To avoid the “foreign language” feeling for users of a BI/DW system you must start with the decision makers. They are the ones who are going to use business intelligence profitably. They are the ones that turn the information in your data warehouse into usable knowledge. So, just talk to the users. It sounds so simple.

Over the years I have run into developers that say things like, “The users don’t know what they want. How can I design a DW if the users can’t tell me what data should go into it? The managers tell me they want us to make all the data in the enterprise available, then they will figure out what data to use. The users keep asking for the same old reports, they don’t understand the power of the DW technology.” Of course the decision makers have their own side of the story. I hear them say, “I don’t have time to go through a list 20 pages long to pick out the data I might need. The developers have a language all their own with words like dimensions, facts, foreign keys, OLTP, OLAP, ERP, ETL … With the business changing so fast how can I possibly know what data I am going to need next month let alone next year.”

In order to break through this difficulty we need to recognize one very important fact about being human. As humans we are pretty good at describing our own experience and not very good at talking about what outside of our experience. If a manager is asked about what data is needed, she falls back on experience and describes a report that will help. Since the future is beyond most peoples experience, they cannot describe the information they will need next year. If a developer asks a question of a user that is outside of the user’s experience then they are very likely to get nothing of value in response. If he presses the user about needed data, the user is likely to say they “want it all.” “Give me all you’ve got.”

At the end of the day developers must know what data decision makers need. This needed data is what will populate the DW. But how to get there? Start by asking the user about what they do know. I start with questions about the objectives the user is trying to achieve in their job. I follow that up by asking them about the decisions they must make to accomplish those objectives. With a little prompting, most business people can describe objectives and decisions because that is within their experience.

Now that you have your user focused on what they know because of their experience, ask them what information they need, to make that decision. If the user says that the “system” probably does not have the information then you need be persistent. I usually tell the user not to worry about how the information is obtained. Suppose we had an army of people who could go out and get the necessary information. At this point the decision makers open up and discuss what they need to make a decision. That discussion becomes the basis for data analysis. From the data analysis we arrive at the data required by the developers.

If you need help talking with your users about their real needs for a BI/DW system, I can help. I have often “translated” decision maker’s needs into data models for developers.