Interesting but not important
Where do you start?
Modern computer systems and google analytics provide a wealth of feedback and data about your customer’s activities. This can become almost overwhelming. We have seen many instances where this mountain of information causes people to freeze and not know where to start. If you could run one of 30 reports and you only have limited time, which ones do you run?
Analysis paralysis
Once you have a pile of reports and statistics, it can be very hard to be confident about what to do with them and interpret them in a robust and meaningful way. It feels like the ‘Emperors new clothes’. Everyone thinks that everyone else can see and it is only you who do not.
Getting carried away by unimportant facts
Sometimes you can come across a lovely report or range of facts which are fascinating, interesting and very probably unimportant in the big scheme of things. Working out what is important rather than merely interesting is tough and may be different across different departments within your organisation.
We have been shown reports which compare year on year activities and are prepared with great care and look very interesting. But it is not clear how they actually contribute to knowledge about the audience, or help to make better decisions.
