At Productcamp Berlin, I had the opportunity to present a talk titled "Are We Too Obsessed with Numbers?" In my presentation, I discussed the potential dangers of organizations becoming overly focused on numerical data. I shared several indicators to look out for that may indicate a numbers-driven mentality. These included situations where other forms of information are disregarded in decision-making, teams are hindered by the need for "hard" numbers even for simple tasks, or new and innovative ideas are not pursued due to a lack of quantitative data.

Additionally, I presented case studies that demonstrated the benefits of incorporating qualitative insights into the discovery phase of product development. By doing so, teams gained a deeper understanding of user needs, resulting in time and cost savings, as well as the development of features that are more likely to resonate with end users. On the other hand, neglecting to gather qualitative data and solely relying on numbers can lead to the development and launch of features that ultimately cause long term frustration for users, which can be difficult to quantify and prove.

The feedback I received following my presentation was overwhelmingly positive, with many product owners, especially those from small-to-medium-sized companies, expressing frustration at not having the appropriate skillset within their teams to gain qualitative insights effectively.

During a subsequent presentation to an audience of product designers and user researchers, I heard complaints that product managers often fail to see the value of qualitative data.

Clearly there’s some discourse and exchange needed here… tbc! 😊