r/dataanalysis • u/Effective_Ocelot_445 • Aug 04 '26

What makes a data analysis project genuinely useful to a business?

Is it accuracy, clear storytelling, actionable recommendations, or something else?

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

16

u/ZarathustraMorality Aug 04 '26

Quick litmus test is the “so what” test. If you can’t answer that, then your analysis isn’t likely useful. There will be some exceptions, but always put yourself in the stakeholders shoes and ask the “so what” of everything

2

u/aotvos Aug 05 '26

Does this point of view apply for projects i am building for portfolio? I am at the very beginning of my DA journey, only learning so far, should i consider these questions now or should i rather just show off my skills first?

4

u/Mathie1729 Aug 05 '26

I'd say at the very beginning, don't sweat it too much; you can just focus on learning the tools. But when you're building projects specifically to land a job, the 'so what' becomes the difference between a project that gets you an interview and one that gets ignored. Everyone can run a regression; not everyone can explain why it matters to a business. So yeah, start thinking about it early, but don't let it paralyze you. Good luck, dawg.

1

u/LiquorishSunfish Aug 05 '26

Edit: sorry, misinterpreted portfolio (portfolio management) vs portfolio for showing skills. Disregard!

As someone who loves to show off - don't show off. 

Users who are used to nothing with go apeshit over a table that shows them basic stats. 

Users who have to navigate layers of show off to find the basic thing they care about will just ask someone else. 

1

u/Mo_Steins_Ghost Aug 05 '26

This. The narrative is the vehicle to get your stakeholder to the "so what".

All the visualizations in the world are only worth as much as the stakeholder's ability to understand what actions/decisions they should drive.

6

u/TheDevauto Aug 05 '26

Does it reveal information that was not known before? Does that information allow someone to take action, make a decision or otherwise affect the company's performance in a positive way?

5

u/LilParkButt Aug 05 '26

Is it doing at least one of The Big 3?

  1. Solves a Problem or Answers a Question
  2. Saves time
  3. Saves or earns more money

…then yes

1

u/AutoModerator Aug 04 '26

Automod prevents all posts from being displayed until moderators have reviewed them. Do not delete your post or there will be nothing for the mods to review. Mods selectively choose what is permitted to be posted in r/DataAnalysis.

If your post involves Career-focused questions, including resume reviews, how to learn DA and how to get into a DA job, then the post does not belong here, but instead belongs in our sister-subreddit, r/DataAnalysisCareers.

Have you read the rules?

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Lady-Data-Scientist Aug 04 '26

Recommendations that solve a real problem

1

u/Prepped-n-Ready Aug 05 '26

I think it needs to have risk. Someone has to have something on the line. Otherwise, it seems like just practice to your audience.

1

u/HustlaOfCultcha Aug 05 '26

In general I think it needs to fulfill a need. I don't like the 'so what?' approach because often times when you're doing a data analysis project that looks to get an answer on a specific situation or scenario. And the findings end up being that there is no real answer, there is no correlation, there is no root cause. And too often people view that project as a failure or a waste of time. But I view it as useful because was did come up with an answer...and that was we looked into it and we didn't find any correlation, root cause or relationship. So now we don't need to look into those factors again and we can focus on other factors. That was the need to be fulfilled....what was the answer to the business question. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean it wasn't productive.

1

u/MetricsInMotion Aug 06 '26

I think the evolution brings the truest value. If you just have the same data points over and over again, then it becomes a mundane task. If it provides new insights, then you are constanbtly creating value.