Using R to Build a Data Discovery Tool for Domain Experts

Our team of researchers has, among their duties, to identify prospective donors for new research initiatives and academic programs. This involves both being able to write and run sophisticated queries on our database, as well as identifying patterns and associations in the data that can be used to surface the correct alumni and friends for a particular initiative. We wanted to put these abilities directly in the hands of research analysts, who are subject matter experts and can leverage that expertise in interesting ways when doing these searches, but who do not have SQL or data science backgrounds. We used R to build a tool called the "discovery engine" that meets both of those needs while remaining accessible for the research analysts. In this talk, we'll take a look at how we built this tool and how it is being used.