Earlier this year we were fortunate to be invited to contribute to a new book called mind+machine™ published by Wiley. We wrote a section about user experience and how it’s critical to place users at the centre of your thinking when designing products.
Here’s an excerpt: “If you invest millions in a product no one can use because you developed it in isolation, using internal assumptions and lead by a technically minded team without involving the people who will ultimately use it then it’s doomed to fail. Any part of the experience can turn people off if it’s not well considered — and drive them to your competitors. If you take a user centric approach you get early adoption and the impact can be significant in uptake, cost saving and profit. Early user research may even prove that your idea is doomed and you shouldn’t take it any further.”
Written for the non-techy reader, the book also aims to demystify some complex data topics.
“This book takes a close look at the reality and future of analytics in a straightforward manner. It debunks the most common fallacies about data analytics, looking at the reality of big and small data, artificial intelligence and data lakes.”
The premise of the book is that in a world of increased data, it is a combination of computer automation and human validation which can deliver improved quality, quicker.
It’s author is Marc Vollenweider a former McKinsey partner, and the founder of EvalueServe a leading provider of proprietary solutions and specialist services for research, analytics and data management. For the last 3 years we have been working on a spin-off company for Evaluseserve called InsightBee. InsightBee delivers EvalueServe’s services to a wider audience via a self serve pay-as-you-go platform making use of their 3,200+ team of research analysts.
In the background reports are compiled using InsightBee’s proprietary software dubbed K-Hive (K for Knowledge). The software takes a predefined report format for say a company report which might include; financials, key developments, industry analysis, SWOT, company strategy etc… It then draws data from selected data sources and populates a draft of the report with content — tables as well as the prosaic paragraphs of copy. The report is then reviewed, validated and edited by an expert analyst. The result is a high quality, up-to-date report delivered in less than half the time it would take an analyst starting from scratch. This is mind + machine in action.
The book argues that in an increasingly data-led world the human mind is still critical to get the best results. At least for now anyway!
The book can be purchased on Amazon.
Read more about mind+machine™ on the InsightBee website
