The Data Product Ecosystem - Data Fluency: Empowering Your Organization with Effective Data Communication - page 162

environment in which data product authors have the tools they need to be
successful? What does it take to allow good data products to flourish?

In this chapter, you will learn:

How data products can be different in their purposes but share com-
mon characteristics

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The ways in which the Apple app store provides a model for a data
product ecosystem

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The six foundational elements that compose an effective data product
ecosystem

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DATA PRODUCTS FOR INFORMATION
DELIVERy

This topic describes data products as the medium for communication in your
organization. Data products include the periodic reports that explain what's
happening in a functional area, the dashboards that attempt to provide a
high-level view of performance, the spreadsheet models that describe financial
projections, and the presentations that tell a story with data. In a blog post
about data products, Harlan Harris says, “Data products make it easy for regular
people to get what they need without having to dive into a very complex set
of data and a very complex set of algorithms.” 1

We use the term “products” because they represent the transformation of
data into something useful that can be delivered to the people who want to
consume the information. The best data products are:

Results-focused —Data products should be targeted to answer spe-
cific questions or solve particular problems.

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Right-sized —A data product that tries to do too much will be hard to
explain to the audience, whereas one that tackles too little will seem
trivial.

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Context-sensitive —Authors of data products should have domain
expertise and use this knowledge in choosing what data to
emphasize.

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