This was presented at the Rocky Mountain Oracle Users Group Training Days 2013 in Denver Colorado. Most people think data modeling booooorrring, right? But for a few of us, it is kind of fun. While data architects the world over will all agree that data modeling is a critical success factor to any well engineered database or data warehouse system, many struggle with how to get their organizations to support their efforts. What if you could make data modeling sessions more engaging for the business folks (your customers!)? If you could, the end result would be better data models. Using some common children’s games and other concepts (and creative license on the themes) this session will show you how to make data modeling fun. Be prepared to rethink how you develop data models.

1. Five Ways to Make
Data Modeling Fun
Kent Graziano
Data Warrior LLC

2. Bio
 Kent Graziano
● Oracle ACE Director (BI/DW)
● Data Architecture and Data Warehouse Specialist
● 30+ years in IT
● 20+ years of Oracle-related work
● 15+ years of data warehousing experience
● Co-Author of
● The Business of Data Vault Modeling
● The Data Model Resource Book (1st Edition)
● Co-Chair BI/DW SIG for ODTUG
● Past-President of Oracle Development Tools User Group and
Rocky Mountain Oracle User Group
© Data Warrior LLC #RMOUG

3. The 5 Ways
 Word Search
 Silly Sentences
 Jeopardy
 Data Model Haiku
 Data Model Telephone
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4. Introduction
 A correct data model has value
● Master Data
● BI and Analytics
● Common Vocabulary
 Building one is tedious
 Few people really want to spend time reviewing
one
 There must be a better way!
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5. © Data Warrior LLC

6. Approach
 Put up a large version of a data model on the
wall
 List of words to find on the model diagram.
● From data model reports
 Take turns going up to the diagram to highlight
or circle the words on their list
 Form teams, keep score
● Time limit
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7. Find These Words
Eval Commission Job
Salary Department Country ID
Region Postal Code Start Date
End Date Job Employee
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9. Rationale
 Familiarize people with the diagram
● How to read it
 Review main concepts
 Confirm entity names
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11. Approach
 Idea from National Geographic Kids magazine
 Sentences with missing words
● Nouns
● Verbs
● Adverbs
 Start with relationship sentences
● Mess them up – use the wrong verbs
 Ask users to validate and correct
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18. Rationale
 Relationship names are important
● Represent real business rules
 Relationships naming is hard
 Makes people really thing about them
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19. © Data Warrior LLC

20. Approach
 The Game:
● Contestants select a category
● “I’ll take Ex-presidents for $500”
● They get an “answer”
● They say what the answer represents by asking a
question
 Use entity definitions as the answers.
 Users have to guess the entity name with a
question.
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25. Rationale
 See if people can link the definitions to the
entities
 Do they even remember the definitions they
wrote or approved?
 Fun way to review and get signoff on the
definitions
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27. Approach
 Create a poem to express
● Entity definition
● Attribute definition
● Relationship
 Haiku pattern
● 5 syllables
● 7 syllables
● 5 syllables
 Use any poetic form you like
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28. My poor example

30. Rationale
 Using a specific form requires thought
 Forces people to really examine the words they
are using
 May have to use different word so must
understand the actual meaning
 For Haiku – must be succinct
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32. Approach
 Split the room into two teams
 1st person on each team reads (to themselves)
a definition
 Whisper it to the next person and they to the
next
 Last person writes it down
 Compare the results from the two teams
© Data Warrior LLC #RMOUG

34. Rationale
 Many people think JAD sessions and review
sessions are of little value
 People take bad or no notes
● “I’ll remember”
 No one wants to be the scribe
● That may be the most important role!
© Data Warrior LLC #RMOUG

35. Audience?
 Technical Team
● Word Search
● Data Model Telephone
 Subject Mater Experts
● Silly Sentences
● Data Model Telephone
© Data Warrior LLC #RMOUG

36. Audience?
 Business End Users
● Word Search
● Silly Sentences
● Jeopardy
● Data Model Telephone
 Modelers
● Silly Sentences
● Haiku
● Data Model Telephone
© Data Warrior LLC #RMOUG

37. Conclusion
 Lots of options
 Try any or all of these
 Make up your own
 Can we make data modeling more fun?
● Yes we can!
© Data Warrior LLC #RMOUG

38. Want better data models?
http://www.amazon.com/Check-Doing-Design-Reviews-ebook/dp/B008RG9L5E/

39. Hold for Kscope13 slide

40. Contact Information
Kent Graziano
The Oracle Data Warrior
Data Warrior LLC
Kent.graziano@att.net
Visit my blog at
http://kentgraziano.com
#RMOUG