down to something very simple and universal Am I Normal Do I fit into the world
So here I have these two roles developer and sex educator They may seem completely different to you Not to me I think a lot about how they overlap
cczona
mdashxkcd 940
And they do Quite a lot
cczona
Imagine walking through the world knowing that everyonersquos first assumptions about how you see yourself who you love and what feels right for you are completely wrong Now imagine signing up for a cool website and then being required to select an option from a drop-down menu that doesnrsquot include anything that represents you
Yoursquoll feel defeated Yoursquoll want to argue that whatever they think theyrsquore learning from that drop-down menu itrsquos not really true Yoursquoll want to tell them that theyrsquore adding to your humiliation by making you do this Yoursquoll want to tell them that theyrsquore missing a huge part of youhellip
mdashSarah Dopp
Users are giving pushback to assumptions that leave them out Social apps in particular are being pressed to adjust Facebook Google and others have been dealing with these questions for years and are still working it out So if you feel out of depth youre not the only one
Normalization
When developers talk about normalization were talking about databases About computer science But when dealing with human attributes were inherently dealing in the social sciences too
cczona
Construction of social norms
Sociological normalization [READ]
Conflating those works fine if you only want users from among the select few who belong to the idealized norm But most of us are going for broad userbase
cczona
Database Normalization
Mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships
What we lose track of is one of the core tenets of database normalization Were supposed to [read] When the database is in tension with peoples own real world -- then its not people who need to be flexible Its us
Why IS this hard Because at first glance this stuff looks easy Its just forms Weve done those a million times
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 2: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
cczona
mdashxkcd 940
And they do Quite a lot
cczona
Imagine walking through the world knowing that everyonersquos first assumptions about how you see yourself who you love and what feels right for you are completely wrong Now imagine signing up for a cool website and then being required to select an option from a drop-down menu that doesnrsquot include anything that represents you
Yoursquoll feel defeated Yoursquoll want to argue that whatever they think theyrsquore learning from that drop-down menu itrsquos not really true Yoursquoll want to tell them that theyrsquore adding to your humiliation by making you do this Yoursquoll want to tell them that theyrsquore missing a huge part of youhellip
mdashSarah Dopp
Users are giving pushback to assumptions that leave them out Social apps in particular are being pressed to adjust Facebook Google and others have been dealing with these questions for years and are still working it out So if you feel out of depth youre not the only one
Normalization
When developers talk about normalization were talking about databases About computer science But when dealing with human attributes were inherently dealing in the social sciences too
cczona
Construction of social norms
Sociological normalization [READ]
Conflating those works fine if you only want users from among the select few who belong to the idealized norm But most of us are going for broad userbase
cczona
Database Normalization
Mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships
What we lose track of is one of the core tenets of database normalization Were supposed to [read] When the database is in tension with peoples own real world -- then its not people who need to be flexible Its us
Why IS this hard Because at first glance this stuff looks easy Its just forms Weve done those a million times
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 3: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
cczona
Imagine walking through the world knowing that everyonersquos first assumptions about how you see yourself who you love and what feels right for you are completely wrong Now imagine signing up for a cool website and then being required to select an option from a drop-down menu that doesnrsquot include anything that represents you
Yoursquoll feel defeated Yoursquoll want to argue that whatever they think theyrsquore learning from that drop-down menu itrsquos not really true Yoursquoll want to tell them that theyrsquore adding to your humiliation by making you do this Yoursquoll want to tell them that theyrsquore missing a huge part of youhellip
mdashSarah Dopp
Users are giving pushback to assumptions that leave them out Social apps in particular are being pressed to adjust Facebook Google and others have been dealing with these questions for years and are still working it out So if you feel out of depth youre not the only one
Normalization
When developers talk about normalization were talking about databases About computer science But when dealing with human attributes were inherently dealing in the social sciences too
cczona
Construction of social norms
Sociological normalization [READ]
Conflating those works fine if you only want users from among the select few who belong to the idealized norm But most of us are going for broad userbase
cczona
Database Normalization
Mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships
What we lose track of is one of the core tenets of database normalization Were supposed to [read] When the database is in tension with peoples own real world -- then its not people who need to be flexible Its us
Why IS this hard Because at first glance this stuff looks easy Its just forms Weve done those a million times
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 4: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Normalization
When developers talk about normalization were talking about databases About computer science But when dealing with human attributes were inherently dealing in the social sciences too
cczona
Construction of social norms
