大数据需要好设计

    瑞典有一家名叫“3”的移动运营商，它把话费账单从每月一次的恼人服务变成了一项有用的服务。它推出的“My 3”手机应用可以使用户实时看到自己的使用数据，让他们知道自己的话费和流量还剩多少。如果用户的剩余通话时间不多了，他们也可以通过这款应用获得更多的信用，到了月底的时候，用户就不会对着高额的话费账单大吃一惊了。用户也可以通过这款应用直接拨打客服电话，同时它会告诉你，要等多长时间才能拨通某位客服人员的电话。这款小小的应用重塑了电话账单给用户的体验，使它从一种静态的、单向的告知方式变成一项个性化的服务，不仅可以根据用户的行为做出调整，还允许用户即时采取行动。

    这是一个很好的例子，它把世界上的一种最呆板、也可能是最令顾客厌烦的数据变成了另一番模样。而且令人吃惊的是，用户非常喜欢这项服务，作为一项电话账单应用，用户居然在应用商店中给它打了平均4.5星的高分。

    “3”的故事也告诉我们，一家企业在灵感的驱使下可以实现怎样的华丽转身。在和其它运营商竞争的过程中，“3”在使用用户数据上另辟蹊径并取得了成功。

    谷歌（Google）的Google age服务改变了医生与患者间的交流方式，现在我们看到，医疗专业人士已经开始主动拥抱信息和数据革命。他们已经开始采取一种前瞻性的姿态，采用那些能够促进医患关系的数据解决方案。

    SMART是哈佛医学院（Harvard Medical School）和波士顿儿童医院（Boston Children's Hospital）联合发起的一个项目，目的是重新设计小儿生长曲线。小儿生长曲线几乎会用到儿童的每次就诊中。不过很多父母对这个曲线反映的信息都不甚了解。在某些情况下，这种情况可能导致这个曲线的数据遭到错误解读，从而导致灾难性的后果。SMART采取了以设计为导向的方法，建立了一个全新的小儿生长曲线应用，不仅易读易懂，还可以在医生和患儿父母之进行分享。这款应用从两个角度展示了患儿的数据，一种是从医生的角度，一种是从父母的角度。后者使用的是简化版本的数据，医生可以更好地向患儿父母解释生长曲线所反映的情况以及各种比例数值的意义。它没有采用复杂的数值，而是用简明的图像来呈现儿童的发育情况，确保医生和父母都能了解孩子的情况。

    类似SMART和My 3这样的项目近来呈明显增加之势，它们的核心挑战就是如何让普通人了解各种数据的含义。显然许多企业也会面临类似的问题。设计可以通过以下方法帮助企业解释各种数据的含义，找到用数据为顾客造福的机会。

    • 用数据做指引，而不是做决定：用数据创造一个便于理解和学习的条件，但不要让数据的重要性超过创意和灵感，也不要忽视信心的重要性。

    • 关心客户：把数据的洞察力和价值从你的企业扩展到你的客户身上。

    • 打乱数据，推倒重来：我们住在一个混乱的世界。如果你的数据很纯粹，如何适应这个混乱的世界？利用设计把数据变得个性化、情绪化，多讲故事。

    3, a mobile operator based in Sweden, redefines the phone bill, transforming it from a monthly annoyance to a helpful service. "My 3" is an app that lets customers see their usage data in real time so they know exactly where they are compared to their plan. If they are running low on minutes, they can get more credit from within the app so at the end of the month there's no bill shock moment. Customers can also make a call to customer service right from the app where the helpful information continues by telling you how long you'll have to wait to speak with someone. This tiny app is rethinking the experience of the phone bill, taking it from a static, one-way piece of communication to a personalized service that adjusts to a customer's behavior and allows them to take action immediately.

    It's a wonderful example of taking information that can be classified as amongst the dullest on the planet and potentially one of the most aggravating for customers -- and turning it on its head. Amazingly, customers love the service so much that they are taking the time to review it in the app store with an average of 4.5 stars, for a phone bill app.

    3's story also shows us what a company can accomplish when they take an inspired leap of faith. Breaking with their competition in the operator space, 3 chose to take a new direction with customer data.

    The Google (GOOG) age has changed the conversation between patient and doctor, and we're now seeing a movement by health care professionals to embrace the information and data revolution. They are starting to take a proactive stance to implementing digital solutions that use data to facilitate the relationship between patients and clinicians.

    SMART, an initiative from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, is an effort to redesign the pediatric growth chart. The pediatric growth chart is the ever-present tool in nearly every pediatric appointment, and yet for many parents the information presented is unclear. In some cases, this can lead to misinterpreted data, which can result in fatal consequences. SMART took a design-led approach to creating an interactive pediatric growth chart app that can be easily read, understood, and shared between doctors and parents. The app showcases patient's data in two different ways: customizing a view for clinicians and one for parents. The parental view allows doctors to better explain the growth charts and percentiles to parents using a simplified representation of the data that can be immediately understood. Instead of complex percentiles, the visuals give a snapshot that showcases a child's development, making sure that both clinicians and parents are on the same page.

    A major increase in projects like SMART and My 3 in which the central challenge is about finding ways to bring meaning to data for the average person. It's clear that many organizations will be facing the same issues. Here are some ways that design can help companies make sense of their data and identify opportunities to turn it into a benefit for their customers:

    • Use data to guide, not dictate: Use data to build a backdrop of understanding and learning, but don't let data trump creative inspiration or minimize the importance of leaps of faith.

    • Obsess with your customers: Extend the data insights and value from your organization to your customers.

    • Mess up your data: We live in a messy world. How can you make your pure data fit a messy world? Use design to make it personal and emotional, and tell stories.