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The CEO asks the company's data scientist whether the marketing strategy should include generative AI and large language models.
The data scientist replies:
“The revelation of large language models, characterized by their deep neural architecture and comprehensive parameterization, represents a quantum leap in the field of marketing. Their extraordinary ability to uncover intricately interwoven, nonlinear structures in huge and extensive data sets leads to unprecedented precision in the field of hyper-personalized marketing campaigns and goes beyond the limits of conventional methods…”
When the data scientist finally stops, the CEO asks, “Can you explain it more simply for me?”
To which the data scientist replies:
“Oh dear, it seems like you're having trouble understanding the basics. Let me explain it to you like a little kid. Great learning models are super-duper smart tools that help us figure out what our customers like.
“They're much better than the old stuff we were using. With these fancy models, we can create ads that really appeal to people and get them to buy our stuff. And you know what? They do it super fast too! So we need to use these cool models to beat the other companies and be the best at marketing. Got it now? Good!”
This unhelpful interaction highlights the challenges that arise when people have different levels of knowledge about the technology. The data scientist is deep into the subject matter and the CEO has only a superficial understanding of how generative AI works.
Bringing together these people with different knowledge can lead to frustration or, worse, conflict.
Katie Robbert, CEO of Trust Insights, offered solutions to this challenge in her conference talk “Managing the People That Manage the Machines” at Marketing Analytics & Data Science (MADS).
How communication goes wrong
Katie asked managers and engineers what interactions, like that between CEO and data scientist, can go wrong. Interestingly, both roles identified the same problems with the other party, including:
- Being too bossy
- Assuming that the other party is not smart enough
- Wrong questions (managers) and poor communication (technologists)
- Overcompensation
- Bad attitude
- Blaming each other
As companies increasingly embrace generative AI, machine learning, natural language processing and deep neural networks, we can expect to see an increase in communication problems between managers and engineers, says Katie.
“You need a framework for communicating with the people who do the work, the people who operate the machines,” she says.
To make this possible, Katie introduces a framework to help managers and technologists work better together.
Use the 5P framework to improve technical communication
Katie developed the 5P framework to help people with different backgrounds and expertise work better together. The five elements include:
- Purpose: What problem are you trying to solve? What question are you trying to answer? Why are you having this conversation?
- People: Who is involved in this conversation and which other parties need to know the outcome?
- Proceedings: How do you do it? When do you need to do it? What tools do you need to use?
- platform: What tools do you use to communicate? Slack, phone, in person?
- Performance: Have you resolved the issue appropriately?
Katie explains that the first three – purpose, people and process – involve expectations. Process and platform are about execution, and performance is about measurement.
Create requests with user stories
The 5P framework is well suited for creating user stories. The story structure is simple if you follow the example of agile software development teams: [persona]I [want to]So [that].
Katie says the framework fits the user story format perfectly. The persona is the people. The “want” is the process and the platform. The “that” comes from purpose and deliverable.
Let us consider an example.
Katie's previous employer was developing products to help drug treatment providers recruit patients. The main person involved was an academic who conducted clinical research. He came to development meetings with the attitude that he knew what was best for the product. He asked for a long list of product features.
The developers felt micromanaged, while the stakeholder felt like they weren't getting what they needed. Poor communication, friction, fear and frustration ensued. “Every time someone saw him come anywhere near a meeting room, fear would rise and people would start to shut down,” says Katie.
The stress caused by these conflicting perspectives could have been reduced if they had, for example, created user stories:
- As a clinician [persona]I will use this software during the intake process of new patients [want to], so I can speed up the process and have more meaningful conversations during our appointment [that].
- As a patient [persona]I will use this software during the admission process as a new patient [want to]so that I can spend more time talking to my doctor about my problems and not have to answer standard questions [that].
Such user stories are powerful because they clearly state the purpose and goals. “Every single thing we should make decisions about should be traced back to these two user stories, because that's what the product we've launched is all about,” says Katie.
User stories can defuse competency conflicts
Now let's look at how user stories can also reduce friction between teams. Conflict often arises when a group says, “This is mine. Why are you meddling in my business?” User stories can answer or even prevent this question between groups in your organization.
Frontend development vs. backend development
In Katie's previous job, frontend development worked with design, UX, and product teams on layouts and images. When the frontend team handed over the design, backend development said it was technically not possible due to the system limitations. The frontend team then complained to their stakeholders that the backend team was not cooperating.
What if you had created such a user story earlier?
As a backend developer, I want to be involved earlier in the design process so I can assess what is possible..
It expresses the team, its goal and the benefit for everyone.
Marketing vs. Development
Katie's former employer had an unrealistic VP who had big ideas about what to add to the website's homepage. A member of the marketing team asked the development team to do this, but was told no because the team had already committed to working on another feature in the two-week sprint.
What if you had created this user story?
As a developer, I want to understand the marketing strategy so I can include website features in sprint planning.
This story would have made it clear to the VP that the development team worked in sprints and couldn't accommodate every request. It also works well because the development team can better understand the marketing strategy and proactively schedule time for marketing functions in their sprint planning.
The benefits of user stories and the 5P framework
User stories like these can reduce or mitigate the emotional impact of decisions and feedback. “We may not express it. We may not know it right away, but [emotion is] “That’s where all the friction comes from,” says Katie.
For example, if a manager tells you, “That's the wrong decision and I don't want you to do that,” you'll probably feel hurt. However, if the manager tells you a user story with less emotional wording, you'll understand and respond better.
That's the power of user stories. They place the user in the discussion and align the goals and motivations of everyone involved with that user.
In addition, the 5P framework and user stories are good for organizing your thoughts. “It helps you set expectations for yourself and others. It helps you check that the outcome matches the questions you asked, and it helps you avoid distractions,” says Katie.
Reformulating the LLM requirement as a user story
Remember the CEO-data scientist discussion about generative AI and LLMs at the beginning of this article? Here's how Katie would rephrase it from the data scientist's perspective, with a dash of humor:
As a subordinate doing the CMO's bidding, I want to understand the use cases of generative AI so I can communicate to my manager if there are any applications that should be considered.
With this understanding, the data scientist now has generative AI use cases that will help the CEO understand:
- generation
- extraction
- Summary
- Rewrite
- classification
- Answering questions
This user story attempt will lead to a more productive and useful conversation.
Try user stories in your work
Next time you don't get what you asked for from another team, don't be frustrated and don't think they can't help you.
“To change that, say, 'This is exactly what I need from you. For this reason and this way,'” Katie explains.
Let the analysts and data scientists in your organization know about the Marketing Analytics & Data Science conference, running concurrently with Content Marketing World. Register today and save $100 with promo code BLOG100.
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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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