Analytics 101
I was reading a children’s book to my twelve month old daughter the other night and thought to myself, this is the worst book I’ve ever read! I would think there are some basic steps that make up a good book for a one year old child. The first essential step is the book must be visually appealing. Colors, pictures, and design must be strategically developed so that a child will be drawn to the book. The second step is the construction must be made using materials that are sustainable and durable so the book can be used repeatedly. The other night, it took my daughter about five seconds to rip out one of the pages to the book and hand it to me proudly saying, “Da Da”. Next, the book must tell a story. A good story is why many books like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast have sold millions of copies, made movies, and are considered classics. Finally, the book must be simple. There shouldn’t be any Graduate level vocabulary. If this seems obvious, go to your local book store and browse some of the books in the kid’s section and see for yourself. If these three steps seem like no-brainers, you’re right! Somebody missed “writing kid’s books 101”…
There are striking similarities between writing a good kid’s book and creating analytics. Let’s review the four basic steps. Simply stated, the four are:
- Visually Appealing
- Repeatable
- Tell a Story
- Simple
When creating any kind of analytics these four steps should be planned out carefully. Almost anyone can put together a line graph showing a trend. But, only an expert can build a sustainable series of metrics that can be repeated, are a visual masterpiece, and tell a meaningful story. Keeping it simple is where many folks fall short.
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