How Domain Experts Work with Data: Situating Data Science in the Practices and Settings of Craftwork

Abstract

Domain experts play an essential role in data science by helping data scientists situate their technical work beyond the statistical analysis of large datasets. How domain experts themselves may engage with data science tools as a type of end-user remains largely invisible. Understanding data science as domain expert-driven depends on understanding how domain experts use data. Drawing on an ethnographic study of a craft brewery in Korea, we show how craft brewers worked with data by situating otherwise abstract data within their brewing practices and settings. We contribute theoretical insight into how domain experts use data distinctly from technical data scientists in terms of their view of data (situated vs. abstract), purposes for engaging with data (guiding processes over predicting outcomes), and overall goals of using data (flexible control vs. precision). We propose four ways in which working with data can be supported through the design of data science tools, and discuss how craftwork can be a useful lens for integrating domain expert-driven understandings of data science into CSCW and HCI research.