# Timo Dechau
> Deep dives on Product Analytics, Event data, Metric Trees and operational nerdiness.

## Blog posts
- [Direct Traffic Engineering](https://timo.space/blog/direct-traffic-engineering/): How direct traffic engineering helps marketing teams reclassify unknown traffic with landing pages, user agents, identity stitching, UTMs, and data warehouse models.
- [The Analytics Theater - in three acts](https://timo.space/blog/analytics-theater-three-acts/): I am currently reading The Frequency Era by Chris Walker (who is quite well known in the GTM measurement space for his blunt takes about attribution which I enjoyed very much). Since I have not...
- [An introduction to Signal Engineering](https://timo.space/blog/an-introduction-to-signal-engineering/): A practical introduction to signal engineering: why conversion signals are changing, what makes them hard, and how teams can approach them responsibly.
- [The Wave — notes on a shifting analytics landscape](https://timo.space/blog/the-wave/): Why I decided not to build a product, and what happens when the data stack meets the wave.
- [It's about the strategy, stupid](https://timo.space/blog/its-about-the-strategy-stupid/): "What can you see in the data?" The client asked me this while I was scanning through their analytics setup. Ten curious eyes were looking at me, waiting.
- [You only know when you try](https://timo.space/blog/you-only-know-when-you-try/): I was listening to Ben Thompson and John Gruber discussing their VisionPro experience watching NBA games. They were frustrated.
- [Data Model Layers and Jobs](https://timo.space/blog/data-model-layers-and-jobs/): I had a hard time getting into data modeling. When I started building my first models for e-commerce use cases, I kept asking the same question: how do we actually do this? What's a good structure?
- [2025 - Learnings & Thoughts](https://timo.space/blog/2025-learnings-thoughts/): I am a bit late to this category of posts, mostly because I had no real idea how to approach it.
- [Design-driven Analytics](https://timo.space/blog/design-driven-analytics/): When I talk to people about their data challenges, we usually get to the pain points pretty quickly.
- [Basic analytics skills in the dawn of agentic whatever](https://timo.space/blog/basic-analytics-skills-in-the-dawn-of-agentic-whatever/): On my YouTube channel, the video "How I would start as a Data Consultant - if I could press Restart" is the most watched video with over 7,000 views (which is a lot for my channel).
- [Pragmatic Orthodoxy - Data Signals #1 - 03.11.25](https://timo.space/blog/pragmatic-orthodoxy-data-signals-1-03-11-25/): Hello, welcome to a new bi-weekly format of this newsletter. I am thinking about it a while already, how I can share interesting content I come across.
- [dbt blues — notes on the Fivetran merger](https://timo.space/blog/dbt-blues/): When dbt Labs announced their merger with Fivetran, the data community had feelings. A lot of them.
- [The End of Digital Analytics](https://timo.space/blog/the-end-of-digital-analytics/): as we know it. When Amplitude announced their new chief evangelist some days ago, most people saw a standard hire - congratulations comments galore.
- [Vibe Analytics — when everyone becomes an analyst](https://timo.space/blog/vibe-analytics-when-everyone-becomes-an-analyst-and-analysts-become-everything-else/): Vibe Analytics: When Everyone Becomes an Analyst (And Analysts Become Everything Else)
- [The Double Three-Layer Framework for Tracking Setups](https://timo.space/blog/the-double-three-layer-framework-for-tracking-setups/): _It all started on a drizzly Tuesday, somewhere between the flat-pack sofas and the cafeteria (vegan) meatballs._
- [The dark side of growth metrics](https://timo.space/blog/the-dark-side-of-growth-metrics/): This will help you to understand why your CFO doesn’t like your growth rate.
- [Product Analytics in a feature factory](https://timo.space/blog/product-analytics-in-a-feature-factory/): There were some heated discussions in the product world some months ago when two product realities clashed significantly.
- [How to refactor your tracking design?](https://timo.space/blog/how-to-refactor-your-tracking-design/): Imagine the not-so-unlikely situation of starting a new job as an analyst, where behavioral data analysis (aka marketing & product analytics) is essential.
- [European Analytics — a regional perspective](https://timo.space/blog/european-analytics/): No worries. This will not become any kind of polarized post. But if you want to go and pick your analytics and any kind of data software providers not from the US and you really want to go for…
- [The business questions scale, but your analytics setup doesn't](https://timo.space/blog/the-business-questions-scale-but-your-analytics-setup-doesnt/): When implementing data analytics, there's this tricky inflection point that often catches everyone by surprise.
