EuroIA 2013 - Small Moments in Big Databenholliday.com @benholliday

Hello

Information overload is a life problem. It’s changed how we live and interact

with each other

Life isn't just information.It’s everything that data doesn’t capture

A great experience is more than the sum of it’s parts

“The real value of a product consists of far more than the product's components”

Don Norman

Measuring the Universe Roman Ondak

flickr.com/photos/profzucker/

Measuring the Universe Roman Ondak

flickr.com/photos/profzucker/

Measuring the Universe Roman Ondak

Art has always been a great guide when we’re trying to better understand who we are

Art has always been a great guide when we’re trying to better understand who we are

“I rarely draw what I see – I draw what I feel …touch, texture, size and scale,

hardness and warmth, evocation and compulsion to move, live, and love”

Barbara Hepworth

flickr.com/photos/diorama_sky/

Rather than being a barrier to rationality, our emotions are anessential part of how we can better understand the world

flickr.com/photos/88933162@N00/

If big data is an extension of the “bicycle for the mind” then it needs stabilisers

“The brain is wider than the sky,      For, put them side by side,    

The one the other will include      With ease, and you beside”

Emily Dickinson (1830-86)

“The essence of being human, involves asking questions, not answering them”

John Seely Brown (Computer Scientist)

“…asking questions is a creative act but answering them need not be”

Bryan Appleyard

The Brain is Wider Than the SkyWhy Simple Solutions Don't Work in a Complex World - Bryan Appleyard

Information should inspire and challenge. Most of all it should make us think

“Information becomes knowledge only when it's placed in context”

Nate Silver

Empathy isn't something we see, but something we see through. It determines the way we see,

what we see, and what we don't

…challenging our beliefs in order to become less subjective, less irrational, and less wrong

Certainty comes from the stories we tell each other. We believe something is certain when there is enough shared understanding

flickr.com/photos/granmaitre/

Numbers have no way of speaking for themselves. We speak for them

and give them meaning

“…we want to apply data to every decision …to be a very data-driven company”

Mike Curtis, Airbnb Vice President of Engineering

“…working with data or statistics isn’t as much of a science as you might think

…[it’s more a case of] we got an answer to this confidence level and

we think that’s sufficient”Dave Evans, FreeAgent Data Scientist

“Since when can weathermen predict the weather, let alone the future?”

Marty McFly

In life we act upon the strongest signals we can interpret

“Today’s leader doesn’t have all the answers. Instead, today’s leader

knows what questions to ask”Alistair Croll & Ben Yoskovitz (Lean Analytics)

We used to think about a taxonomy, but we now have to think about horizontal and

vertical connections, across multiple channels

We can challenge our beliefs and increase our understanding using design research

Context helps us deal with complication and shape a more cohesive user experience

Design research shows you the strategies people have for adapting your product or services to their own requirements

flickr.com/photos/dmourati/

Complexity Vs Complication

The difference between complicated and complex things is more obvious once you look for it.

Mapping the user journey is the first step to recognising complexity. Seeing it is the

first step to accepting it

We all need to get better at telling stories …we’re shaped by those we collaborate and

share our stories with

Data is a fixed point in time. It can help us learn from the past and form new ideas, but when

people are involved it’s never the whole story

Data is a fixed point in time. It can help us learn from the past and form new ideas, but when

people are involved it’s never the whole story

Shift our focus from big data’s output to our own input

Add context using small moments and individual stories

Make connections and use data to challenge existing beliefs

Thank youbenholliday.com @benholliday