Numberwang #2 - June 2019

Moving from ‘Knowledge’ To ‘Understanding’

The theme for our session in June was addressing how, across all data disciplines, we move as practitioners from "Knowledge" to "Understanding".

Our first speaker was Agata Adamiak (Business Ahead). In her talk, Agata broke down the effectiveness of using best practice when developing digital experiences. Based on prominent brand examples, she uncovered how our knowledge of best practice UX design can be applied in practical terms to truly reflect our understanding of user motivations. That included cases where best practice applications had gone right and wrong - and, most importantly, what we could learn from these examples.

Our second speaker was Frank Hopkins (Entain). Frank discussed the connection between Experimentation and Olympic Weightlifting, the transition to digital data, the challenges (and nightmares!) that data-gathering raised from the outset, and how that experience helped him considerably whilst at the BBC. He explored his process and how turning knowledge into understanding underpins ideation at the BBC; ideas coming from people with varied backgrounds and the need to manage expectations and prioritise ideas at such a vast company, whilst considering individual technical capabilities.

Our final speaker was Lewis Carroll (McCann Connected), who brought a hugely impactful and resonant social conscience to our theme of Turning Knowledge into Understanding : he discussed an award-winning piece of work that blended social data sets to tell a powerful story focussing on the origins and ongoing challenge of homelessness in Manchester.