Discovery is the most important business capability in the emerging Age of Insight - it's the missing ingredient that makes Big Data a source of value for businesses and people.
The Language of Discovery is an essential tool for providing discovery capability, whether at the scale of designing a single discovery application, determining the value proposition of a new product or service, or managing a strategic portfolio of technology and business initiatives.
This presentation outlines the Age of Insight, and suggests deep structural and historic precedents visible in the Age of Reason, especially in the central parallels between Natural Philosophy and the emerging discipline of Data Science. We then review the language of discovery, and consider widely visible examples of products and services that demonstrate the language.
We review our own usage of the framework as an analytical and generative toolkit for providing discovery capability, and share best practices for employing this perspective across a variety of levels of need.
7. “In the next ten
years, digital data
alone is expected
to grow 44 times.
By 2020, there
will be 4 billion
people online
creating 50
trillion gigabytes
of data.”
HP Intelligent Research
8. Volume: yotta, yotta, yotta
Varied data ‘materials’
social, cultural, personal, environmental, economic, scientific
Full spectrum of granularity
Real-time & historical perspectives
Commoditized infrastructure
storage, processing, distribution, publishing
Data ecosystem(s)
13. “‘Big Data’ always make[s]
me think of some weird
Star Trek: TNG fan fiction
pron.”
Dan Saffer
16. “The ability to take data - to be able to understand it, to
process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to
communicate it's going to be a hugely important skill in the
next decades, not only at the professional level but even at the educational level for
elementary school kids, for high school kids, for college kids. Because now we
really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the
complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand
that data and extract value from it.”
Hal Varian
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Hal_Varian_on_how_the_Web_challenges_managers_2286
17. “the ...scarce factor is the ability
to understand that data...”
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Hal_Varian_on_how_the_Web_challenges_managers_2286
26. Insight
Grasping or understanding meaning,
significance, and/or a solution.
A valuable change in perspective or
understanding that enables or guides
further action.
35. ‘Cliodynamics’ is a
transdisciplinary area of
research integrating
historical macrosociology,
economic history/
cliometrics, mathematical
modeling of long-term
social processes, and the
construction and analysis of
historical databases.
scientific disciplines
45. “The datasexual looks a lot like
you and me, but what’s different is
their preoccupation with personal
data.
They are relentlessly digital, they
obsessively record everything
about their personal lives, and
they think that data is sexy. In
fact, the bigger the data, the sexier
it becomes.
Their lives - from a data
perspective, at least - are perfectly
groomed.”
data as lifestyle
49. As I was waiting for a table at a
local restaurant the other day, I
flipped through a couple of the
free classified papers.
I was shocked to realize how
dependent I’ve grown on
three simple features that just
aren’t available in the analog
world: search, sort and filter.
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2012/04/10/ui-patterns-for-mobile-apps-search-sort-filter/
50. Discovery is Everyware
multi-channel experiences
networked devices & places
ubicomp
environments
information
shadows
product, service, personal avatars
mixed realities
51. Discovery is the most
important organizational
capability in the Age of
Insight
53. “Its purpose was to reform society using reason,
challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and
advance knowledge through the scientific method.
It promoted scientific thought, skepticism and
intellectual interchange...”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_reason
“Its purpose was to reform society using reason,
challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and
advance knowledge through the scientific method.
It promoted scientific thought, skepticism and
intellectual interchange...”
Zeitgeist
54. Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes
evidence, especially as discovered in experiments.
It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that
all hypotheses and theories must be tested against
observations of the natural world rather than resting
solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
Methods
56. Jacopo Zabarella
Giacomo (or Jacopo) Zabarella (5
September 1533 – 15 October 1589)
was an Italian Aristotelian philosopher
and logician.
In 1577 he was promoted to the first
extraordinary chair of natural philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacopo_Zabarella
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosopher
Roles
63. Its purpose is to reform using reason, challenge
ideas grounded in tradition and intuition, and
advance insight through data science.
Its purpose is to reform using reason, challenge
ideas grounded in tradition and intuition, and
advance insight through data science.
64. Empirical
Augmented
Accelerated
Cooperative
“leveraging of existing concepts and
approaches from multiple disciplines to
derive new concepts and approaches,
which in turn enable new ways to
achieve and utilize understanding.
...an integration-driven emergence
of new disciplines, not just ad hoc
collaborations.”
“leveraging of existing concepts and
approaches from multiple disciplines to
derive new concepts and approaches,
which in turn enable new ways to
achieve and utilize understanding.
...an integration-driven emergence
of new disciplines, not just ad hoc
collaborations.”
82. “Understand the quality performance of a part and module set in
manufacturing and the field so that I can determine if I should replace
that part.”
- Engineering
“Understand a lead's underlying positions so that I can assess the
quality of the investment opportunity.”
“Understand a portfolio's exposures to assess portfolio-level
investment mix.”
- Portfolio Manager
“I need to understand the cost drivers for this commodity so I can
negotiate better terms with my suppliers and forecast business risk
based on market indices.”