Sociological normalization [READ]
Conflating those works fine if you only want users from among the select few who belong to the idealized norm But most of us are going for broad userbase
cczona
Database Normalization
Mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships
What we lose track of is one of the core tenets of database normalization Were supposed to [read] When the database is in tension with peoples own real world -- then its not people who need to be flexible Its us
Why IS this hard Because at first glance this stuff looks easy Its just forms Weve done those a million times
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 5: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
cczona
Construction of social norms
Sociological normalization [READ]
Conflating those works fine if you only want users from among the select few who belong to the idealized norm But most of us are going for broad userbase
cczona
Database Normalization
Mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships
What we lose track of is one of the core tenets of database normalization Were supposed to [read] When the database is in tension with peoples own real world -- then its not people who need to be flexible Its us
Why IS this hard Because at first glance this stuff looks easy Its just forms Weve done those a million times
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 6: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
cczona
Database Normalization
Mirror real-world concepts and their interrelationships
What we lose track of is one of the core tenets of database normalization Were supposed to [read] When the database is in tension with peoples own real world -- then its not people who need to be flexible Its us
Why IS this hard Because at first glance this stuff looks easy Its just forms Weve done those a million times
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 7: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
cczona
But were getting tripped up by some flawed premises
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 8: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
cczona
Gender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand but most people dont Like Inception
mdash Sam Killerman
First a premise that deeply personal stuff about humans can be reduced to lists
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 9: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
cczona
Hey this is just a system I can figure out easily is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market
mdashxkcd 592
Second assumptions that canonical lists for these exist Or are at least SURELY must be createable
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 10: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
cczona
And the third problem is our faith that the first two problems here can be easily solved Just add more list items[SCROLL for a while] Easy to wind up looking foolish Without even having solved the problem
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 11: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Social Networks
What IS a social network What is it in purely human terms
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 12: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Social
It involves trust Individuals revealing WHO THEY ARE WHAT THEY VALUE and WHO THEY CARE about Its as personal as we get This is the REAL LIFE that our apps are meant to replicate and build upon
What relationships are we fostering between person and app What relationships are we accidentally inhibiting or denying
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 13: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
cczona
In real life
I know your personhood better than you
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 14: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
cczona
In real life
sounds presumptuous
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 15: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
cczona
In real life
Your existence isnt possible
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 16: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
cczona
In real life
sounds clueless
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 17: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
cczona
In real life
Who you are is invalid
sounds arrogant
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 18: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
cczona
In real life
sounds arrogant
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 19: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
cczona
Data modeling is psychology and it is philosophy It reflect individuals beliefs about reality rather than reflecting reality itself It rejects realitys complexity and richness Thats NOT what we set out to do Its not the COMMUNITY we seek to build
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 20: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
cczona
[READ]
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 21: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
cczona
Be conservative in what you do be liberal in what you accept from others
-Postels Law
Postels Law reminds us to [READ]ARE we taking to heart that wisdom
[PAUSE FOR END OF SECTION]
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 22: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
cczona
Schemas plural
There are two kinds of schemas
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 23: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
cczona
Mental Schema
bull Pre-conceived ideas
bull Framework for representing some aspect of the world
bull System of organizing amp perceiving new information
Mental Schema are [READ]
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 24: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
cczona
Database Schema
bull Structure described in the databases language
bull Blueprint for database construction
bull Describes how the real world is being modeled
Database schemas are closely related to that Its a mental schema translated into blueprints for a database
