Today I am bringing you a recording of a live interview I did at the TDWI Munich conference for data leaders, and this episode is a bit unique as I’m in the “guest” seat being interviewed by the VP of TDWI Europe, Christoph Kreutz. 

Christoph wanted me to explain the new workshop I was giving later that day, which focuses on helping leaders increase user adoption of data products through design. In our chat, I explained the three main areas I pulled out of my full 4-week seminar to create this new ½-day workshop as well as the hands-on practice that participants would be engaging in. The three focal points for the workshop were: measuring usability via usability studies, identifying the unarticulated needs of stakeholders and users, and sketching in low fidelity to avoid over committing to solutions that users won’t value. 

Christoph also asks about the format of the workshop, and I explain how I believe data leaders will best learn design by doing it. As such, the new workshop was designed to use small group activities, role-playing scenarios, peer review…and minimal lecture! After discussing the differences between the abbreviated workshop and my full 4-week seminar, we talk about my consulting and training business “Designing for Analytics,” and conclude with a fun conversation about music and my other career as a professional musician. 

In a hurry? Skip to: 

• I summarize the new workshop version of “Designing Human-Centered Data Products” I was premiering at TDWI (4:18)

• “We spend a lot of time building outputs and infrastructure and pipelines and data engineering and generating stuff, but not always generating outcomes. Users only care about how does this make my life better, my job better, my job easier? How do I look better? How do I get a promotion? How do I make the company more money? Whatever those goals are. And there’s a gap there sometimes, between the things that we ship and delivering these outcomes.” (4:36)

• Brian’s training seminar