- [Metric Trees for Digital Analysts](https://timo.space/blog/metric-trees-for-digital-analysts/): Content in digital analytics tends to be pretty predictable. Juliana pointed this out a while ago - most content in our field focuses on implementation, rarely touching on actual data analysis or…
- [Product Evolution via Core Features — Miro Analytics](https://timo.space/blog/measuring-product-evolution-through-core-features-miro-analytics-setup/): Measuring Product Evolution Through Core Features - Miro Analytics Setup
- [Measure your product strategy in analytics setups](https://timo.space/blog/measure-your-product-strategy-a-new-learning-for-analytics-setups/): I decided to take on an interesting challenge: creating one tracking plan every day for a week, with plans to continue for three more weeks.
- [Measuring AI productivity features - Analytics setup for Loom](https://timo.space/blog/measuring-ai-productivity-features-analytics-setup-for-loom/): Imagine spending months perfecting your product's analytics, meticulously tracking every user action, only to have AI features completely upend your measurement strategy.
- [Analytics for Creative Tools — Canva Tracking Plan](https://timo.space/blog/designing-analytics-for-creative-tools-finding-clarity-in-complex-user-journeys-canva-tracking-plan/): Designing Analytics for Creative Tools: Finding Clarity in Complex User Journeys - Canva Tracking Plan
- [Product Strategy meets Analytics — Asana Tracking Plan](https://timo.space/blog/combining-your-product-strategy-with-your-analytics-implementation-tracking-plan-for-asana/): Combining your Product Strategy with your Analytics Implementation - Tracking Plan for Asana
- [Short-as-possible tracking plan — Vimcal](https://timo.space/blog/create-a-tracking-plan-for-a-tool-that-you-want-to-use-as-short-as-possible-vimcal-tracking-plan/): Create a tracking plan for a tool that you want to use as short as possible - Vimcal tracking plan
- [Tracking plan around one core feature — Inbox Zero](https://timo.space/blog/build-a-tracking-plan-around-one-core-feature-inbox-zero-in-superhuman/): Build a tracking plan around one core feature - Inbox Zero in Superhuman
- [Smart Tradeoffs in Analytics — Slack Tracking Plan](https://timo.space/blog/making-smart-tradeoffs-in-analytics-a-slack-tracking-plan-journey/): In this content series - season 1, I create a tracking plan for a typical start-up tool every day for four weeks (I take a break on the weekend), so 20 in total. This is the second one: Slack.
- [Notion's Analytics: A Product-First Tracking Plan](https://timo.space/blog/building-notions-analytics-foundation-a-product-first-tracking-plan/): In this content series - season 1, I create a tracking plan for a typical start-up tool every day for four weeks (I take a break on the weekend), so 20 in total.
- [From SQL to Slack: Automating Data Workflows with Big Functions](https://timo.space/blog/from-sql-to-slack-automating-data-workflows-with-big-functions/): Every data analyst knows the feeling: you've uncovered an important insight, but turning that finding into action requires an engineering ticket, multiple meetings, and weeks of waiting.
- [How I reconfigure atm](https://timo.space/blog/how-i-reconfigure-atm/): Reconfigured is a tool I've been using for almost three months now. It helps me capture everything I encounter when working on data tasks.
- [The easiest tracking setup in the world](https://timo.space/blog/the-easiest-tracking-setup-in-the/): Wait is this about the AI tracking solution - NO, it is not... keep reading
- [Sessions v Users — picking the right metric](https://timo.space/blog/sessions-v-users/): So here's a small story about making things easy. The other day I tried to make what I thought would be a simple video about sessions versus users in analytics.
- [The next evolution of Product Analytics](https://timo.space/blog/sunsetting-product-analytics/): This is the first time I changed a post's title and minor parts. But some days after I published it, I felt I got the initial angle wrong.
- [Introducing user states in product analytics](https://timo.space/blog/introducing-user-states-in-product/): It all started about a year ago. I was recording a video with the awesome Juliana Jackson about e-commerce analytics setups. At some point, we got into discussing user journeys in e-commerce.
- [Combine Product analytics with Subscription data - Part 2](https://timo.space/blog/combine-product-analytics-with-subscription-4f1/): Even after ten years of working in this field, one magic moment is always when it all comes together.
- [Combine Product analytics with Subscription data - Part 1](https://timo.space/blog/combine-product-analytics-with-subscription/): When working in product analytics, I had one painful experience. Occasionally, I chatted with the people from BI, and they told me about this magic thing called Data Warehouse.
- [How to measure a data platform?](https://timo.space/blog/how-to-measure-a-data-platform/): I have to be honest. You can easily trigger me. Just write something: "How would you measure a \[add your business model\] from a product perspective?" - this immediately sets my brain in motion,…
- [Eventify everything - Data modeling for event data](https://timo.space/blog/eventify-everything-data-modeling/): I started out with data modeling by supporting classic e-commerce marketing use cases. On a high level, this was all pretty straightforward. We usually had one core event - the order.