- Procurement
User Scenarios
83. The Language of Discovery:
A concrete descriptive language for
human discovery activity in diverse
contexts.
A simple and consistent vocabulary that
is independent of domain, role,
information type, etc.
The Language of Discovery:
A concrete descriptive language for
human discovery activity in diverse
contexts.
A simple and consistent vocabulary that
is independent of domain, role,
information type, etc.
91. Literary Modes
“a broad, but identifiable literary method, mood, or
manner, that is not tied exclusively to a particular
form or genre.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_(literature)
92. Argumentation
The purpose of argumentation (also called persuasive writing) is to prove the validity
of an idea, or point of view, by presenting sound reasoning, discussion, and
argument that thoroughly convince the reader.
94. Discovery Modes
“a broad, but identifiable discovery activity that is
not tied exclusively to a particular context or
domain.”
95. Identifying Modes
“I need visibility into the parts my colleagues are using globally in order to find the
best part possible for my assembly.”
- Engineering
“I need to identify customers/marketers/dealers failing & at risk of de-branding
based on performance problems.”
- Account Rep
“I need to identify problem/success areas and where to intervene and reward.”
- SVP Sales
“I need to identify the best customer/consumer/region targets for our brand/
products.”
- Brand Manager
96. Identifying Modes
“Understand the quality performance of a part and module set in manufacturing
and the field so that I can determine if I should replace that part.”
- Engineering
“Understand a lead's underlying positions so that I can assess the quality of the
investment opportunity.”
“Understand a portfolio's exposures to assess portfolio-level investment mix.”
- Portfolio Manager
“I need to understand the cost drivers for this commodity so I can negotiate better
terms with my suppliers and forecast business risk based on market indices.”
- Procurement
97. Comprehending
‘To generate insight by understanding the nature or
meaning of something’
e.g. “I need to analyze and understand consumer-customer-market trends to inform
brand strategy & communications plan” – Director, Brand Image
98. Locating
‘To find a specific (possibly known) item’
e.g. “I need to find a new part with particular technical attributes and then source it from
the most qualified supplier”
– Engineer
105. Exploring
‘To proactively investigate or examine something for the
purpose of serendipitous knowledge discovery’
e.g. “I need to identify the cost drivers for this commodity so I can negotiate better
terms with my suppliers and forecast business risk based on market indices”
– Procurement
107. Monitoring
‘To maintain awareness of the status of something for
purposes of management or control’
e.g. “I need to monitor at risk/failing customers/dealers so I can prompt my Account
Reps to fix the problems”
– Sales Manager
109. Locating
‘To find a specific (possibly known) item’
e.g. “I need to find a new part with particular technical attributes and then source it from
the most qualified supplier”
– Engineer
111. Evaluate
‘To use judgement to determine the significance or value
of something with respect to a specific benchmark’
e.g. “I need to determine my current state in my prints so I can evaluate if I have price
variation to negotiate a better price”
– Procurement
113. Verify
‘To confirm or substantiate that something meets some
specific criterion’
e.g. “How can I determine if I am looking at the latest information for a part or supplier?”
– Supply Chain Specialist
115. Compare
‘To examine two or more items to identify similarities and
differences’
e.g. “I need to compare our module set teardowns with competitive teardown
information to see if we’re staying competitive for cost, quality and functionality”
– Engineer
118. Locate
To find a specific (possibly known) thing
e.g. I need to find a new part with particular technical attributes and then source it from the most qualified supplier -
Engineering
Verify
‘To confirm or substantiate that an item or set of items meets
some specific criterion’
e.g. How can I determine if I am looking at the latest information for a part or supplier? - Supply Chain Specialist
Monitor
‘To maintain awareness of the status of an item or data set for
purposes of management or control’
e.g. I need to monitor at risk/failing customers/dealers so I can prompt my Account Reps to fix the problems - Sales
Manager
119. Compare
To examine two or more things to identify similarities & differences
e.g. I need to compare our module set teardowns with competitive teardown information to see if we’re staying
competitive for cost, quality and functionality - Engineering
Comprehend
To generate insight by understanding the nature or meaning of
something
e.g. I need to analyze and understand consumer-customer-market trends to inform brand strategy & communications
plan – Director, Brand Image
Explore
To proactively investigate or examine something for the purpose of
knowledge discovery
e.g. I need to understand the cost drivers for this commodity so I can negotiate better terms with my suppliers and
forecast business risk based on market indices - Procurement
120. Analyze
To critically examine the detail of something to identify patterns &
relationships
e.g. I need to know the cost drivers for a part such as materials that impact cost. Is the relationship a correlation or
step function for a part cost driver? - Engineering
Evaluate
To use judgement to determine the significance or value of something with
respect to a specific benchmark or model
e.g. I need to determine my current state in my prints so I can evaluate if I have price variation to negotiate a better
price - Procurement
Synthesize
To generate or communicate insight by integrating diverse inputs to create
a novel artifact or composite view
e.g. I need to prepare a weekly report for my boss (sales mgr) of how things are going - Account Rep
128. Monitor
Explore
...currently popular colors over useful
intervals
...currently popular colors, or colors
popular in the past
Verify
That a color is popular now or in the
past
When I use the tool, I can...
