Data Without Context is Just Numbers
In which I think about how my car insurance tracking app got confused by a plane ride.
Earlier this week I posted the following on my personal FaceBook page:
So our new car insurance includes use of one of those driving tracking apps that gives you a discount for good driving habits.
Was just checking how it reacted to my week in Dallas traffic this past week and saw that it had also tracked my plane’s arrival at DFW.
Which got me thinking on what the raw data behind that event would look like. It would show that on that particular date, at a certain time that I (or more accurately my phone) was moving at around 150 mph (the typical landing speed of a Boeing 737).
A speed that was sure to be flagged as an “Event” that impacted my driver rating in the app.
In my various workshops I often talk about the over-reliance on raw data, and this is a great example. To really understand what data is telling you you need to understand the context within which it was collected and how those data points combine to reveal the story of what was really happening.
Without context and understanding all you have is random numbers, and data by itself becomes useless.
And talking of stories, last week’s livestream discussion on Customer Focused Storytelling was the focus topic in the Ingeniux newsletter , and it is also now available as part of the Content Matters show on Apple Podcasts
Alan
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Weekly Thought
Switching the mindset to a customer-driven, outside-in view can pay dividends by providing an improved experience that helps customers solve their problems.
Content Discovery Workshops - Now taking bookings for Q3/24
THE CONTENT POOL is offering a special discount on our two-day Content Discovery Workshops for newsletter subscribers and readers.
We are now taking bookings for Q3/24, and we wanted to make sure that as a newsletter reader you got an early opportunity to lock-in a date.
As a reminder during these on-site in-person workshops workshop we will:
Develop your content vision
Identify opportunities to leverage your content in new ways
Map out the path to transform your enterprise content.
It will be followed by two deliverables:
Key observations document
High-level content transformation plan
A quick overview of the standard workshop format can be found at https://the-content-pool.com/workshops/
If you would like more details, or you like to discuss reserving a date for yourself and your team to benefit from a Content Discovery workshop, just email us at ajp@4jsgroup.com
In The Bookstore
If you enjoy the contents of this newsletter and would like more, we have three books always available from XML Press.
You can also check out The Content Pool website or follow us on FaceBook or on Twitter/X at @TheContentPool
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Till next time - have fun paddling in The Content Pool.
Alan J. Porter
The Content Pool™ is a division of the 4Js Group LLC