
Experiencing Data w/ Brian T. O’Neill (UX for AI Data Products, SAAS Analytics, Data Product Management)
Is the value of your enterprise analytics SAAS or AI product not obvious through it’s UI/UX? Got the data and ML models right...but user adoption of your dashboards and UI isn’t what you hoped it would be?
While it is easier than ever to create AI and analytics solutions from a technology perspective, do you find as a founder or product leader that getting users to use and buyers to buy seems harder than it should be?
If you lead an internal enterprise data team, have you heard that a ”data product” approach can help—but you’re concerned it’s all hype?
My name is Brian T. O’Neill, and on Experiencing Data—one of the top 2% of podcasts in the world—I share the stories of leaders who are leveraging product and UX design to make SAAS analytics, AI applications, and internal data products indispensable to their customers. After all, you can’t create business value with data if the humans in the loop can’t or won’t use your solutions.
Every 2 weeks, I release interviews with experts and impressive people I’ve met who are doing interesting work at the intersection of enterprise software product management, UX design, AI and analytics—work that you need to hear about and from whom I hope you can borrow strategies.
I also occasionally record solo episodes on applying UI/UX design strategies to data products—so you and your team can unlock financial value by making your users’ and customers’ lives better.
Hashtag: #ExperiencingData.
JOIN MY INSIGHTS LIST FOR 1-PAGE EPISODE SUMMARIES, TRANSCRIPTS, AND FREE UX STRATEGY TIPS
https://designingforanalytics.com/ed
ABOUT THE HOST, BRIAN T. O’NEILL:
https://designingforanalytics.com/bio/
Latest episodes

5 snips
Apr 16, 2024 • 44min
141 - How They’re Adopting a Producty Approach to Data Products at RBC with Duncan Milne
Duncan Milne, Data Strategist at RBC, discusses transitioning to a product mindset for data products. He outlines challenges, strategies, and the importance of understanding user needs. Highlights include developing a framework, overcoming resistance, and scaling challenges in a large organization like RBC.

Apr 2, 2024 • 43min
140 - Why Data Visualization Alone Doesn’t Fix UI/UX Design Problems in Analytical Data Products with T from Data Rocks NZ
Thabata Romanowski aka T from Data Rocks NZ discusses applying UX design in analytical data products, overcoming design misconceptions, and promoting user adoption through purposeful, context-sensitive, collaborative, and humanistic design. They explore the importance of clear communication, user research, and involving end users in the design process.

Mar 19, 2024 • 51min
139 - Monetizing SAAS Analytics and The Challenges of Designing a Successful Embedded BI Product (Promoted Episode)
Explore challenges in designing embedded analytics, catering to multiple stakeholders in SAAS companies. Learn about monetizing SAAS analytics, AI integration in BI industry, and the importance of user experience in data products. Discover strategies for successful embedded BI products and the role of Microsoft Excel in analytics product usage.

Mar 5, 2024 • 33min
138 - VC Spotlight: The Impact of AI on SAAS and Data/Developer Products in 2024 w/ Ellen Chisa of BoldStart Ventures
Venture capitalist Ellen Chisa discusses the impact of AI on SaaS and data/developer products in 2024. Topics include democratizing software creation, streamlining backend coding, and future prospects for developer tools and SaaS platforms. The podcast explores the evolution of AI prototypes, BoldStart Ventures' focus on early-stage companies, and insights gained from previous experiences in product management.

Feb 20, 2024 • 45min
137 - Immature Data, Immature Clients: When Are Data Products the Right Approach? feat. Data Product Architect, Karen Meppen
Karen Meppen, Data Product Architect, discusses challenges of immature data and tech in data product development. She explains what data products are and the importance of executive buy-in. Karen highlights conflicts between shadow data teams and tech teams, providing insights on effective strategies in adopting a product and UX-driven methodology.

