Does Analytics have to be boring?

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The problem with analytics is that sometimes it becomes an ivory tower! Also to many people who don't spend all their time crunching data, Analytics is boring!

But journalism is showing some wonderful examples of how analytics & visualization can connect economics & everyday life in interesting ways. Data & analysis need not be boring!

I continue to believe that this trend of “Information journalists” is what we must bring into the analytics practise in the corporate world. Make data interesting & actionable & you will see adoption go up like crazy!

In November of last year David Leonhardt, an economics writer for The New York Times, created an “interactive puzzle” that enabled readers to create a solution for reducing the federal deficit by $1.3 trillion (or therebouts) in 2030.  A variety of options involving either spending cuts or tax increases were offered, along with the size of the reduction associated with each option.  Visitors to the puzzle simply selected various options until they achieved the targeted reduction.

Nearly seven thousand Twitter users completed the puzzle, and Leonhardt has summarized the choices.  You might still be able to access the puzzle online at nytimes.com/weekinreview.

The starting point for their calculation is work done by Alan Auerbach and William Gale, two economists who are experts on the federal budget. 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html

Now imagine how interesting it could get if a company decided to use analytics in an interesting way to set up a Budget planning exercise within the company-leverage the techniques in user friendly ways to get output that business users can play around with! It could be a powerful way to embed Analytics in the Business Planning cycle.

The important point here is that it is the intersection of technology, creative & analytics that gets us to move ahead!