130. Monitor
Explore
...articles to see what is new and
available.
...available articles and topics to
identify those of interest to me.
Locate
... and read articles of interest,
supporting information, and
related materials.
As a reader, I can...
131. Monitor
Explore
...the tweets of people I follow, my
followers, community interactions.
...trends and active topics, and
suggestions for people to follow.
..tweets, people, hashtags / topics
My twitter home page allows me to...
Locate
Synthesize
...new tweets via composition,
retweet, or favorite tweets.
132. The profile snapshot lets me...
...the author of a tweet to decide if I
am interested in them
...the profile and homepage of the
author of a tweet
Locate
Evaluate
133. Comprehend
Explore
Evaluate
A twitter profile page lets me...
...the authors profile to learn more
about them
...their activity, followers, tweets,
relevance to me
...the author’s interests, point of view,
137. Comparative Search
1. Replace a problematic part
(from sourcing, cost or technical
perspective)
2. ...with an equivalent or better
part
3. ...without compromising quality
and cost.
Analyze
Compare
Evaluate
138. Comparative Search
1. Analyze
2. and understand gaps between
current cost of commodity
3. versus best in class
manufacturing costs.
Analyze
Compare
Evaluate
140. Comparative Search
Identify parts used for same function as candidates for commonization and complexity reduction - Core Engineer
Replace a problematic part (from sourcing, cost or technical perspective) with an equivalent or better part without
compromising quality and cost. - Engineering
Compare our module set teardowns with competitive teardown information to see if we’re staying competitive for cost,
quality and functionality. - Engineering
Compare a lead's performance claims with relevant benchmarks to assess the lead's claims - Portfolio Manager
See the difference between what we are spending and what we should be spending to maximize savings (between
actual PO and should costs). - Procurement
Analyze & understand gaps between current costs of commodity versus best in class manufacturing costs - Cost
Estimators
Analyze Compare Evaluate
141. Exploratory Search
Identify opportunities to optimize use of tooling capacity for my commodity/parts - Core Engineer
Identify sales opportunities and targets (increased key customer market share across categories/brands; upsell-cross
sell; promotional targets - District Manager
Evaluate & optimize our product portfolio: Which products should we de-list and retire? What new products should we
be making/selling? - Category Manager
Identify the best customer/consumer/region targets for our brand/products - Brand Manager
Determine suppliers to use for parts in my program and execute sourcing agreements - Core Buyer
Identify customers/marketers/dealers failing & at risk of de-branding based on performance problems - Program
Administrator
Explore Analyze Evaluate
142. Strategic Oversight
Monitor how well we are tracking to revenue and margin targets by division - SVP Sales
Monitor and grade incoming incidents; close incidents, add incident close codes - Supervisor/Inspector
Monitor global commodity use in relation to plan/guidelines to identify gaps that require corrective action - Core
Engineer
Monitor how well we are tracking to revenue and margin targets by division - District Manager
Monitor & evaluate how our brand is performing in re: revenue, margin, and market share targets - Brand Manager
Financial Analyst: Monitor & assess commodity status against strategy/plan/target
Monitor Analyze Evaluate
143. Strategic Insight
Track module cost versus functionality over time to determine trends. - Engineering
Understand the quality performance of a part and module set in manufacturing and the field so that I can determine if I
should replace that part. - Engineering
Understand a lead's underlying positions so that I can assess the quality of the investment opportunity - Portfolio
Manager
Understand a portfolio's exposures to assess portfolio-level investment mix - Portfolio Manager
I need to understand the cost drivers for this commodity so I can negotiate better terms with my suppliers and forecast
business risk based on market indices. - Procurement
Analyze Comprehend Evaluate
144. Comparative Synthesis
Analyze and understand consumer-customer-market trends to inform brand strategy & communications plan -
Director, Brand Image
Find out how many parts I have in my module set of parts and find ways to reduce cost across them - Engineering
Formulate scope & strategy for sourcing and gap closure - Core Buyer
Analyze and understand a market: marketer network, competitive position, customer sat, & share, etc. to inform brand
strategy and communications plan - Brand Image Analyst
Analyze Compare Synthesize
147. 277 ‘micro-scenarios’ - brief narratives that illustrate the
end user’s goal and the primary task/ action they take to
achieve it.
• Find best offers before the others do so I can have
a high margin.
• Get help and guidance on how to sell my car safely
so that I can achieve a good price.
• Understand what is selling by area/region so I can
source the correct stock.
• See year-on-year ad spend trends for TV and online
to supply to the Head of Global Media.