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 25: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
cczona
These are simply frontend manifestations of various individuals MENTAL schemas And [SLOW DOWN] when we look at them closely we can see [BRIEF PAUSE] that schemas are foundation [BRIEF PAUSE] for expressing
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 26: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
cczona
deeply intimate
things that are [READ]
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 27: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
cczona
important relationships
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 28: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
cczona
self-image
Schemas are foundation for expressingthings [READ]
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 29: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
cczona
Schemas define the
user experience
Schemas define user experience
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 30: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
cczona
Our schemas are leaving people behind
amp UX
[read]We can fix that
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 31: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
cczona
What benefit will the user notice
By asking ourselves What benefit will the USER NOTICE THIS is not equivalent to How will the user benefit Because THAT is a question which grants us too much latitude To ASSUME that what we want is of course to their benefit because its gonna help us deliver a product thats Awesome
[READ AGAIN] focuses us on EXPERIENCES
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 32: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
cczona
Evaluating from user perspective gives us focus
There isnt ONE WAY There isnt ONE RIGHT ANSWER Because the NATURE of our dilemma is that users vary And so do their social worlds So we always need to understand varying approaches How they fit different contexts What tradeoffs they bring AND the obvious boring question which options best serve THIS apps business requirements
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 33: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
cczona
CheckboxRadio buttonSelect menuRanges
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checkboxes radio buttons select menus ranges these each imply that EVERY possible value can -- and is -- included If any value isnt included there its real world being rejected because it didnt match up with our mental schema
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 34: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
Coerced DiscretionaryGuided
Corrective Text InputTextarea
Checking a box is a one step action Entering a text string is not So a freeform solution such as a textarea or text input isnt automatically exciting BUT they can bring visible meaningful benefit
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 35: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
cczona
11 years
At MetaFilter gender has been a text field for over a decade
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 36: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
cczona
hellipthe early crowd at MeFi were often programmers and they hated the idea of dirty data collectionhellip
mdashMatt Haughey founder
Initially some SHUDDERED at the thought Because [READ]
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 37: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
cczona
All girl
XY
Fella
Queer
Fembot
Alto
It depends
MYOB
Dangly bits
Chicklet
Innie not outie
Convex
Sideburns
Ambisextrous
Member of the patriarchy
For about 5 seconds Then they jumped on board Because they could be creative and silly
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 38: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
cczona
I speak using the male gender when required by language 50 quintessential
tomboy 50 total girly-girl
AND because they could express this THING about themselves fully With authentic voice
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 39: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
cczona
TransgenderGenderqueer
[PAUSE]
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 40: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
cczona
The freeform gender field is something I cherish about Metafilter
mdashMeFi user
That text field grew into a beloved institution Whatever you as user choose to put into that field says something revealing about who YOU are
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 41: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
cczona
It was one of the earliest indications Id landed in the right place
mdashMeFi user
That youre allowed to put in ANYTHING -- or put in NOTHING AT ALL -- says something revealing about what how MetaFilter envisions community That schemas trust in users was the foundation for Metafilter users to ASK to share themselves even more
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 42: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
cczona
In 2010 Diaspora likewise turned gender into a text field Just like on MetaFilter users felt set free by it
Theres an important distinction here though Metafilter is closed source its one developer and its entirely in English Diaspora needed to meet a different set of needs Its open source and its international
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 43: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
cczona
Not amused
So some of its developers are not amused Its fair to object that this approach wreaks chaos on internationalization of pronouns [BEAT] And heres what Ive got to say to that
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 44: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
cczona
Internationalization is hellish period
Internationalization of pronouns is hellish period You get no safety net in this Constraining gender options doesnt solve translation of languages Dont set yourself up for trying to deal with internationalization this way It will fail you
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 45: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