27 snips
Feb 6, 2024 • 44min
136 - Navigating the Politics of UX Research and Data Product Design with Caroline Zimmerman
Caroline Zimmerman, Director of Data Products and Strategy at Profusion, discusses the importance of UX research in data product design. She shares her journey and the pivotal moment that changed her approach, as well as the significance of exploring the 'why' behind decisions. They also explore challenges in UX design for B2B SaaS products and navigating politics in larger companies.

19 snips
Jan 23, 2024 • 53min
135 - “No Time for That:” Enabling Effective Data Product UX Research in Product-Immature Organizations
In this episode, Brian T. O'Neill chats with Steve Portigal, Principal of Portigal Consulting and the Author of Interviewing Users. They discuss the changes in user research over the past 10 years. They explore the best practices for implementing effective data product UX research, emphasizing the importance of understanding the business value and not just having a list of research questions. They provide role-play examples and discuss the impact of taking imperfect action towards user research. Overall, they highlight the value of user research in driving data product adoption and business value.

Jan 9, 2024 • 47min
134 - What Sanjeev Mohan Learned Co-Authoring “Data Products for Dummies”
Former Gartner analyst and Co-Author of Data Products for Dummies, Sanjeev Mohan, discusses the evolution of data products, implementing practices for business value, and new approaches to organizational structure. They also explore challenges of product adoption and responsibility for user experience. A conversation with different perspectives on the data product space.

Dec 26, 2023 • 3min
133 - New Experiencing Data Interviews Coming in January 2024
Today I am sharing some highlights for 2023 from the podcast, and also letting you all know I’ll be taking a break from the podcast for the rest of December, but I’ll be back with a new episode on January 9th, 2024. I’ve also got two links to share with you—details inside!
Transcript
Greetings everyone - I’m taking a little break from Experiencing Data over December of 2023, but I’ll be back in January with more interviews and insights on leveraging UX design and product management to create indispensable data products, machine learning apps, and decision support tools.
Experiencing Data turned this year five years old back in November, with over 130 episodes to date! I still can’t believe it’s been going that long and how far we’ve come.
Some highlights for me in 2023 included launching the Data Product Leadership Community, finding out that the show is now in the top 2% of all podcasts worldwide according to ListenNotes, and most of all, hearing from you that the podcast, and my writing, and the guests that I have brought on are having an impact on your work, your careers, and hopefully the lives of your customers, users, and stakeholders as well!
So, for now, I’ve got just two links for you:
If you’re wondering how to either:
support the show yourself with a really fast review on Apple Podcasts,
to record a quick audio question for me to answer on the show,
or if you want to join my free Insights mailing lists where I share my bi-weekly ideas and thoughts and 1-page episode summaries of all the show drops that I put out here on Experiencing Data.
…just head over to designingforanalytics.com/podcast and you’ll get links to all those things there.
And secondly, if you need help increasing customer adoption, delight, the business value, or the usability of your analytics and machine learning applications in 2024, I invite you to set up a free discovery call with me 1 on 1.
You bring the questions, I’ll bring my ears, and by the end of the call, I’ll give you my best advice on how to move forward with your situation – whether it’s working with me or not. To schedule one of those free discovery calls, visit designingforanalytics.com/go
And finally, there will be some news coming out next year with the show, as well as my business, so I hope you’ll hop on the mailing list and stay tuned, that’s probably the best place to do that. And if you celebrate holidays in December and January, I hope they’re safe, enjoyable, and rejuvenating. Until 2024, stay tuned right here - and in the words of the great Arnold Schwarzenegger, I’ll be back.

Dec 12, 2023 • 43min
132 - Leveraging Behavioral Science to Increase Data Product Adoption with Klara Lindner
Klara Lindner, Service Designer at diconium data, discusses leveraging behavioral science to increase data product adoption. She shares insights on user research, human-centered design, and the disconnect between data professionals and their own advice. Klara explores easy user research techniques, responsibility for user adoption, and upcoming webinars on behavioral science frameworks. Topics also include service design, renewable energy technologies, and challenges faced by B2B SaaS product leaders.