How NetEase Yanxuan Built a Scalable Data Product Platform from Scratch

Background

The author summarizes a presentation from the 2020 Product Manager Conference titled “NetEase Yanxuan Data Product Practice and Methodology,” focusing on the practical side of building a data product system over the past three years.

1. Business Data Visible

In 2017 the team faced three major problems: many business units, few staff, and inadequate tools. To meet exploding data‑demand, they built a data warehouse on the NetEase Mammoth platform and deployed a private, agile BI solution called Yanxuan YouShu. Data engineers used SQL to create warehouse tables, analysts built data marts, and the BI tool enabled drag‑and‑drop report creation. The platform now hosts over 80,000 charts with daily PV >6K and weekly UV >900.

2. Data Quality Assurance

Data quality issues—lateness, errors, and inconsistency—were tackled through a suite of middle‑platform products. A data‑filling system allowed Excel‑based uploads for non‑online sources. An indicator‑management system defined metrics and generated warehouse models, ensuring consistent definitions. Validation rules were applied at table and field levels. A task‑operation center co‑built with Hangzhou Research provided governance, intelligent monitoring, and alerting to keep massive data pipelines (10k+ tasks) stable.

3. CXO No Where to See Data

Executives needed quick, on‑the‑go access to key KPIs. The team created VIPApp, a mobile data workbench embedded in the Yanxuan app, offering real‑time KPI monitoring and drill‑down to product, category, and traffic data. The UI supports long‑press gestures to open specific data pages, turning “see‑more‑data” into a seamless, mobile experience.

4. Scenario‑Based Data Products

To address distinct business scenarios, the team built specialized visualizations: an e‑commerce big‑screen for major sales events, a customer‑service dashboard for real‑time queue and satisfaction metrics, a sentiment‑analysis center (DiTing) that quantifies user feedback, and a promotion‑channel management system (XingTian) for marketing ROI tracking.

Conclusion

After more than three years and four overlapping stages—business‑visible data, data quality assurance, CXO mobile access, and scenario‑driven products—NetEase Yanxuan has established a mature data product ecosystem that supports large‑scale reporting, high‑quality data management, and targeted analytical solutions across the organization.