Assumed facts and educated decisions
2015 - Calum ShepherdI love Google’s definition of data:
Data, in philosophy, is “things known or assumed as facts, making the basis of reasoning or calculation.”
There’s something genuinely elegant about that definition. It ties assumed facts directly to reasoning - and reasoning is what ultimately lets us make educated decisions.
Reasoning, in turn, is defined as:
“The action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way.”
We already know data is fundamental to good user-centred design. But using the wrong data can be worse than using none at all - bad data quietly supports flawed decisions, often for a long time before anyone notices. Build on flawed data long enough and you end up in a cycle of uneducated change: the exact opposite of true iteration.
Change: “An act or process through which something becomes different.”
Whereas:
Iteration: “The repetition of a process or utterance as a means of obtaining successively closer approximations to achieve a solution.”
To genuinely improve, we need to iterate - and iteration only works when we’re using the right data at the right time. Our methods should feed reasoning and decision-making, not lead us astray.
The importance of context in data
Predicting user behaviour is hard even in the best circumstances, which is exactly why understanding your available methods - what they give you, and how to combine them meaningfully - matters so much.
Pulling numbers out of Google Analytics, for instance, is close to meaningless without context. That context might come from user interviews, or simply from knowing whether filters have been applied to the data. Beyond what users are doing, context is what tells you why.
Getting the basics right
Getting the cadence of research right matters too. “Research” and “measure” aren’t optional stages, though they’re sometimes treated that way - the trick is adjusting their intensity so they stay practical on a regular basis.
More than ever, it’s worth getting the basics right:
- Collecting the right data
- At the right time
- With the right people involved
The goal, ultimately, is a set of assumed facts solid enough to support genuinely educated decisions.
Final thoughts
I suspect my notes will always have “assumed facts” sitting at the top - a reminder to base decisions on sound reasoning and reliable data.
Have a great New Year!