- [Everyone is a CDP now](https://timo.space/blog/everyone-is-a-cdp-now/): Why hasn’t MS Excel announced its CDP product yet? It was quite a while ago when I heard the term customer data platform for the first time.
- [Data pipeline orchestrators - the emerging force in the MDS?](https://timo.space/blog/data-pipeline-orchestrators-the-emerging/): Some weeks ago, I wrote about evolution threads in the Modern Data Stack and pointed out that data platforms are one of these evolutions happening right now.
- [About Data User Experience](https://timo.space/blog/about-data-user-experience/): I was in a podcast recording with Juliana and Simo this week, and we talked about event data and how to design it.
- [Quo vadis, Data Open source](https://timo.space/blog/quo-vadis-data-open-source/): A case study and review based on the examples of Snowplow, dbt, Rudderstack, and Iceberg
- [After the Modern Data Stack: Welcome back, Data platforms](https://timo.space/blog/after-the-modern-data-stack-welcome/): Data platforms are the next iteration of the Modern Data Stack setups. Let's explore why.
- [Use feature analytics for better products](https://timo.space/blog/use-feature-analytics-for-better/): Digital products need feature analytics to benefit from iteration speed and unbiased feedback.
- [What is beyond event data?](https://timo.space/blog/what-is-beyond-event-data/): Activities are the missing business layer for your event data. Yes, there was a time when digital analytics data was just pageviews, and it was fine since each click caused a new page loading— a…
- [The Go-To Metrics for Data Products: Start with These Few](https://timo.space/blog/the-go-to-metrics-for-data-products/): We are talking about data products, so of course we should speak about metrics
- [Leaving product analytics](https://timo.space/blog/leaving-product-analytics/): Last year Amplitude announced that they officially had left the product analytics space.
- [The extensive guide for Server-Side Tracking](https://timo.space/blog/the-extensive-guide-for-server-side/): I would love to learn if more people had a server-side awakening event.
- [Ways to solve the data user identity & privacy crisis](https://timo.space/blog/ways-to-solve-the-data-user-identity/): Plenty of things made me fall in love with Kissmetrics when it came out - but one feature made it irresistible for me: The user explorer.
- [Here is your stack of salt for reading or watching data content](https://timo.space/blog/here-is-your-stack-of-salt-for-reading/): Hey, welcome back. Maybe you have already read some of my content, or it is the first time. If you have read/watched something I have written or recorded - thank you for keep reading it.
- [Tracking, Measurement, Collection, Creation — again?](https://timo.space/blog/trackingmeasurementcollectioncreation/): Trying to define something that needs definition but has a history that can't be changed easily.
- [Retention Analytics - the definitive guide](https://timo.space/blog/retention-analytics-the-definitive/): There just one thing to learn in product analytics - unfortunately it takes a bit
- [Why product analytics is completely different than BI](https://timo.space/blog/why-product-analytics-is-completely/): Everyone in data has a unique origin story that brought them into data. At least I never met someone who didn’t have one.
- [More than 30 unique tracking events will cause you problems](https://timo.space/blog/more-than-30-unique-tracking-events/): The easiest way to increase data adoption, productivity and decrease quality problems
- [The data’s trojan horse](https://timo.space/blog/the-datas-trojan-horse/): This is our dashboard at deepskydata - To be more precise, a part of it.
- [Sometimes, you need to say: screw it](https://timo.space/blog/sometimes-you-need-to-say-screw-it/): \==== **When you ask me, what kind of book can you recommend?** Thanks for reading the hipster data stack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
- [Using EventStorming when building internal data products](https://timo.space/blog/using-eventstorming-when-building/): why data teams need to become the domain experts of all domains in a company
- [Why not try a simple data stack](https://timo.space/blog/why-not-try-a-simple-data-stack/): There are these rare no-nonsense people. I meet them sometimes in my projects. Their power is the focus. Their super-power is execution. This is what we need to fix in the next three months.
- [Coming soon — a new project announcement](https://timo.space/blog/coming-soon-677177e1a1b531001bb09181/): **This is Hipster Data Lab**, a newsletter about When no one asks anymore if the data is correct.

## Top-level pages
- [Home](https://timo.space/): Timo Dechau — Product Analytics, Event data, Metric Trees.
- [Analytics Workbook](https://timo.space/book/): A practical workbook on building product analytics capabilities.
- [Work with me](https://timo.space/work-with-me/): Consulting, workshops, and advisory for analytics teams.
- [Library](https://timo.space/library/): Curated resources on analytics, tracking plans, and metrics.
- [Splash](https://timo.space/splash/): Landing surface for events, campaigns, and announcements.