148. Qualified Search
A variant of the stereotypical findability task in which immediate verification is required:
“Find trucks that I am eligible to drive” (29 instances)
Locate Verify
A"Model"of"Consumer"Search"Behaviour"
Tony
Russell-‐Rose
and
Stephann
Makri
http://red.cs.nott.ac.uk/~mlw//EuroHCIR2012-‐Proceedings.pdf
149. Insight-driven Search
An exploratory search for insight to resolve an explicit information need:
“Assess the proper market value for my car” (45 instances)
Explore Analyze Comprehend
A"Model"of"Consumer"Search"Behaviour"
Tony
Russell-‐Rose
and
Stephann
Makri
http://red.cs.nott.ac.uk/~mlw//EuroHCIR2012-‐Proceedings.pdf
150. Opportunity-driven Search
A semi-directed exploration aiming at serendipitous discovery:
“Find useful stuff on my subject topic”(31 instances)
Explore Locate Evaluate
A"Model"of"Consumer"Search"Behaviour"
Tony
Russell-‐Rose
and
Stephann
Makri
http://red.cs.nott.ac.uk/~mlw//EuroHCIR2012-‐Proceedings.pdf
154. Analyze
Evaluate
Comparative Search
1. Analyze the popularity
and importance of colors
over time to see patterns
2. Compare colors in terms
of importance and
popularity at various
cycles, trends, and
moments.
3. Evaluate colors vs. their
current and historic
importance and popularity.
Color Forecast users can...
...of colors I may use for my purposes
Compare
155. Analyze
Comprehend
Evaluate
Strategic Insight
1. Analyze events and
topics using the data and
tools provided
2. Understand the events
and topics using the
Guardian’s perspective
and my own.
3. Evaluate all perspectives,
as well as the actions and
decisions based on them.
Data blog readers can...
into events & actions of government & society
156. Analyze
Comparative synthesis
1. Analysis of the causes,
participants and events of
the UK riots
2. Comparison of
suggested causes,
insights and explanations
into the events.
3. Synthesis of these
insights into a coordinated
perspective on the riots
Data blog readers can...
of all insights into the causes of the UK riots
Compare
Synthesize
157. Evaluate
Exploratory search
1. Explore the author’s
profile, activity and
community interactions.
2. Analyze the author’s
followers, activity, tweets,
community interaction,
who they follow.
3. Evaluate the author to
decide their relevance and
value.
Twitter users can...
... for valuable people streams to follow
Explore
Analyze
162. Exploratory Search
Identify opportunities to optimize use of tooling capacity for my commodity/parts - Core Engineer
Identify sales opportunities and targets (increased key customer market share across categories/brands; upsell-cross
sell; promotional targets - District Manager
Evaluate & optimize our product portfolio: Which products should we de-list and retire? What new products should we
be making/selling? - Category Manager
Identify the best customer/consumer/region targets for our brand/products - Brand Manager
Determine suppliers to use for parts in my program and execute sourcing agreements - Core Buyer
Identify customers/marketers/dealers failing & at risk of de-branding based on performance problems - Program
Administrator
Explore Analyze Evaluate
164. Identify opportunities to optimize use of tooling capacity for my commodity/parts - Core Engineer
Identify sales opportunities and targets (increased key customer market share across categories/brands; upsell-cross
sell; promotional targets - District Manager
Evaluate & optimize our product portfolio: Which products should we de-list and retire? What new products should we
be making/selling? - Category Manager
Identify the best customer/consumer/region targets for our brand/products - Brand Manager
Determine suppliers to use for parts in my program and execute sourcing agreements - Core Buyer
Identify customers/marketers/dealers failing & at risk of de-branding based on performance problems - Program
Administrator
Explore Analyze Evaluate
Initial SummaryOperative
169. To inform the core principles for the user experience
of the product
To coordinate the design of product features and
functions across channels and form-factors
To evaluate the quality and success of product
designs, in terms of usability, engagement, value,
etc.
To establish a roadmap for the product's evolution
and determine development efforts
To shape strategy for a portfolio of products by
understanding the value proposition of current and
potential new products
Product
Strategy,
Definition
& Design
171. Fully specified,
known
Predictable,
repeatable, linear,
known
Uncertain, ambiguous,
subjective
Unpredictable, iterative,
adaptive, looped,
opportunity driven
Fully specified,
known
Uncertain, unknown
changeable,
multi-faceted
Ill DefinedWell Defined
Wicked
Are we hitting
our revenue
targets?
Which is the
best product
for my
category?
What are our
best market
opportunities?
GOAL
PATH
INFO
172. Ill-Defined & Wicked Problems: A range of examples
What are the
main causes of
returns & dis-
satisfaction?
What & where are
the best market
opportunities ?
How can we
quickly detect
cases of fraud?
What are the
major risk/causal
factors for X
disease?How can we
improve the fuel
efficiency, safety
etc. of our vehicle
fleet?
How can we
optimize our
market
campaigns,
portfolio, etc.?
How can we
identify potential
terror cells?