cczona
Whats your legal gender
bull Indeterminate
bull X
bull Sex Not Specified
And if you really thing that boiling this question down to Whats your legal gender is an easy out lets talk about internationaliztion of that too Because this is the year that indeterminate has become a legal gender on German birth certificates and that X is a legal gender on Australian passports In New South Wales Australia Sex Not Specified is yet another legally-recognized gender Binary gender is today APP FAIL
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 46: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
cczona
the most complicated thing Irsquove ever spent a lot of time learning about
And Irsquove spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics
mdashRandall Munroe xkcd
Randall Munroe best known as xkcd has examined the issue of pronouns many times in depth for English language projects He says its [READ] So hes what he ultimately concluded
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 47: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
cczona
Ask
Ask
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 48: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/48.jpg)
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
itititselfitsits
by name
Asking straight up Which Pronouns Do You Prefer is truly the best he could come up with
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 49: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/49.jpg)
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Or maybe slightly refining like these
And I know you may be looking at that 3rd row and protesting
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 50: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/50.jpg)
cczona
Which pronouns do you prefer
hehimhimselfhishis
sheherherselfhersher
theythemthemselftheirstheir
personal name
other ____________
Our english teachers told us they and their arent singular right Nope Theyre plural AND SINGULAR and have been for 400 years Take the word of Jane Austen Shakespeare Chaucer Lewis Carroll Modern english authorities agree on this one too Its excellent English -- and excellent SOCIAL -- to use it when people ask us to
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 51: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/51.jpg)
cczona
Even Facebook has taken note that its okay Theyve been using this construction for at least 5 years and are doing fine -)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 52: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/52.jpg)
cczona
Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in
mdashRobert Frost
We aspire to make our social apps feel like home We can do that by making development choices that say Hey user we GET you Be as individual and messy as you want to We can handle _you_ being _you_
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 53: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/53.jpg)
Social Research
When collecting data on people were in a different realm Social sciences If you want to run useful analytics about personal attributes and behavior then data collection needs to meet at least the two minimum criteria for social science research
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 54: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/54.jpg)
ExhaustiveEvery possible option
A fields values must include every possible option
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 55: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/55.jpg)
Mutually ExclusiveNo overlap exists between them
And the fields options must be mutually exclusive
How many social apps have both of those bare minimum criteria covered
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 56: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/56.jpg)
cczona
Weve seen this one enough At least that set of values seems covered fully
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 57: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/57.jpg)
cczona
`
But its not
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 58: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/58.jpg)
cczona
Still lacking
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 59: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/59.jpg)
cczona
Trying hard But still inadequate to express the real worlds complexity
We do realize that the real world has great variety Of course we do But its hard to know how to handle it
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 60: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/60.jpg)
cczona
What user experience does this schema drive us toward
Its easy to figure Eh we can refactor later But initial choices set differing user experiences in motion Thinking at the outset about the real worlds variety and complexity starts us asking early questions that set foundation for social app-building Ask What user experience does this schema drive us toward
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 61: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/61.jpg)
cczona
Data doesnrsquot have to be for analysis
Its easy to get into the habit of structuring data for easy analysis But we can choose to look at human data from a different perspective Step back Wallow in the users perspective
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 62: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/62.jpg)
cczona
Data can be sheerexpressiveness
Data can be sheer expressiveness Data that has character individualism distinctiveness
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 63: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/63.jpg)
cczona
What we want What we get
bull Structured
bull Predictablebull Validations exceptions
bull Conditionals partials
bull Relational
bull Indexed bull Premature optimization
bull Exhaustivebull Cultural variability
bull Individual POV
bull Moving target
bull Easy analytics
bull Data-driven decisionsbull Decisions based on false
premises
As developers we have a vision of what a good codebase should be and not be
[READ]
In the most sensible of ways we often arrive at solutions that are factually TRUTHY while far removed from real life utility
