Help! we are all drowning in data lakes

Rediscovering humanity beyond the numbers

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” — Albert Einstein.

As someone who practices at the intersection of user research, computational rhetoric, and AI identity characterization, I’ve navigated through vast oceans of data, exploring wonderful patterns of human interaction and digital footprints that can help give a company an edge as well as potentially new market opportunities that cannot be easily discerned. As a former User Researcher with a grounding in traditional and now digital ethnography, I have also spent countless hours sifting through data lakes, seeking insights to inform business strategies and product designs. Yet, amidst this data deluge, I’ve come to a stark and sad realization: we’re so submerged in the quantifiable that we’re losing touch with the qualitative — the living pulse of humanity.

And those in positions to change strategic course with a focus on the humans behind the data, continue to feed their shareholders the pablum of data prosperity, while people, the pulsating heart behind those numbers, persistently plead for prioritization.

This is our reality now — mere…