Don't collect data unless you have a plan to use it.
Most organizations are greedy and try to collect as much data as possible with the hopes that someday they'll know what to do with it. Here's why that frustrates me.
- Collecting data from people erodes their experience. Nobody woke up this morning hoping to fill out longer forms. Every question you add is a paper cut in someone's day.
- It's an invasion of privacy! I've experienced some really invasive forms.
- Most of that data will be buried in a spreadsheet to collect dust.
If the data was put to good use or exchanged through a worthy tradeoff for the user (they fill out the form but, in exchange, get something really valuable), I'm all for it.
But if we collect the data from people and do nothing with it, we've done a disservice to our stakeholders. We've taken their time (and privacy) for granted.
Next time you decide to collect data, ask yourself these questions:
- What's the least invasive way I can request this information?
- Is the data we are requesting publicly available?
- Have we asked for this data before? (Think about how irritating dentist's offices are.)
- What is something valuable we can offer in exchange for asking them to do this work?
Most importantly, if you request data from stakeholders, USE IT for something! Ideally, use it to improve their experience in the future.
