The Art of Data Humanization

As a data strategist and co-founder of GRS Research & Strategy, I have witnessed the challenges faced by experience industry professionals in today's data-driven world firsthand.

The crux of the problem is that we are inundated with data.

The data overload has brought our industry to a point where we must shift our focus from purely quantitative analysis to more qualitative approaches.

We need to return to the fundamentals of Data Management, which involve humanizing information to truly understand users' needs.

In this article, I will discuss the necessity of adopting a more holistic approach, rather than solely focusing on data management in our companies. I believe that humanizing data is the future of the experience industry.

The Power of Asking "Why?"

In a world where data obesity (overload of data) is the norm, the most unexpected and essential question is the simplest and most difficult one:

the "why" behind something!

As the CEO of a Research Company, I confront the daily needs of our clients to refocus on understanding the core reasons behind their beneficiaries' needs (visitors, buyers, exhibitors, sponsors, etc.), combining quantitative analysis with a more robust and insightful qualitative approach, delving into the genuine and significant value customers seek.

For this reason, it is crucial to equip our companies with a more comprehensive, holistic approach, and to possess the appropriate knowledge and personnel who can increasingly support the complex context with methodical and experienced high-level reasoning. This is why I believe it will become essential to have more "philosophers" in our industry, rather than just "data scientists," or at the very least, to find the proper suppliers that can support this crucial evolution from a purely quantitative and numerical approach to a more "holistic" and all-encompassing vision.

The Key Ingredients to Overcoming Data Overload

To address the challenges of data obesity, we must consider:

• Specific industry benchmarks
• Thorough analysis and understanding
• The ability to transform thoughts into actionable plans
• Integrating diverse but comparable data
• Asking the right questions
• Investing in qualitative interviews and client immersions
• Allocating time to develop data-driven strategies
• Humanizing Data through the Registration Experience

The process of humanizing data commences with the most crucial moment of any experience: the first moment of truth, which involves the collection of "new" data, typically related to the Registration Process.

This is when a participant's data becomes personified, transforming into an individual who enters the event space.

GRS Research & Strategy has recently acquired Info Salons , a prominent and well-known registration and data gathering company in the experience industry, to take a significant step toward better humanizing information collected during the registration process and at various touchpoints between the beneficiary of the experience (mainly visitors and exhibitors) and the organizer.

The Future of Experience is on leveraging the human effect

The humanization of data is the future of our industry, driving human experiences and capitalizing on the human factor that makes all the difference in any B2B, B2C, or B2G context.

We must concentrate on delivering a unique, tailored experience for each participant, which can only be achieved by effectively humanizing data through the most advanced technology, but with the aim of enhancing the human factor, and once again, with a deep understanding of the "why" of something.

For this reason, I believe our industry is undergoing a Digital Evolution, not a Revolution. The focus should be on enhancing experiences through purposeful digital and tech innovation, with a comprehensive understanding of all the touchpoints of interaction between each beneficiary and the organizers.

Our Industry has emerged from the pandemic stronger than before, and this is the perfect time to experiment with new ideas and make data-backed changes. But the most important element in this evolution, is to drive innovation armed with numbers, best practices, and methods—not just opinions.

To adapt to the evolving needs of users and beneficiaries, it is crucial to allocate specific budgets for testing, trying, and experimenting with new elements. By doing so, we can incrementally improve the industry without disrupting its core business model.

The key to thriving in the data-driven experience industry lies in adopting a more deep and holistic approach and focusing on humanizing data, leveraging the experience of data-scientists with more non-data people (or usign of specific companies), or enforce our companies with new "soft" skills and competences more "humanistic" like "philosophers" for instances.

The proccess of Humanizing Data:

In the proccess of Huminizing Data there is a clear path to follow:

• dentify undefined data: In the chaotic situation where there is too much dispersed data within the company, it is crucial to define ad-hoc data, primarily related to all the touchpoints between the interaction from visitors to the organizers, for example.
• Focus on data reliability: At this stage, the company must concentrate on the reliability of the available data.
• Determine essential data: With the "why" of the choices in mind, start the flow of defining which data is fundamental. This is Level 2 of Humanizing Data.
• Begin data management: With the "why" in mind, initiate the real data management process, which is Level 3. This will be the only way to enrich the Advanced Qualification, the process of reconnecting the flow of data with the "real" humans behind it.

The process is ongoing because it is necessary to refine this flow at every step to arrive at a precise and clear understanding of the powerful use of data for the company's strategy.