Productizing Data with People

How to turn data into applications in a humane way

As we see the rapid technological advances in the field of artificial intelligence, product organizations in the modern capitalist world have taken them as a business opportunity and built different forms of "AI-powered" applications. But, should we really do this? What if algorithmic recommendations were racial? Have you ever imagined the physical and psychological harm your product might cause to a diverse set of stakeholders? Who needs to be accountable for these consequences? Based on what I observed in the industry over the last decade, I believe that solutions to these challenges are already in the conventional wisdom of software product management. Since AI applications are primarily fuelled by a massive amount of data that are generated, collected, and processed by humans, this series focuses on providing a clear picture of the end-to-end data lifecycle and discussing how to incorporate human factors into the processes.

lineage * People commonly say "Data is the new oil." But, do we really have a clear picture of where the oil is coming from, in which route, by whom, how, and when? Even in a technical concept like data linage, there is an ethical implication that helps data practitioners to answer these key questions.

Articles in this series

  1. Why a Data Science Engineer Becomes a Product Manager
  2. What Makes a Good Dashboard: The Rise of Augmented Analytics
  3. Reviewing Ethical Challenges in Recommender Systems
  4. User-Centricity Matters: My Reading List from RecSys 2021
  5. Data Ethics with Lineage
  6. Validate, Validate, and Validate Data. But, in terms of what?
  7. It "Was" Ethical: Key Takeaways from UMich's Data Science Ethics Course
  8. "Why Do We Build This?" Humane Technologist's View of Bad Product/Project
  9. How I Define "Artificial Intelligence"
  10. The Locality of Information and Technology
  11. Fluid People and Blended Society: How Systems Model "Dividuals"
  12. Data Are Created, Collected, and Processed by People

  Author: Takuya Kitazawa

I promote digital participation and inclusion through strategic technology implementation. Based in Ottawa, Canada, I work with companies, nonprofits, and individuals across North America, Asia, and Africa to ensure their digital initiatives enable people to truly act, decide, and engage—not just access services. My expertise spans tech strategy, AI product development, and human-centred digital transformation that addresses participation gaps and prevents project failures. See CV for more information, or contact at [email protected].