Keynote Presenter & Speaker

Brian T. O'Neill is a designer, advisor, and founder of Designing for Analytics, an independent consultancy which helps companies turn analytics and ML into indispensable decision support applications. For over 20 years, he has worked with companies including DellEMC, Global Strategy Group, Tripadvisor, Fidelity, JP Morgan Chase, ETrade and several SAAS startups. He has spoken internationally, giving talks at O'Reilly Strata, Enterprise Data World, the International Institute for Analytics Symposium, Predictive Analytics World, and Boston College. Brian also hosts the highly-rated podcast, Experiencing Data, where he reveals the strategies and activities that product, data science and analytics leaders are using to deliver valuable experiences around data. In addition to consulting, Brian is also a professional percussionist and has performed at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center. Follow him on Twitter (@rhythmspice) and join his mailing list at https://designingforanalytics.com/list.

As seen at:

Competitive Edge Disruption by Design - 2019 PDMA Conference

Brian O'Neill speaking at Predictive Analytics World in Berlin

“
Brian’s session was great…
Data science practitioners need to have the non-technical skills to be effective collaborators with business/product stakeholders. Brian’s session was great, relevant, and on the mark for our audience of technical people and business sponsors."
Randy Guse
Director of Enterprise Analytics: AI and ML Research/Strategy
Optum (UnitedHealth Group)

“
Outstanding leadership in our field…
Thank you so much for your outstanding leadership in our field. We really appreciate your value-added materials and presentation that advance the product management profession.
Karen Dworaczyk
Product Development and Mgmt. Assoc. (PDMA) Board Member
Principal, InsightOvation Consulting

“
Great session
Great session, very different approach to other sessions experienced so far. It's incredible how difficult it is to ask open questions 😉
Attendee at O'Reilly Strata Conf.
London, 2019

“
One of the best webinars I have been a part of…
One of the best webinars I have been a part of in awhile. The presenter had more than a product to sell, and Brian gave us 9 pertinent questions to ask ourselves when designing analytics for our users. Great!
Libby Medicus
Report Analyst at Univ. of Montevallo (Webinar Attendee)

“
Well-structured [webinar], informative, and easy to understand
Well-structured agenda, informative contents, and easy-to-understand speech and text on a relevant topic.
Bulcsu Szekely
Researcher, LUT Group

“
Really liked this topic
UX is a big part of how we'll get analytics to the next level. (10/10). Really liked this topic and viewpoint! (9/10)
Attendees at Enterprise Data World
Boston, 2019

“
[Podcast Listener] found myself rewinding a few times to make sure it sunk in. …
I had the opportunity to listen to Brian as a guest on the latest UI Breakfast podcast this Saturday while I was cleaning up around the apartment, and I found myself rewinding a few times to make sure it sunk in. It was the first time in a while I have heard someone describe so succinctly the value of using data in a thoughtful and impactful way. The 86 number and doughnut example was felt all too close to home. I feel like a lot of my job is explaining and pitching the importance of not just using all the fancy design tools because it's cool and some organizations can (which is awesome, there's a lot of great design out there!) but really being thoughtful about these choices and making sure they bring value to the person at the end of the system making decisions or using the design. I'm a big proponent of simplicity. Altogether, it really spoke to me!
Robyn Klem
Director of Visual Communications & Products
The Clearing

Upcoming Speaking

Free Crowdcast Webinar

AI Product Management and Design: The Missing Links in Effective Data Science and Analytics?

Wednesday, July 8th @ 12pm ET
Includes Q/A time as well.
Register to Attend

2020 DataScienceGo Conference

Enabling Decision Making in Data Science with Human-Centered Design

Oct 23-25, 2020
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA

Conference Talks & Keynotes

2020 Keynote: Boston College MS in Applied Economics
2019 Product Management Association (PDMA) Webinar
2019 Product Management Association (PDMA) Conference "Disruption by Design"
2019 MinneBOS Conference at Boston University (Minneanalytics)
2019 Predictive Analytics World (London)
2019 International Institute for Analytics Symposium (Portland)

2019 Enterprise Data World (Boston)
2019 O'Reilly Strata Conference (London
2018 O'Reilly Strata Conference (NYC)
2018 Predictive Analytics World (Berlin)
2018 O'Reilly Strata Conference (London)
2017 O'Reilly Strata Conference (NYC)
UX Boston Meetup
Want me to speak at your company?
View my private webinar offerings

Podcast Appearances

Brian is the host of the podcast, Experiencing Data, and has also appeared as a guest on the following shows (in chronological order):

SuperDataScience
Value Inspiration
UI Breakfast
The Risk Roundup
Customer Equity Accelerator
Data Talks
Speaking of the Arts (Listen)
Beyond the Data - Episode 25 (Listen)
IBM Big Data and Analytics Hub "Making Data Simple" Podcast (Listen)
Startup Boston Podcast
No Dogma Podcast

Webinars

From time to time, I post webinars I have given here. You can also hire me to give a webinar to your audience, selecting from these topics or see the topics below.

Topics I Speak On

Sample Podcast Topics

How human-centered design improves the utility, usability, and engagement of data products powered by data science, and analytics
Why focusing on data visualization alone does not "fix" all UX problems with data products
How to apply the C-E-D design framework to analytics and data science offerings
How and why human-centered design should be part of algorithm design (i.e. AI-powered products)
What product/UX design leaders need to know about designing with data, AI, and interacting with their data science counterparts

Sample Talks

Speaker Statement

For over ten years, studies repeatedly show that analytics, big data, and now AI projects will only be successful in delivering value about 13-20% of the time. The problem is not just technology; it's how we align technology to the needs of the people using it.

I am passionate about helping data strategists and product leaders apply the power of human-centered design to analytics, data products, and data science.

While there are many talented data scientists and analytics leaders out there, many of them—perhaps just like—do not know how to ensure that a new software tool or data service they are creating becomes an indispensable decision support application or data product.

Why?

Design is not something most technical people are taught.

But, I also know that anyone who is a "maker" can learn to apply design thinking to their work so that they're producing positive outcomes and business value—not just outputs.

By focusing on the last mile—the customer experience—data strategists can produce AI models, analytics, and decision support solutions that are simple, trustworthy, and indispensable. Only then, is value created.

After all, if nobody is using your service, does it really matter how accurate your model was?

Want me to speak at an event?

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