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 64: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/64.jpg)
cczona
What is your religion if any
ARIS is the largest ongoing survey of Americans religious identification It asks this simple OPEN-ENDED question [slide]
Which nets over 100 unique answers Which if youre making a form based on that is tricky Theres no form element that makes it easy for our users to pick themselves out of a list of so many possibilities
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 65: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/65.jpg)
cczona
ARIS found though that these could be compressed into 13 major categories More manageable list right We could use that for a form But eh a lot of those are edge cases Wed rather want to focus on genuinely major groupings
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 66: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/66.jpg)
cczona
What is your religion if any
Christian 76
Other 4
None 15
Dont Know or Refused 5
Which brings us down to this At least a quarter of Americans are Christian Done Every other religion would just be clutter Edge cases
And then theres this sort of crummy data with it Wed probably assign nil value for more than one of these categories right
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 67: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/67.jpg)
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 4
na 20
Fixed Which focuses attention on a problem here 1 in 5 are not useful answers from an advertisers perspective or for out own analytics The NILS -- gotta go
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 68: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/68.jpg)
cczona
What is your religion
Christian 76
Other 24
So what were left with is a good clear list It covers ALL the big stuff When you get reductive enough for Americans religion it a binary Which from a storage standpoint is great Booleans Score
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 69: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/69.jpg)
cczona
Religion
But we dont do THIS It covers the biggest categories But oh how it leaves people out
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 70: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/70.jpg)
cczona
People arent edge cases
People arent edge cases
And theyre pushing back on apps that treat them that way
[LONG BEAT LONG] [BREATH] [CHANGE GEARS]
So Reductive has big problems So does scaling upward
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 71: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/71.jpg)
cczona
Balancing between approaches
As engineers its instinctually uncomfortable to DELIBERATELY NOT STRUCTURE DATA for easy analysis I feel ya I really do This freaks me too But again the foundational question is What benefit will the user notice What identities are okay with us
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 72: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/72.jpg)
cczona
And if necessary we CAN strike a middleground This is where guided response comes in Autosuggest
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 73: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/73.jpg)
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required OptionalAutosuggest
Minimal Suggest
When theres a subset of values that youre most interested in do minimal suggest instead Autosuggest using just the handful of values you care about
Structured data from those who want to give it Free form to incite expressiveness in those who want THAT
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 74: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/74.jpg)
Unguided TextOf those who use MetaFilters gender field
40 of responses are f m female male
[read] So structured data IS there This can be a balanced solution in many cases where youre willing to tolerate some ambiguity Of course there are tradeoffsData quantity is lower Freed to opt out of proving personal info many doOn the other hand data quality should improve
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 75: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/75.jpg)
Optional Select60 of Facebook users select a relationship status
Its fine to mix and match here Find the right approach for your users and your apps business objectives Facebook for instance makes relationship status completely optional but coercive for those who do opt-in to setting a value Most users do opt-in 60 of them select a relationship status
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 76: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/76.jpg)
cczona
We want everyone to feel excited what weve
built
The bottom line is that [read]
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 77: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/77.jpg)
cczona
We want users to feel passionate about their
involvement
[read]
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 78: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/78.jpg)
cczona
Analytics investments amp monetization are
based on a premise that data is accurate
[read]
BUT the data has been collected by coercive approaches the RISK is that--
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 79: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/79.jpg)
cczona
this premise is garbage Some people are lying because lying has been made requirement for getting past the barriers So conclusions drawn from that bad data can misdirect decision-making about the next stage of development
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 80: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/80.jpg)
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required
Corrective
DiscretionaryGuided
The restrictive options that stuff at bottom left those dont actually have to be marked required
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 81: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/81.jpg)
cczona
ADD column gender NOT NULL VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT female
