Design and the Human Side of Data Science

Data science practitioners most often work with data generated by humans to produce analysis meant for human consumption targeting human beneficiaries. To understand problem spaces and effectively execute analyses sympathetic to human audiences, data scientists must also understand the process of design and how it informs the entire pipeline of their trade. From the gathering of requirements to the production of analytic output, getting data science 'right' means incorporating key elements of design. This talk will take a step back from the implementation of analytic algorithms to look at the entire data science pipeline and identify where and how elements of design can improve our problem solving capabilities, with concrete examples from projects implemented at RTI.lunch will be served