Research supporting the connection between data quality maturity and business growth is staggering. In our most recent research study, 85 percent of business leaders surveyed stated that they’ve grown increasingly focused on the data experience to achieve a more data-driven approach as an organization—and for good reason. Today, a team’s data experience has inevitably become synonymous with heightened performance levels, increased decision-making capabilities, and overall greater operational success.
The sudden uncertainty catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses alongside the rise of the digital consumer experience has placed successful data strategy at the forefront of a business’s success. But, before you begin to form a growth-oriented business plan, our research finds that you’ll want to prioritize the data experience within your organization first. Here’s what you need to know about data experience, why it matters, and the tools that will help you get started today.
What is data experience (and why does it matter for your business)?
Every day, your business is likely to amount, extract, and interpret a substantial amount of data surrounding your organization, your clients, your prospective clientele, and much more. At its core, data shines a light on the information necessary to:
- Understand consumer behavior
- Formulate informed marketing campaigns
- Provide superior customer service
And much more. With such valuable information on hand, it's crucial to ensure that users within a business know how to leverage these insights to maximize performance and confidently make the decisions that will ultimately help their organization thrive. But what if certain information is lacking, or some individuals within a company aren't sure how to leverage data insights to their best abilities? Enter data experience—the key to becoming a more data-driven and data-mature business.
In our research, we define the data experience as the data environment in which users can successfully access data, interpret these findings, and utilize key information and insights to make informed operational decisions. This means that even those in a non-traditional IT role will maximize business performance with data insights, too. Below, we'll dive into the steps that will help you lay the foundation for the data experience within your organization.
Four steps to enhance your data experience
Any business looking to adapt to the new digital-first environment will experience noticeable benefits by first prioritizing their team’s data experience. Here's a look at four steps that will help your organization get started:
- Invest in the proper technology and data quality tools
When it comes to the data experience, you'll need to acquire data and know what to do with it. Technology and data quality tools are crucial assets that help your team members gather the information they need, make sense of this vital data, and use it in their everyday operations. When deciding which technology to prioritize for the data experience, user-friendly software with an easy-to-read interface is often a great start. Since organizations seek to increase data accessibility in an agile environment, it's crucial to invest in accessible software that supports collaboration across various channels without sacrificing the quality of the data being shared. When you're mindful about selecting the optimal technology and tools necessary for your team, you avoid running into potential issues which may arise from technology that is not suited for a well-adopted data experience.
- Make data digestible
For someone outside of the traditional data or IT role, data can be intimidating. To establish a successful data experience, it's crucial to make data digestible for someone who may not be able to analyze data at a granular level. Consider using visualization tools that create an easy-to-understand breakdown of necessary insights. When investing in data quality platforms, leverage dashboards that provide a comprehensive and digestible view of vital data. Going the next step, investing in data literacy and educational-based programs is a great way to equip users with the foundational knowledge they need to make sense of the data that they will access. If your organization lacks considerable data knowledge, it's best to first foster a training program that will make later data consumption and analyses easier for your team.
- Prioritize data accessibility and democratization
Accessibility is often one of the best ways to break down data barriers present within your business. That's why data democratization—the process of making data insights accessible across a wider range of roles in an organization—is a necessary part of mastering the data experience. Without data democratization in place, you risk confronting data silos—which often negatively impact a business. When you isolate data and fail to make it accessible to certain parts of an organization, it harms your employee's transparency levels, efficiencies, and workload.
- Lead by example
To curate a data-driven business, it's crucial to lead by example. Getting all hands on deck and generating a sense of enthusiasm towards this new experience means you'll want to lead by example. Remember that leading businesses who boast success with data oftentimes do so because they've emphasized to their team how important data truly is to the company's decision-making and growth. Leading by example also means setting the stage for what data should be measured and being transparent about the expectations surrounding how that data will be used by employees. Setting the stage for data usage and governance will provide your team with the confidence they need to successfully access data and use it in their everyday line of work.
Data quality equals data maturity and growth
In our research, we've discovered that the data experience lays the foundation for successful data strategies that lead to business growth and development. With the proper technology, training, data accessibility, and leadership in place, you can help make the data experience receptive to your team.
We recently conducted research that surveys over 500 business leaders in the U.S. on their journey to data maturity. Learn what they do to improve the data experience and drive business growth.