173. Well defined & stable problem
statement
Definite stopping point/solution
Solution can be evaluated as
right or wrong
Belongs to a class of similar
problems which are all solved in
a similar way
Comes with a limited set of
alternative solutions
Don’t understand problem until you’ve
developed a solution; solutions reveal new
facets of or redefine the problem
No stopping rule; “satisficing”, stopping
when solution is judged as “good enough”
Solutions are not right or wrong ; solutions
assessed in social context
Essentially unique or novel, no standardized
solution path or well defined “best practice”
No given alternative solutions; no
predefined boundaries on solution
Tame Wicked
174. Discovery Spectrum: Simple Answers to Complex Insights
Awareness
Facts &
Answers
Insight*
Meaning &
Context
Knowing that Knowing how &
why
Locating
Verifying
Monitoring
Exploring
Analyzing
Synthesizing
Simple Complex
These regions
are below
target..
This is the best
product for my
category
These are the
best market
opportunities…..
* Insight:
• Grasping or understanding meaning, significance, and/or a solution
• A valuable change in perspective or understanding that enables or guides
further action
175. To guide the deployment of the product as part of
a solution for customers
Identifying needs via scenarios and other solution
specification tools
Crafting functional requirements and interaction
designs for deployed applications
To describe and publish patterns and best
practices in implementation of the product -
workspace, application, application suite
solution
design for
product
customers
To guide the deployment of the product as part of
a solution for customers
Identifying needs via scenarios and other solution
specification tools
Crafting functional requirements and interaction
designs for deployed applications
To describe and publish patterns and best
practices in implementation of the product -
workspace, application, application suite
180. Define & Review the Goals, Problems, & User Context
Goals & Scenarios
§Plan
§Optimize
§Launch
§Build
User
Types
§Knowledgeable
§Enthusiast
§Uncertain Explorer
§Manager
Business
Goals
§Engagement
§Conversion
§Cross-Sell
§Adoption
§Acquisition
Discovery Assets
§Product info
§Rich Media
§Textual Info
§Social Media
§Metrics
What decision-
discovery
support and
information
assets will help
them achieve their
goals?
What are business-
user critical goals &
scenarios? What
do they need to
know to succeed?
What are the
business
strategies,
objectives, &
priorities?
Modes & Chains
§Locate
§Explore
§Strategic Insight
§Qualified Search
How do people
need to interact
with information
assets & each
other to achieve
their goals?
Who are the
critical users and
how do their
discovery needs
& behaviors
vary?
181. Supply Chain Process
Source ManufacturePlan Distribute Replenish
Planning Team Planner / Analyst Planning Manager
182. Planners: Needs & Goals
Planner / Analyst
•
Create and update accurate forecasts on a weekly basis at a
very detailed level, such as the number of packs of each
product SKU needed for a single store. Forecasts evolve
through several iterations before reaching their final state,
allowing and requiring Planners to incorporate data on sales,
inventory, customer activity, etc. as it accumulates in real
time.
•
Improve the accuracy of forecasts and forecasting methods
by understanding the nature, degree, and source of
forecasting errors in reference to a large number of defined
metrics and performance measures.
•
Analyze and understand changes in the factors affecting
forecast accuracy, and enhance forecasting methods to
reflect these changes.
183. Planning Manager
•
Monitor and review the accuracy of Planners’ forecasts to
assess individual and team performance
•
Determine the specific metrics and performance
measurements that Planning teams use for reference,
based on the long-term goals of the organization.
•
Evaluate and improve the effectiveness of forecasting
practices and tools used by planning teams
Managers: Needs & Goals
•
Achieve 100% forecast accuracy
•
Maintain forecast accuracy over time, and in all
situations.
Planning Team
185. Synthesize
Analyze
To create new forecasts, Planners:
Analyze their previous forecasts and newly
identified causal factors
Compare them to accuracy baselines and
the expected impact of correlating factors
such as seasonal events or weather
Create new forecasts that reflect insights
from analytical activities
Planners: Mode Chains
Comparative Synthesis
Compare
187. To improve forecasting accuracy, Planners:
Analyze cumulative and historical accuracy
and error rates to
Understand the factors affecting forecasts
Evaluate the relevance and usefulness of
newly identified causal factors by
retrospectively including them in previous
forecasts
Planners: Mode Chains
Analyze
Comprehend
Evaluate
Strategic Insight
189. Analyze
Managers assessing Planner performance:
Monitor the accuracy of forecasts made by
individual analysts and the team
Analyze forecasts for patterns and trends in
variance and accuracy
Evaluate the effectiveness of analysts, and
forecasting methods.
Planning Managers: Mode Chains
Evaluate
Strategic Oversight
Monitor
196. Planners Monitor the
accuracy of their own
forecasts compared
with established
baselines and targets.
Planning Managers
Monitor the accuracy
of all the forecasts
made by the Planning
team.
Dashboard Screen
Planner / Analyst Planning Manager
Monitor Analyze Evaluate
Strategic Oversight
197. One pane enables
monitoring of each
major area of supply
chain activity, such as
Inventory or Capacity.
