From the Archive · December 2021 · Perspective
Thinking About Footfall…
It's not the data we love — it's the context that gives the data colour.
From the Archive · December 2021 · Perspective
It's not the data we love — it's the context that gives the data colour.
Originally published December 2021 on the previous Data Jam site. Preserved here as part of our archive.
Sometimes we wonder at the Jam, just what is it about data that we love so much. Suddenly, it occurred to us… It's not the data we love… it's the context that gives the data colour we love.
Let me explain… Do we love that 500 people are in Tamworth right now? I mean, great for Tamworth, but otherwise as a standalone piece of data, so what… BUT if we can understand that the 500 people are stood outside the new JD Sports store which has just opened up in the last week, they're queuing to buy the Adidas trainers which have just dropped, AND they are willing to do it in the rain, on a Tuesday morning when it's 3 degrees in December — then we LOVE IT.
We can draw so much information from that one example, because of the context. So framing data is the most important thing to us. What matters isn't always the what — it is often the why. And that is what makes data so exciting to us. Knowing the why, and the what, means we can take a sneak peek into the future. It's not always going to be correct; perhaps next year in December the Adidas shoes aren't as hot when they drop, or maybe a blizzard comes and prevents the folks from standing outside the store waiting for it to open.
BUT… extreme events aside, let's face it, the next drop is going to be just as hot as the last. We now know a little bit more about the world, how people behave in Tamworth, and a little bit more about that thing that's coming we'd all love to know a little bit more about — the future. All because we have the data, and the context.
It's what we're all about here at the Jam: not only making your data more accessible, but helping you make even more sense out of it.
You can never know too much — the best data processors we have at our disposal are our brains, after all. We're always trying to find ways to make data work harder for us, and something we've found useful in recent times is leaning on others' experience with data. One book we've recently enjoyed is Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, who has a wealth of data experience.
The power of data is in the picture you can paint with it… not just the numbers.
Data Jam has come a long way since this was written. Explore the platform, or talk to us about measuring your network.