Today I talked with João Critis from Oi. Oi is a Brazilian telecommunications company that is a pioneer in convergent broadband services, pay TV, and local and long-distance voice transmission. They operate the largest fiber optics network in Brazil which reaches remote areas to promote digital inclusion of the population. João manages a design team at Oi that is responsible for the front end of data products including dashboards, reports, and all things data visualization.

We begin by discussing João’s role leading a team of data designers. João then explains what data products actually are, and who makes up his team’s users and customers. João goes on to discuss user adoption challenges at Oi and the methods they use to uncover what users need in the last mile. He then explains the specific challenges his team has faced, particularly with middle management, and how his team builds credibility with senior leadership. In conclusion, João reflects on the value of empathy in the design process.

In this episode, João shares:

A data product (4:48)
The research process used by his data teams to build journey maps for clients (7:31)
User adoption challenges for Oi (15:27)
His answer to the question “how do you decide which mouths to feed?” (16:56)
The unique challenges of middle management in delivering useful data products (20:33)
The importance of empathy in innovation (25:23)
What data scientists need to learn about design and vice versa (27:55)

Quotes from Today’s Episode

“We put the final user in the center of our process. We [conduct] workshops involving co-creation and prototyping, and we test how people work with data.” - João (8:22)
"My first responsibility here is value generation. So, if you have to take two or three steps back, another brainstorm, rethink, and rebuild something that works…. [well], this is very common for us.” - João (19:28)
“If you don’t make an impact on the individuals, you’re not going to make an impact on the business. Because as you said, if they don’t use any of the outputs we make, then they really aren’t solutions and no value is created. - Brian (25:07)
“It’s really important to do what we call primary research where you’re directly interfacing as much as possible with the horse’s mouth, no third parties, no second parties. You’ve really got to develop that empathy.” - Brian (25:23)
“When we are designing some system or screen or other digital artifact, [we have to understand] this is not only digital, but a product. We have to understand people, how people interact with systems, with computers, and how people interact with visual presentations.” - João (28:16)

Links

Oi: https://www.oi.com.br/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/critis/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/critis/

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