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Interview: Naomi Smulders, Data Scientist
Online Dialogue is of course the nicest company in the Netherlands with the nicest colleagues! We are therefore very happy to introduce them to you. Today it is the turn of data scientist Naomi Smulders. Naomi has been working as a data scientist at Online Dialogue since 2020. With her infectious enthusiasm and creativity, she knows how to make everyone completely happy with data in no time. She has a passion for behavior and the interaction between people and technology. By combining storytelling and data analysis, she is very good at making complicated matters visual and understandable.
In recent months, you've seen Naomi pop up on our socials more than once. For example, she was on stage at the Marketing Insights Event, was a guest on the podcast of Women in Analytics and provided a session at Measure Summit. She also published articles over the past year on power calculations and the value of data. In addition to her work, she is very busy gathering and sharing new knowledge and insights. During her studies, she founded several boards and groups where like-minded people from all over the world share knowledge and exchange experiences. At Online Dialogue, she can indulge her passion for human behavior, data analysis and storytelling. And I'm curious to see how she likes it so far.
Office or working from home?
“I choose office, without a doubt. I started at Online Dialogue in Corona time. I got to know everyone those first months via video link. The first time I came to the office, we had a ‘Christmas New Year's birthday party’ and that was really cool. In the following weeks, I found out how valuable it is to have different disciplines together in 1 room. As a data scientist I am alone, but fortunately it doesn't feel that way. i work together with analysts, psychologists and conversion managers. Every Tuesday I work at one of our clients” offices and it's always super fun."
Nice oscillating work
Work at Online Dialogue is never the same. What does the day of our data scientist look like?
“I don't have to travel far to get to the office, so I start quietly. I usually start by monitoring live tests. Then I prepare standups from different clients. My work is incredibly diverse. My client portfolio includes Maxeda, among others, DPG, Better Bed, Bidfood, Fifpro, Fonq and Printing Deal. One day I am preparing a workshop on statistics and the next day I am busy making a test analysis. What does come back every day is answering customer questions. It oscillates a bit between those.”
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Wednesday = nerd day
“I work full-time, where I am usually in the office in Utrecht three days a week. On Tuesdays I work at clients' offices and on Wednesdays I have geek day. That is one of my favorite days, because then I really take the time to dive completely into statistics. I go deep into the literature, work on statistics and build my tools. That makes me so happy! I enjoy sharing everything I've found with other people.
Among other things, I created a script for non-parametric testing so that colleagues can more easily see if there is a significant uplift based on average order value or number of pageviews. You need different statistics for this than for measuring a conversion uplift, and this script makes it a lot easier. One of the best-known tools I developed for Online Dialogue is also in the OD toolkit. ”
The puzzle has more pieces
That we are happy to have Naomi as a colleague is beyond question. And our clients are also eager for her special skills. But what is the value of a data scientist at Online Dialogue according to the data scientist herself?
“Data is much more than analytics. As a data scientist, I look much broader to reach insights. I'm not tied to the data from analytics, I work with raw data and that opens up many more possibilities. Creatively exploiting that data gives me pleasure and challenge. The puzzle has more pieces for me. And I try to convey the knowledge and insights I have as clearly as possible to colleagues and translate as clearly as possible to the customer.
Because my background is in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, I have a lot of common ground with my colleagues” work. I understand exactly what they are talking about and can therefore easily make connections with the data I have in my hands. In addition, I really enjoy getting the story across through visual storytelling. That's what makes my work at Online Dialogue so much fun."
Want to know more?
Would you like to join us? We are still looking for new colleagues! Take a look at our jobs page or contact us.
Previous interviews from this series can be read here:
Nederlands
English