Make your golden paths actually golden

Hey, hope you’re well :)

Big week for me personally as I started my new role at LocalStack, where I’ll be supporting our data team as we define and scale our data platform architecture.

On to the newsletter, and this week I write about how to make your golden paths actually golden.

There’s also links to articles on self-serve data, north star metrics for AI data products, and standards in the data landscape.

Make your golden paths actually golden

As a data platform team we’re building golden paths that aim to provide both the official and the easiest way for our users to get something done.

That could be publishing data, setting up data observability, taking backups, or any number of common data management tasks the user wants to complete as quickly as possible so they can focus on their own deliveries.

But as well as serving our users, we also want to use these golden paths to influence how they complete their task, inserting governance and control alongside those roads.

For example, we might provide a golden path for publishing data that requires the use of data contracts to define the structure of the data and categorise it, and use the context from the contract not only to aid the users task of publishing data but also enable us to implement our own data standards and policies on their data.

When we get this right everyone’s a winner. Our users move more quickly, and our data management practices improve.

When we get this wrong, for example because the cost to the users of writing and maintaining the data contract is too high, they will abandon the golden path and forge their own routes.

That’s why the developer experience for our data platform is crucial for adoption, ensuring the users can move quickly and easily along the paths we are building.

Without it, our golden paths will gather dust while unofficial routes quietly become the de facto way of publishing data, without the quality and governance we need.

Interesting links

Beyond the dashboard: how BlaBlaCar PMs use AI to self-serve data by Dorothée Clerc

Self-serve has been the stated goal for decades, and we might finally be getting there.

North star metrics for AI data products by Eric Weber

Good advice for creating effective metrics that track changes in behaviour.

Data Landscape - Open Standards for Modern Data Architecture by Simon Harrer

A nice collection of open standards and what they can be used for.

From my blog

Per-project VS Code coloured windows

Following on from my trick to change my terminal colour based on the project (git repo), I now apply the same colour to VS Code.

Being punny 😅

Since I cancelled my subscription to the Scrabble Club, they’ve started sending me threatening letters.

Upcoming events

• Data Mesh Live, June, Belgium
  • Use this link for a 15% discount
  • Also join me for my Implementing a Data Mesh with Data Contracts
• Data Community Conference, September, London

Thanks! If you’d like to support my work…

Thanks for reading this weeks newsletter — always appreciated!

If you’d like to support my work consider buying my book, Driving Data Quality with Data Contracts, or if you have it already please leave a review on Amazon.

🆕 I’ll be running my in-person workshop, Implementing a Data Mesh with Data Contracts, in June in Belgium. It will likely be only in-person workshop this year. Do join us!

Enjoy your weekend.

Andrew