Provides summary
status of processes via
KPIs and
measurements.
Dashboard Screen
A chart presents historical
values of these measures
for Analysis.
198. Alerts allow Planners to monitor,
analyze, and evaluate changes to
supply chain flow.
Initiate the Strategic Insight chain:
follow linked data points in charts,
metrics and alerts ‘deeper’ into the
information space.
Dashboard Screen
200. Focused on one sub-function of the supply
chain: forecasts and activity for
‘restocking’ of products in retail settings
through stages of the supply chain.
Search, Breadcrumb, and Faceted
Navigation components allow the user to
understand & manage the data that is
presented in the workspace tables, charts,
while analyzing the information.
Summarize and communicate
workspace context to users to provide
orientation and comprehension.
Analysis Screen
201. ‘Metric summary’, which follows on from the performance indicators
identified on the Dashboard,
Visibility into the smaller scale measures that determine the status of the
supply chain; specifically, the accuracy of forecasts (compare & evaluate).
Analysis Screen
202. Below the summary, a group of components presents a visualization and data
grid of a single metric grouped by one or more variables (e.g. quantity by product
type) to enable analysis.
These ‘metric breakouts’ help Planners and Managers comprehend the factors
contributing to the status of each metric. This combination facilitates a wider
range of analysis methods than either presentation method supports alone.
Analysis Screen
203. Supporting tables provide lists of the individual
transactions for detailed analysis and evaluation.
Analysis Screen
205. Planning teams use the Trends screen to explore and
understand the state of the supply chain, and the
accuracy of their forecasts over time.
For this purpose, the Trends screen is primarily designed
to support the Exploratory Search (Explore-Analyze-
Evaluate) and Comparative Synthesis (Analyze-
Compare-Synthesize) chains, in which Planners and
Managers seek to identify new patterns in time and
supply chain activity and suggest potential causal
factors.
The value of the Trends screen is best understood in the
context of sequences of mode chains, such as Strategic
Oversight in companion with Comparative Synthesis or
Exploration Driven Search in companion to Strategic
Insight.
Trends Screen
Analyze Compare Synthesize
Comparative
Synthesis
Explore Analyze Evaluate
Exploration-driven
Search
Planner / Analyst Planning Manager
207. Planners will follow the Strategic Oversight chain for
visibility into the status of their published final forecasts
vs. actual activity in the supply chain;
When errors or variances beyond an acceptable
threshold emerge in one or more forecasts, they will
switch to the Strategic Insight chain in order to
understand the new situation.
They will move on to the Comparative Synthesis
chain to revise their forecasts to reflect their newly
generated insights and improved understanding.
They will then switch back to Strategic Oversight to
maintain ongoing awareness of the accuracy and
effectiveness of their revised forecasts over time.
Strategic
Insight
Comparative Synthesis
Strategic
Oversight
Strategic
Oversight
Planners: Mode Sequences
Planner / Analyst
208. Strategic
Insight
Comparative Synthesis
Strategic
Oversight
Strategic
Oversight
Mode Sequences
Business Process Optimization
“Process optimization is the discipline of adjusting a process so as to optimize some specified
set of parameters without violating some constraint. The most common goals are minimizing
cost, maximizing throughput, and/or efficiency. This is one of the major quantitative tools in
industrial decision making.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_optimization
A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks
that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or
customers.
209. Planning Managers seeking to improve the forecasting
practices and methods of their teams will employ a
sequences of mode chains that begins with Exploratory
driven Search, to identify exemplars of particularly strong
or weak forecasts and forecasting practices.
They will move to Strategic Insight to understand how
and why these practices exhibit strength or weakness.
Comparative Synthesis will help Managers formulate
new or improved measurements and forecasting
practices.
They will rely on Strategic Oversight to gauge the
effectiveness of new or enhanced practices once in effect.
Strategic
Insight
Comparative
Synthesis
Exploratory
Search
Strategic
Oversight
Managers: Mode Sequences
Planning Manager
213. Enterprise Information Engagement Scenario
Manage My Benefits
Simone -- a marketing director working for a discount travel seller -- had her first child earlier in the year, and
wants to modify her benefits elections.
Specifically she wants to begin depositing money in the dependent care spending account offered by her
employer's benefit plan.
Simone does not know how the dependent care accounts 'work' (depositing funds, claiming funds, directing
reimbursements, filing taxes, etc.) under her benefits plan.
Simone needs to find information answering these questions.
Simone also needs to locate and use the tools for setting up and managing a dependent care spending
account.
214. Mode Group
Specific Modes of Engagement
Enterprise Information Engagement Landscape
Information Source
Specific examples
System / physical sources
Tools / systems people use
Usage profile
Interaction type
Specific relationships
Data structure
Sources
Form of data
Summary of users’ activities
“Kind of insight”
215. Enterprise Information Engagement Scenario
Manage My Benefits
Simone -- a marketing director working for a discount travel
seller -- had her first child earlier in the year, and wants to
modify her benefits elections.
