Comments for Quantitative Dissonance http://antfood.wordpress.com Measuring reality Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:25:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on What is Data? by antfoodz http://antfood.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/what-is-data/#comment-5 antfoodz Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:25:41 +0000 http://antfood.wordpress.com/?p=4#comment-5 In the case of the internet, tangible are the things we see and can interact with. In the case of the internet, tangible are the things we see and can interact with.

]]> Comment on What is Data? by biathlonchamp http://antfood.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/what-is-data/#comment-4 biathlonchamp Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:16:25 +0000 http://antfood.wordpress.com/?p=4#comment-4 "I can hold a metric, or a number in my hand, but without the ability to tie it to the tangible, and to understand what it is that got it to where it is and what actions are needed to change it, it has no value." Correct me if I'm wrong, but nothing on the internet is "tangible". Any Web site is just a bunch of numbers arranged in such a way as to evoke responses from users. That response is what people are willing to pay for, and it's what analysts get paid to predict and (hopefully), direct. Unless you're right there in the room with your (very tangible) users, you'll never know exactly what drives their behaviors, so all you can do is rely on your numbers. The numbers paint a picture, and you can infer whatever you want about your users, but in the end you still just have a bunch of numbers. My favorite number is seven. “I can hold a metric, or a number in my hand, but without the ability to tie it to the tangible, and to understand what it is that got it to where it is and what actions are needed to change it, it has no value.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but nothing on the internet is “tangible”. Any Web site is just a bunch of numbers arranged in such a way as to evoke responses from users. That response is what people are willing to pay for, and it’s what analysts get paid to predict and (hopefully), direct.

Unless you’re right there in the room with your (very tangible) users, you’ll never know exactly what drives their behaviors, so all you can do is rely on your numbers. The numbers paint a picture, and you can infer whatever you want about your users, but in the end you still just have a bunch of numbers. My favorite number is seven.

]]> Comment on What is a website? by biathlonchamp http://antfood.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/what-is-a-website/#comment-2 biathlonchamp Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:02:43 +0000 http://antfood.wordpress.com/?p=3#comment-2 First! LOL First! LOL

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