Project Understanding

Abstract

We are at the beginning of a series of interdependent steps, where the project understanding phase marks the first. In this initial phase of the data analysis project, we have to map a problem onto one or many data analysis tasks. In a nutshell, we conjecture that the nature of the problem at hand can be adequately captured by some data sets (that still have to be identified or constructed), that appropriate modeling techniques can successfully be applied to learn the relationships in the data, and finally that the gained insights or models can be transferred back to the real case and applied successfully. This endeavor relies on a number of assumptions and is threatened by several risks, so the goal of the project understanding phase is to assess the main objective, the potential benefit, as well as the constraints, assumptions, and risks. While the number of data analysis projects is rapidly expanding, the failure rate is still high, so this phase should be carried out seriously to rate the chances of success realistically. The project understanding phase should be carried out with care to keep the project on the right track.