Why Data Only will not Help your Business Strategy

Usage data has become part of a major discussion in recent years, mainly because of the risk of privacy problems carried with it. Now, many have stated that rich data usage is a big element when it comes to product development, and I agree. However, this will not be the best thing for your business strategy, if you look to focus mainly on data.

Data, just in general, is becoming extremely big business. Big data, to be more exact. And according to research studies compiled last year by marketing companies (several), show that big data could reach a 20-30 billion dollar industry. Essentially, usage data is much needed, as this is anonymous feedback or robot feedback from how a program/app is operating on a system, saving countless hours of labor, for example.

What's more is that the role of data in product development is not without controversy. There are many abundant sources of reliable information from product development teams and data analysis that leave room for debate.

We realize a few different things about data that may make it problematic for a business strategy. One of those things is that data cannot represent all people using a specific product. So, who, we ask, is represented in the data and what is the data's limits?

Another thing we need to look at is per product usage, that data only reports on how it was used rather than how it will be used. Therefore, it's best to know how the product will perform, and data alone cannot predict how this will perform.

It's also apparent that the context, in which the data was collected, is very important because it determines why the data reported such results, what it revealed about the product, and why it was computed a specific way. We frequently need to know the end state, the data can help, but what about what caused the end-state? That's the question.

But, ultimately, data contributed to product development and is a major resource product developers cannot do without. It may not replace our (scientific) notions of what and why we build what we build, but at least it helps resource-wise.

Not every product, though, targets a certain span of customers, so the demographics that the data shows can help developers target the right audiences next time, in order to expand their range of development.

What is your take in the debate of the use of data or even big data in products that you develop?