Specifically she wants to begin depositing money in the
dependent care spending account offered by her employer's
benefit plan.
Simone does not know how the dependent care accounts
'work' (depositing funds, claiming funds, directing
reimbursements, filing taxes, etc.) under her benefits plan.
Simone needs to find information answering these questions.
Simone also needs to locate and use the tools for setting up
and managing a dependent care spending account.
Lookup
Locate
Verify
Monitor
Seeking definitive answers
“Knowing that __”
Structured data
Internal sources
Data point / factoid
Procedural
Business <-> Staff
Self-service tools
Universal usage
Transactional systems
HR, payroll, IT, procurement,
expenses, travel, corporate
directories, etc.
Records, standard policies and
procedures
216. Self-Service Scenario
Join A Project Team
Avery -- a medical billing supervisor for a regional hospital group -- is newly attached to a long-running
project to improve customer satisfaction around billing processes within the hospital group.
He needs to get 'up to speed' on what has happened with the project to date, understand who is part of the
project and their roles, and begin participating directly in the project's ongoing activities.
Avery needs to find and secure access to active project-related areas and artifacts in the hospital network's
collaboration tools, identify the other embers of the project team and understand their roles on the project as
well as within the hospital network's organizational landscape, and locate numerous collections of project-
specific information residing in a number of specialized applications used by the various groups that facilitate
the billing process.
217. Self-Service Scenario
Join A Project Team
Avery -- a medical billing supervisor for a regional hospital
group -- is newly attached to a long-running project to
improve customer satisfaction around billing processes within
the hospital group.
He needs to get 'up to speed' on what has happened with the
project to date, understand who is part of the project and
their roles, and begin participating directly in the project's
ongoing activities.
Avery needs to find and secure access to active project-
related areas and artifacts in the hospital network's
collaboration tools, identify the other embers of the project
team and understand their roles on the project as well as
within the hospital network's organizational landscape, and
locate numerous collections of project-specific information
residing in a number of specialized applications used by the
various groups that facilitate the billing process.
Learn
Explore
Compare
Comprehend
Collaboration tools
Similar usage
Groupware
Wikis, group / team / project sites &
workspaces, employee forums,
Enterprise 2.0, email
Document repositories, file shares,
ECM, sharepoint
Qualitative info
Internal sources
Assets / containers
Communicative
Business <-> Staff
Staff <-> Staff
Unit <-> Unit
Learning from diverse assets
“Knowing about __”
218. Self-Service Scenario
Take Over Customer Accounts
Stuti -- a customer accounts manager working for a training and development firm -- needs to 'take over' the
client accounts handled by a co-worker going on leave.
Stuti receives a cursory briefing before her co-worker goes on leave, but has to begin working directly with
clients before she has the opportunity to study them in depth.
Stuti has to learn the status and history of all the accounts she is taking over, understand and communicate
the firm's plans for the various products and services clients purchase from the firm, and identify and pursue
the firm's sales and relationship goals for these clients based on the importance of each client to the firm.
Stuti has comprehensive access to the all the applications, collaboration tools, and information repositories
used by customer accounts managers to service clients, and work with other teams inside the firm.
However, she has little guidance on which specific resources, documents, artifacts, and collections of data
can most effectively tell her the current state of her new accounts, and which tools and pieces of information
usefully communicate the history of the firm's relationships with these clients.
219. Self-Service Scenario
Take Over Customer Accounts
Stuti -- a customer accounts manager working for a training
and development firm -- needs to 'take over' the client
accounts handled by a co-worker going on leave.
Stuti receives a cursory briefing before her co-worker goes on
leave, but has to begin working directly with clients before
she has the opportunity to study them in depth.
Stuti has to learn the status and history of all the accounts
she is taking over, understand and communicate the firm's
plans for the various products and services clients purchase
from the firm, and identify and pursue the firm's sales and
relationship goals for these clients based on the importance
of each client to the firm.
Stuti has comprehensive access to the all the applications,
collaboration tools, and information repositories used by
customer accounts managers to service clients, and work
with other teams inside the firm.
However, she has little guidance on which specific resources,
documents, artifacts, and collections of data can most
effectively tell her the current state of her new accounts, and
which tools and pieces of information usefully communicate
the history of the firm's relationships with these clients.
Investigate
Analyze
Evaluate
Synthesize
Investigating data for insight
“Knowing why __”
Analytical
Unit <-> Unit
Business <-> Market
Poly-structured data
Internal & external sources
Data sets & graphs
Operational systems
R&D, product development, ERP,
financials and EPM, sales & marketing,
CRM
operational data, 3rd party data &
public data
Discovery tools
Idiosyncratic usage
220. Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3
Lookup
Locate
Verify
Monitor
Learn
Explore
Compare
Comprehend
Investigate
Analyze
Evaluate
Synthesize
Simple
??’s
Complex
??’s
Self-service Enterprise Information Engagement Landscape
Transactional systems
HR, payroll, IT, procurement,
expenses, travel, corporate
directories, etc.
