Finding/creating Quality Data

February 11, 2018October 5, 2018 devayanitirthaliLeave a comment

I have heard from Parag and many other people who work on India related topics about incomplete datasets, data parameters that do not match over the period making it impossible to look at anything over a longer time period. Just yesterday I was reading some of the DataCop blog posts about cleaning data as well as their apps that help collect data where data connectivity is difficult.

Today however I realized that one of the bigger problems of all is sanctity of data collected.
We received furniture delivery today. Overall, buying furniture and then choosing to buy it online has been a trying experience to say the least. With this background this is what transpired:
The delivery guy updated the status on his mobile. Then he asked me to check the messgae I got. So far so good. Then the following conversation ensued:
Me: Ok received the message.
Deliver person: Click on it and click submit.
[Clicked on the link read the question ‘How likely are you to recommend Pepperfy to…’. The value was set to 10]
Me: This is a feedback form. I will complete it later.
DP: Just submit it, it tells them how was our delivery.
[Stands next to me till I click submit]

How is that data point of any value to anybody?
I would have likely given an 8-9 or even 10 to that question and would have liked to give different values for different parameters. For example, 10 for professionalism of these particular delivery people but 3 for the overall process and communication. 8-9 to the studio personnel and the way they helped patiently. 7 for the website etc. However, that crucial data wasn’t captured. This problem is easily fixable by tweaking the feedback form.
The most problematic point however is the person standing there and making me submit the form because he perceives it to be his evaluation and linked to some kind of reward/punishment.

Is this perception based in truth? I hope not. Pinning the customer’s willingness to be a brand ambassador on one transaction out of many is ridiculous.
How did the delivery guy come to think of it that way? Was he briefed to nudge the customer to give feedback but something was lost in the communication and thought it was about him?
If somebody asked him to get it done in that particular way, what was their motivation? Are their incentives pushing them to make sure that they get 10s?

This particular problem is on one level about training everybody involved to follow data collection protocols. Followed by communicating why the data collection is important and what is done with it. Secondly, it is about making sure each person buys into the organizational vision and understands how the data helps fullfill that vision. If everybody is working towards the vision then collecting the data becomes a way to learn how it can be achieved rather than a check mark. Incentive structure (real or perceived) goes hand in hand with this. If the average rating is the basis for salary increases or commissions, there is a huge possibility that your data is useless.

In India I wonder if it is also about the basic attitude. Gaming the system and short termism is built in the DNA. More about that later.

Social Media, Technology & Education

Random thoughts about Pokemon Go

July 15, 2016February 5, 2018 devayanitirthaliLeave a comment

Pokemon go and its eminent arrival was not on my radar. I am not a big video game, pokemon, or mobile games fan. My colleague mentioned how his students were so distracted the day Pokemon was unveiled and I got curious.

Got the app. Signing in process wasn’t so smooth. App crashing I guess makes it more alluring as it alludes to millions of users who are trying to get in at the same time. More alarming was the app asking access to email, camera, photos, and many other things that I did not feel comfortable with. I always feel uneasy in the begining and then aquiesce depending on how badly I want the app.

The avatar options were the next frustrating thing. Man/woman? woman. Pink or purple? curvy body or …. Nope just that. So now I am a voluptuous pink wearing woman/girl that I do not identify with.

The other struggle when I finally got in was that I remembered about the game only when I had a minute free at my table rather than when I went out for a walk. I quickly learned without anybody teaching me that the poke stops when flicked give pokeballs. Throw pokeballs at different creatures appearing to catch them. Figured out about the egg incubator after I caught 3 eggs. Had to keep telling myself to be careful about dialogues like – my eggs haven’t hatched yet or I have 2 eggs in the incubator. Then heard a male colleague saying the exact same thing. How wonderful it must be to not worry about that sounding weird or creepy.

My colleague’s kid explained the rest of the game mechanics – what to do with the pokemons after you catch them, the candy, the fairy dust, powering up etc. The game still doesn’t make much sense to me. People keep talking about the social experience. I reached level 5 just now so the in app social experience has elluded me till now. Some of my friends shared their experience playing pokemon go with their colleagues – knowing them better, finding landmarks in the neighborhood or on campus that they were not aware of. My experience has been limited to a nod or smile or look of acknolwedgement from strangers on the sidewalk who were playing Pokemon go and clearly identified that I was playing too. I know the pokemons my colleagues caught, the level they are on, the type of mobile phone they have but not much else has come out of those interactions. Except of course the disconcerting exchange with a colleague during a work related conversation, “Devayani don’t move I am trying to catch a zubat on your face”.

More fulfilling has been the experience of the Pokemon Syllabus google doc shared on AIR listserv. The doc was created by Adrienne Massanari this morning and already has about 11 pages of relevant literature shared by 40+ people on topics such as location-based mobile gaming, AR and Public Spaces, apps, wearable tech, legalities/policy, and links to news articles on pokemon go.

Musings · Social Media, Technology & Education

Circles in my life

February 28, 2013February 5, 2018 devayanitirthaliLeave a comment

I am increasingly having problems with managing my connections. I felt it was easier before in 2005 when everybody from India was on Orkut and everybody I met in US was on Facebook. My Indian connections moved from Orkut to Facebook slowly some 2-4 years ago and my Orkut account gets only a trickle of relevant activity. However, even without the move that kind of division would not have worked for me today with the kind of sharing patterns I have.

My efforts at creating google circles was supremely unsuccessful (mostly because of google+ not working for me) so has been making groups on Facebook to selectively share stuff. Some of what I share is geographically related. For example the Africans in India exhibition I recently shared is accessible only to people living in NYC, so are various events at TC, Columbia University or other neighboring institutions. Some of it is more personal, like cute photos of my friends visiting us and celebrating Christmas, opening presents that are not necessarily unworthy to be shared with acquaintances but not particularly necessary to broadcast either.

I created a page on Facebook for my extended family and it has picked up really well. However, there is no way I can include some of the activities of the family I acquired here in US over time like my friend Marcelle and her two boys, my roommate Selen. After my parent’s visit to US the task has become much more difficult. Not only do I have two versions of family but some of the members of these two versions know each other well and I would like to share ‘stuff’ that both will enjoy.

The other side of it is to think about what will people I am related to want me to share. I had not thought about it before. Now that I think about it, I enjoy, actively read everything my sisters, friends in India post in spite of it being absolutely not related to me due to it being locally relevant geographically or local to some conversation I am not party to. Stalking my sisters and friends gives me a feeling that I am part of their lives more than possible given the distance (much of it in time zones).

This long ‘thinking out loud’ is not about the functionality so much but my inability or I think more of my aversion to define my various relations as to where they fit on the plane of relatedness.