Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
The Feeling of Data
Summary
The age of data is well underway. But using data to make better decisions is not as simple as one might hope. In this session, we'll take a look at some of the challenges that arise when we fail to build better data culture and what we can do as designers to fix it.
Key Insights
-
•
Good data culture requires intentional decisions about what data is collected and why.
-
•
Democratizing data access speeds up decision-making and reveals cultural issues when too difficult.
-
•
Human curation remains essential for data quality as AI can’t yet fully replace manual intervention.
-
•
Data storytelling shapes organizational culture and helps unify diverse interpretations of the same data.
-
•
Designers play a critical role beyond aesthetics by mediating between teams and aligning data practices.
-
•
AI’s current lack of context understanding leads to overconfidence and risk of missing nuance.
-
•
Transparency via data lineage tools is crucial to avoid black-box models and build trust in AI.
-
•
There is often tension between 'hard' quantitative data and 'soft' experiential insights in decision-making.
-
•
A mature data culture integrates data quality metrics with organizational norms and responsibilities.
-
•
Information architecture and shared terminology are vital to reduce confusion and promote healthy data culture.
Notable Quotes
"Data problems often end up being people problems because we're lazy, shortsighted, territorial creatures."
"We as people are our data, which means we have to treat data problems with care and consideration."
"Good data culture is intentional about the decisions we want to make and why."
"If people have to file requests and learn SQL just to get simple data, you have a culture problem."
"Data quality is multifaceted, subjective, and can't be reduced to simple profiles alone."
"AI isn't good at context yet; it may insist it's a B or a 13, but not that it could be both depending on view."
"No black boxes: AI needs to explain its answers just like people do to build accountability and trust."
"Most people will make the right decisions with data if they know the appropriate guidelines."
"Designers should act like therapists or journalists when negotiating political divides around data governance."
"The Power BI team succeeds with data because everyone on the team is obsessed with understanding customer behavior."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Community-rooted wisdom like the Mexican 'guana' practice reduces postpartum depression without traditional research."
Victor UdoewaBeyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion
March 26, 2024
"Engineering’s number one goal should be to enable learning."
Bill ScottLean Engineering: Engineering for Learning and Experimentation in the Enterprise
May 14, 2015
"People are individuals first and part of communities second, which adds complexity to designing effective personas."
Lija HoganContexts of Use: A Framework for Connection
December 9, 2021
"Design managers need predictable roadmaps and healthy teams to meet project goals and timelines."
Aurobinda Pradhan Shashank DeshpandeIntroduction to Collaborative DesignOps using Cubyts
September 9, 2022
"There's no such thing as over-communication when you're distributed; silence breeds assumptions."
Jilanna WilsonDistributed DesignOps Management
February 26, 2019
"Context design and context engineering mean figuring out and building what needs to go into that text file sent to the model."
Peter Van DijckBuilding impactful AI products for design and product leaders, Part 3: Understand AI architectures: RAG, Agents, Oh My!
July 30, 2025
"Management consultants sell solutions to problems, not just research data, which is why they command high fees."
Nicole Aleong Michaela Mora Prayag Narula Brianna SylverWhat UX research can learn from other research practices [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 14, 2023
"The shown reasoning wasn't the actual reasoning. It was just a pretty story to get us to trust it."
Beth ChappellLeading through ambiguity: Supporting a design team relearning their craft
June 9, 2026
"If you don’t need a designer to create designs, what happens to designers?"
Llewyn PaineDay 1 Using AI in UX with Impact
June 10, 2025