But the way we setup schema often embeds assumptions that we should and we will So we do An attribute that is ambiguously named is destined to become a form field whose data wanders away from its original intent and code that misunderstands how to use it A field thats not allowed to be null is destined to be mandatory A field that is assigned a maximum length is an ASSERTION that all possible values are knowable and fit within it
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 82: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/82.jpg)
cczona
ADD column gender_identity NOT NULL VARCHAR
BOOM This is foundation for a whole different user experience And the cool ninja move was that we decided to DO LESS Make this stuff flexible upfront Optimize storage later Decide whats valid later
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 83: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/83.jpg)
cczona
CheckboxRadioSelect
TextareaText
Required Optional
Alteration
Guided
So there you have it a discretionary field Whether to respond is left up to the user
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 84: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/84.jpg)
cczona
tstring relationship_status null =gt true
As developers we may upon THIS expression as redundant completely unnecessary Duh null is true by default But making that explicit is a communication to the team and to your future self Its a statement of intent Its documenting a product decision
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 85: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/85.jpg)
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
What would a canonical set of relationship statuses look like Three years ago Facebook figured this list was pretty good Arguably pretty progressive too right Users disagreed Strongly
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 86: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/86.jpg)
cczona
FacebookSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Under pressure Facebook nearly doubled the options in just two years time
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 87: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/87.jpg)
cczona
Google+Single
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
While Google+ has largely adopted that list it has not included Separated or Divorced Notice that they also added something choice Opt out of labeling
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 88: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/88.jpg)
cczona
Allowing users to identify their relationships with labels of greater personal significanceThats being driven by people rejecting a user experience that isnt working for them
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 89: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/89.jpg)
cczona
Its a scope
How did some status seem universal while others werent Naming a thing creates scope The assumed validity of a fields values get constrained as soon as the field is named
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 90: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/90.jpg)
cczona
marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 91: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/91.jpg)
cczona
legal_marital_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Marital status for instance might lead to a list similar to this one A person is assumed to be either unmarried preparing to be married currently married or formerly married
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 92: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/92.jpg)
cczona
relationship_statusSingle
In a relationship
Engaged
Married
Its complicated
Open relationship
Widowed
Separated
Divorced
Civil union
Domestic partnership
I dont want to say
Whereas relationship status might lead to a list more like this one In which one either has a current relationship -- or is defined by the absence of any
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 93: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/93.jpg)
cczona
singleness_status
As soon as you name a field you define its paradigm and possibilities There are important difference in what each of these envision and are able to measure Naming fields -- with great specificity upfront -- Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 94: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/94.jpg)
cczona
singleness_rating
No chance whatsoever Suuuuuper duper single
1000
If you change the name you shift the paradigm and possibilities Theres important difference in these what these collect set out to measure Naming fields -- With great specificity upfront --Makes analyses more powerful later
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 95: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/95.jpg)
cczona
Its ComplicatedIn a Relationship
Married Divorced
WidowedSingle
We go through life experiencing many relationships They dont all have pre-determined labels And new relationship identities dont necessarily leave old ones behind
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 96: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/96.jpg)
cczona
I like to be truthful and Its Complicated is really deceiving It is not complicated I am separated from my husband who I am still legally married to
mdashFacebook user
[READ] Why should anyone have to feel like theyre required to disavowing a relationship thats meaningful for them
It cuts deeply sometimes Is a widow only Widowed until she resumes dating Why does she have to be confronted with a decision like that just to use someones app
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 97: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/97.jpg)
cczona
Okay this one Spot the fatal flaw [WAIT]
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 98: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/98.jpg)
cczona
buffer overflow
An open relationship is definitionally a 1Many join mdash WITH the usual engineering understanding that is that actual number of relationships may be 0 1 OR many
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 99: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/99.jpg)
