Democratizing Data
Making data accessible at the New York Times
Making Data Useful
Answering Questions
Analyst
Stakeholder
Database
How are we doing?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
select
date,
revenue
from revenue_table
where date>2015-01-01
and date<today
What are people reading?
From: Newsroom
To: Analysts
select
article,
current_page_views
from streaming_event_tracker
group by article
(Fake Data)
Re: How are we doing?
From: Analysts
To: Advertising
Numbers need context
328 homicides in NYC in 2014
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_New_York_City#cite_note-one-177
(Fake Data)
Re: How are we doing?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
"Email Guilt"
Meeting Agenda
- "Get on same page"
- Read every bullet on slides out loud
- Review stuff we already know
- Tangential conversation with one person
Push
Pull
Easy
Answer
Machine
Building the
Easy
Answer
Machine
Requirements
- Easy to use
- Visual
- Answer questions
- Up-to-date
Easy
Answer
Machine
Identify and answer the main question first
Who's winning the election?
Re: What are people reading?
From: Newsroom
To: Analysts
How are we doing?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
Do I need to be worried?
How are we doing?
Re: How are we doing?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
Matching the chart to the question
relationships between two variables
trends and changes;
historical context
simple comparisons
comparisons with historical context
Multi-Line Chart
Comparing values with historical context
(Fake Data)
Comparing values with historical context
Answering questions without charts...
Re: How are we doing?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
Re: How are we doing?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
(Fake Data)
Answering questions without charts...
...or with nothing at all
Nothing to tell
Do I need to be worried?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
Alert! Revenue dropped by 27%
From: Dash
To: Advertising
"OK, why?"
Follow-up Questions
Overview first,
zoom and filter,
then details-on-demand
- Ben Shneiderman
Election: How close is it?
Re: What are people reading?
From: Newsroom
To: Analysts
How do people reach our articles?
(Fake Data)
WHY HAS REVENUE DROPPED BY 25%?!?
From: Advertising
To: Analysts
(Fake Data)
Re: How are we doing
Why is revenue down?
Zoom
Filter
Filter
Details on Demand
Demo
http://localhost:3274/#/site-activities
Data, Democratized
Results
Data, Democratized
Page Views
Visitors
Homepage stats
Products
Video
Subscriptions
Crosswords
Advertising
Personalization
A/B Tests
Data Governance
URLs
Opinion
Top Articles
Etc.
18 Teams
Over 100 charts
Crosswords
- Freed up for more advanced problems
- Building out more tools
- Use data rather than intuition
- More insightful questions
Analysts
Stakeholders
Meeting Agenda
(now that everyone is informed)
- discuss analytics insights
- make informed decisions
Things we Learned
- Answer the main question first
- Pick the right chart - or no chart
- Zoom and filter for followup questions
Data Awareness
Data-Driven Decisions
charlieguthrie.net
@charlieguthrie
linkedin.com/in/guthriecharlie
