How to Decide on a Data Model Design

The order of operations, key design principles, and common pitfalls to avoid

Data model design is one of those skills that’s really hard to improve in unless you are doing it every day, with real business processes to model. The more you do it, the more mistakes you make, and the more you learn.

I’ve learned a great deal about data modeling from my successes and failures over the past few years. I’ve had high highs of solving complex data quality issues and simplifying reporting work for data analysts on my team. I’ve also had low lows of completely bombing a project because I didn’t narrow down the scope or set clear expectations with stakeholders.

Today, I’m sharing my data modeling design process and the mistakes I’ve made along the way that have informed me of these lessons.

Every month, I’ll be sharing an in-depth, technical deep dive like this one for paid subscribers.

Before You Model: Discovery and Requirements