Records, standard policies and
procedures
Groupware
Wikis, group / team / project sites &
workspaces, employee forums,
Enterprise 2.0, email
Document repositories, file shares,
ECM, sharepoint
Operational systems
R&D, product development, ERP,
financials and EPM, sales & marketing,
CRM
operational data, 3rd party data &
public data
Self-service tools
Universal usage
Collaboration tools
Similar usage
Discovery tools
Idiosyncratic usage
Analytical
Unit <-> Unit
Business <-> Market
Procedural
Business <-> Staff
Communicative
Business <-> Staff
Staff <-> Staff
Unit <-> Unit
Structured data
Internal sources
Data point / factoid
Qualitative info
Internal sources
Assets / containers
Poly-structured data
Internal & external sources
Data sets & graphs
Seeking definitive answers
“Knowing that __”
Learning from diverse assets
“Knowing about __”
Investigating data for insight
“Knowing why __”
224. Monitor
• New tweets by people the user follows
• Interactions with other twitter users
• Activity related to the user’s profile
• People, topics, or items recommended
225. • New tweets by people the user follows
• Interactions with other twitter users
• Activity related to the user’s profile
• People, topics, or items recommended
Monitor Analyze Evaluate
Strategic Oversight
232. • Using the modes as a generative design tool requires
mapping of information assets.
• Not a one-to-one correspondence between a composite of
modes such as a chain, and an interaction component of
any size or scope.
• Modes are useful as alignment tool for product’s concept
model and users’ mental models.
• Well designed interaction components combine modes
together into compact functions that accomplish more than
one ‘micro-task’ at the same time – e.g. Show conversation
link locates and presents info for exploration /
comprehension/ analysis.
233. • Every individual system will have its own idiosyncratic network of
modes and chains that arises from the particular user journeys it
needs to support. Designers must understand and reference this
local map to create effective systems, and specifically to define
the right UX architecture.
• Local mode networks should be analyzed along three axes: for
recurring modes and mode chains, for intersecting or overlapping
modes and mode chains, and for sequences of modes and
chains.
• Constructive units need ‘linkages’ – not sure what / how to
represent linkage using current language. Continuity is one thing
linkages address and enable. Need an understanding / definition
of continuity.
• Scope of information needed for an activity and the interaction
component that enables it can be addressed via density of info,
or scope of interaction component.
•
234. learn hearts & minds
rely on known modes & sequences
parsimonious composition
hunt cross-channel flows
optimize for core scenarios
every interaction enhances insight
238. Publications
Russell-Rose, T., Lamantia, J. and Burrell, M. 2011. A Taxonomy of Enterprise Search and Discovery.
Proceedings of EuroHCIR 2011, London, UK. http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-763/paper4.pdf
Russell-Rose, T., Lamantia, J. and Burrell, M. 2011. A Taxonomy of Enterprise Search and Discovery.
Proceedings of HCIR 2011, California, USA. https://docs.google.com/a/kent.edu/viewer?
a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxoY2lyd29ya3Nob3B8Z3g6NzdmYjc3OWY2ZjQ2Zjg4MQ
Russell-Rose, T. and Makri, S. 2012 A Model of Consumer Search Behavior. Proceedings of EuroHCIR 2012,
Nijmegen, NL.
Designing the Search Experience: http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Search-Experience-Information-
Architecture/dp/0123969816
239. References & Resources
The sensemaking process and leverage points for analyst technology as identified through cognitive task
analysis, Pirolli, P., & Card, S. (2005)
https://analysis.mitre.org/proceedings/Final_Papers_Files/206_Camera_Ready_Paper.pdf
Exploratory search: from finding to understanding, Gary Marchionini, Communications of the ACM, Volume
49 Issue 4, April 2006
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~i385t-sw/readings/Marchionini-2006-Exploratory_Search.pdf
Lamantia, Joe. “Goal Based Information Retrieval Experiences” JoeLamantia.com, (June 20, 2006).
http://www.joelamantia.com/informationarchitecture/goalbasedinformationretrievalexperiences
Lamantia, Joe. “10 Information Retrieval Patterns” JoeLamantia.com, (June 29, 2006).
http://www.joelamantia.com/information-architecture/10-information-retrieval-patterns
Lamantia, Joe. “Discovering User Goals / IR Goal Definitions” JoeLamantia.com, (June 24, 2006).
http://www.joelamantia.com/information-architecture/discovering-user-goals-ir-goal-definitions
Spencer, D. 2006. “Four Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for Them”. Boxes & Arrows:
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Bates, Marcia J. 1979. "Information Search Tactics." Journal of the American Society for Information Science
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Bates, Marcia J. 1989. "The Design of Browsing and Berrypicking Techniques for the Online Search
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Cool, C. & Belkin, N. 2002. A classification of interactions with information. In H. Bruce (Ed.), Emerging
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