cczona
Choose (one) evasive inauthentic
But its not funny from the personal perspective This schema forces the person to either LOOK EVASIVE or else BE INAUTHENTIC This is what happens when we try to throw more labels at the problem instead of re-examining the schemas assumptions
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 100: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/100.jpg)
cczona
Facebook relationship status by user age
srslyWhen we dont give people means to express whats real and important for them they hack around us Are a quarter of Facebooks 13 year olds really married Probably not What they probably have is a BEST FRIEND and married is nearest equivalent available for them to express THIS PERSON is my most important relationship
The dogged pursuit of nice clean CRUNCHABLE data takes us to such wrong places And makes our users want to work against a system that doesnt acknowledge their lives reality
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 101: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/101.jpg)
cczona
We build or break community with each
line of code
As developers our lines of code build -- or break -- an apps community So its worth making conscious choices as we go
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 102: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/102.jpg)
cczona
Modeling the real world is complex
[READ] And thats okay
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 103: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/103.jpg)
cczona
Assuming we know who users are surrenders
opportunity to learn who they are
But [read] Early constraints in schema NET crappy misleading data[beat]So keep constraints out of human and social schema at least at first Gather enough initial response to do some data mining Watch that data for a while Keep an eye out for emergent trends What DISCOVERIES can you make How can they shape the apps growth and evolution
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 104: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/104.jpg)
cczona
Quality
Data quality improves when lies are merely optional not required
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 105: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/105.jpg)
cczona
Specificity
Data becomes like the real world itself rich and specific So we can unearth the patterns that are undetectable when data is generic
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 106: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/106.jpg)
cczona
Adaptability
We get to make discoveries and re-envision possibilities
We adapt quickly
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 107: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/107.jpg)
cczona
Loyalty
And their response to all this Engagement Passion LOYALTY
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 108: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/108.jpg)
cczona
THOSE are foundations for great user experiences [LOOK UP FINALITY]
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 109: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/109.jpg)
cczonacczonagmailcomhttpcczonacom
QuestionsConversation
Oh Hell Yeah
Carina C Zona
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 110: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/110.jpg)
cczona
Resources
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 111: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/111.jpg)
cczona
Data Science amp Information ArchitecturebullSociological normalization
bullDatabase normalization
bullUsing Machine Learning On Social Networks To Figure Out What You Should Read On The Web
bullNoSQL Data Modeling Techniques
bullData amp Reality by William Kent
bull Bad Data Handbook Q Ethan McCallum
bullData Science of the Facebook World
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 112: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/112.jpg)
cczona
Relationships
bullDoes Facebook Hurt Relationships
bullFacebook Adds LGBT-Friendly Relationship Status Options
bullFacebook Targeting by Relationship Status amp Workplace
bullYour Facebook Relationship Status Its Complicated
bullGay Marriage The Database Engineering Perspective
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 113: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/113.jpg)
cczona
Sex amp Genders
bullldquoDisalienation Why Gender is a Text Field on Diasporardquo
bull ldquoGender amp Drop Down Menusrdquo
bullldquoSex amp Genderrdquo
bullldquoBucket Genderrdquo
bullRecommendations for Inclusive Data Collection of Trans People
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 114: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/114.jpg)
cczona
Names
bullFalsehoods Programmers Believe About Names
bullYour Last Name Contains Invalid Characters
bullW3C Internationalization Personal Names Around the World
bullSpanish Names
bullChinese Names
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 115: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/115.jpg)
cczona
More
bullRedesigning the Country Selector
bullAmerican Religious Identification Survey Summary Report 2009
bullLinguistic Potluck Crowdsourcing Internationalization in Rails
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 116: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/116.jpg)
cczona
Image CreditsPostsecret
OKCupid
Google+
Metafilter
Diaspora
Flickr
FetLife
Kotangle
cutestpawcom
hdwallpapersin
xkcd
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 117: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/117.jpg)
cczona
Many ThanksChiu-Ki ChanEstelle Weyl
Heather RiversHeroku
Jeremy DunckJosh Susser
Michele TitoloNIRD LLC
Reneacutee De VoursneySarah Mei
San Francisco Sex InformationYoz Grahame
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona
![Page 118: Schemas for the Real World [Madison RubyConf 2013]](https://reader030.vdocument.in/reader030/viewer/2022020207/549a4191ac7959482e8b5a18/html5/thumbnails/118.jpg)
cczona
Get in Touch
Carina C Zonacczona
httpcczonacom
cczonagmailcom
httpslidesharenetcczona
httplinkedincomincczona