As a Salesforce consultant, you’ll often have to host demos of your work to your client. Demos are only useful with data, so at some point, you’ll need to create some.
Now, I’ve heard of an interesting story with a valuable lesson. The consultant manually created some fake contacts, with first and last names. They chose names that looked harmless enough, but actually offended the client.
I don’t know what names were used, but I believe it was a translation of a word. Regardless, the lesson is clear: When creating fake data, be sure it’s appropriate for your audience.
There are a few approaches you can use to ensure this is the case.
- Don’t try to be sly with clever names. Using “John Wick” sounds cool, but not everyone may agree with your choice.
- Don’t use “Test Test” either. People don’t resonate or find it realistic when using extremely fake data.
- Use Disney-approved names. Think of character names from Star Wars, or any of the princess movies. Something rated for G audiences.
- Use a data generator like Mockaroo. Yes, there’s a slight learning curve to benefit from this app. But once you’ve figured things out, it’s awesome.
The takeaway
Don’t alienate your audience by using bad fake data. Have a data strategy and then stick to it.
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