Ultimate Question Flow
for
Data Modeling Problems
This is a combined and enhanced version of the Ultimate Guided Question Flow for Data
Modeling Problems, including the modeling style decision point in its correct place — between
business understanding and structural decisions.
Summarized version: Ultimate Question Flow for Data Modeling
Problems
A complete, decision-driven guide to solving any data modeling problem step by step.
🔷 1. Understand the Business Context
What domain is this model for? (e.g., retail, banking, logistics)
What are the key business goals and use cases? (transactions, analytics, reporting, auditability)
Who are the stakeholders, and how will they use the data?
What business processes generate or consume this data?
Is the system read-heavy, write-heavy, or both?
🔷 2. Identify the Core Entities
What are the primary real-world objects involved? (e.g., Customer, Order, Product)
Which entities are central to the domain?
Are there subtypes or specializations? (e.g., User → Buyer, Seller)
Which entities are slowly changing, static, or frequently updated?
🔷 3. Determine Attributes of Entities
What are the key attributes per entity?
Which are mandatory vs optional?
Are any attributes multi-valued or repeating?
Are any derived or calculated?
Do any attributes need standardization or lookup/reference tables?
🔷 4. Define Relationships
What are the relationships between entities?
o One-to-One?
o One-to-Many?
o Many-to-Many? (→ bridge table?)
Are relationships hierarchical, temporal, or recursive?
Are there attributes on relationships? (e.g., quantity in order lines)
🔷 5. Apply Constraints and Business Rules
What are the primary keys and unique constraints?
What foreign key rules must be enforced?
Are there domain constraints (allowed values, ranges)?
Are there temporal rules? (e.g., valid from/until, effective date)
What cardinality and optionality rules exist for each relationship?
🔷 ✳️5.5. Choose a Modeling Style (Critical Decision Point)
At this point, based on your analysis so far:
❓ Ask:
Is the goal operational (OLTP) or analytical (OLAP)?
Do you need historical tracking, auditability, or flexibility?
What is the complexity of relationships and change over time?
What is the performance profile (query complexity, frequency, volume)?
🎯 Choose a Modeling Style:
Modeling Style Use Case Considerations
Star Schema OLAP/reporting; fast queries; simple dimensions Denormalized; easy joins
Snowflake Normalized dimensions; space efficiency More joins; better integrity
Schema
Data Vault Enterprise data warehouses; audit/history; Complex; scalable and
flexible ingest traceable
Wide Table Simplicity in small-scale or prototyping Limited flexibility and
(OBT) scalability
3NF / Transactional (OLTP) systems High integrity; optimized for
Normalized updates
❗Make this decision before normalization/denormalization planning. This influences all subsequent
steps.
🔷 6. Plan Normalization & Denormalization
What level of normalization is required? (1NF → 3NF → BCNF?)
Should any parts be denormalized for performance or simplicity?
Do you need to support historical versions or Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD Type 1/2/3)?
Will the model need flattened views or materialized tables?
🔷 7. Define Keys and Indexing Strategy
What are the natural keys for each table? Do you need surrogate keys?
Which keys are used for joins or lookups?
Which columns should be indexed, and how?
Will you use composite keys or partition keys?
🔷 8. Data Volume and Performance Considerations
What are the expected row counts for each table?
What is the read/write/update frequency?
Are there latency or throughput targets?
Will partitioning, clustering, or sharding be needed?
🔷 9. Security, Privacy, and Compliance
What data is sensitive or regulated? (PII, GDPR, HIPAA)
Do different roles need different access levels?
Are data masking, encryption, or tokenization needed?
What are the data retention and deletion rules?
🔷 10. Integration and Extensibility
Will this model integrate with other systems?
What formats or protocols are required? (JSON, XML, CSV, Parquet, etc.)
Is the model future-proof? How easy is it to extend?
Should you use versioning for schema evolution?
🔷 11. Documentation and Validation
How will the model be documented? (ERD, UML, Data Catalogs)
How will it be reviewed and validated with stakeholders?
How will you test the model against real data or edge cases?
Will you apply data modeling tools (e.g., dbdiagram.io, Lucidchart)?
✅ Summary Flow (Mini Map)
Sta Goal
ge
1–5 Understand domain, entities, rules
5.5 Choose best-fit modeling style
6– Implement structure, optimize, secure,
11 validate
This flow is designed to be repeatable, domain-agnostic, and scalable for any project — whether
you're building a transactional app, a data warehouse, or a streaming pipeline.
Would you like an interactive checklist or an example run-through (e.g., for an e-commerce,
healthcare, or IoT system)?
