As a data scientist, using data to make decisions – and to help other people make decisions – is an important part of my work.
Data can be really helpful in the decision-making process to provide context and reduce uncertainty. Figuring out the nuts and bolts of data-informed decision-making – including how and when to use data, as well as what data to use – can be tricky and unintuitive, but it’s an important skill and one that can be learned.
To help you get started, I’m going to share the five-step process that I follow to make better decisions with data:
Step 1: Define the decision to be made
It sounds simple, but before you think about turning to data to make a decision, it is important to specifically define the decision you’d like to make.