A trio of data skills<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe believe you need a trio of data skills, on a data project, as a minimum:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re missing one of these skills on a project, it won\u2019t work\u2026or not as well, at least. If you miss out the data consultant, you risk the project not delivering any commercial value. If you miss out the data analyst, you risk not being able to access, combine and analyse the more complex data sources. If you miss out the data visualiser, you risk not sharing the insight from your work in an intuitive way. You need all three to be assured of a successful data project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe data consultant will create the use case\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis person needs to properly understand the business, the product\/s, the market, the customer\/s, the distributors and the business levers that can be pulled to influence costs and revenue. This knowledge needs to be applied to creating a commercial use case for the data project, for instance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can we use data to make money?<\/li> How can we use data to save money?<\/li> How can we use data to create a competitive advantage?<\/li> How can we use data to innovate?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nWithout this perspective, the project risks being a waste of time where the end result could offer no demonstrable value to the business performance or offer no actionable insight. The data consultant brings the \u2018so what?\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenge here is looking beyond the obvious. Just because past business performance shows a certain trend, that doesn\u2019t mean it will continue in future as there might be market, regulatory or other external influence that will impact supply and demand of a business\u2019 product or service in future. Or, just because the business has had certain revenue streams in the past, that doesn\u2019t mean there can\u2019t be a new one that could be data-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data consultants are often described as interpreters\u200a\u2014\u200abecause they sit between the commercial part of the business and the technology part of the business. They need to be able to speak the language of business and interpret it into tech speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The data consultant needs to be the innovator\u200a\u2014\u200athe challenger, the thought-provoker, the commercial idea generator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe data analyst will prepare the data\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis person needs to be a coder, a programmer and confident in dealing with data in all different formats, sizes and complexity. The data analyst will need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Extract the data from a myriad of data sources<\/li> Cleanse the data and remove or process anomalies or false data<\/li> Combine data sources by finding or creating matching criteria<\/li> Analyse the data using a range of statistical and analytical models<\/li> Prepare the data for analysis<\/li> Connect up live data feeds.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nWithout this perspective, the project risks being limited to only the simplest data sources and the simplest analytical methods which could result in far less valuable insight. The data analyst brings the tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenge here is juggling large volumes of data, sometimes from a range of data sources and often in a wide variety of data formats. Matching and combining data can be an additional challenge where there are not unique IDs for each record, so this can often be a complex process. Then there are the analytical methods which can include creating models for value analysis, segmentation, trend analysis and predictive models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The data analyst needs to be the data wrangler\u200a\u2014\u200athe data connector, the problem solver, the model builder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe data visualiser will tell the story\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis person needs to be both customer and user orientated. They need to be focused on who will use the data tool they\u2019re building\u200a\u2014\u200awho are they? How do they work? What do they care about? What actions can they take using the tool? This understanding needs to be interpreted into building the data visualisation tool so the data visualiser will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visualise the data to understand patterns and trends<\/li> Create a data story for the user<\/li> Design the interactivity of the data tool so that it matches what the user will want to see\/do<\/li> Select the appropriate visualisations and graphs to tell the story in the best way<\/li> Act on feedback from the users to refine and iterate the data tool<\/li> Train the users to use the data tool.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nWithout this perspective, the project risks having a poor end result, confusing data visualisations or a lack of understandable insight. The data analyst brings the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visualisation can often be seen as the pretty part, the easy bit or the quick task. It\u2019s the complete opposite. Whilst it\u2019s really easy to make something look complicated, it\u2019s really hard to make something look simple.<\/em><\/strong>Getting the story right, choosing the right graphs, allowing the appropriate level of interactivity\u200a\u2014\u200athese all require deep user understanding, masses of experience and a dedication to data storytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe data visualiser needs to be the storyteller\u200a\u2014\u200athe user investigator, the completer-finisher, the designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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