I think with databases, it's natural to go for normalized forms for the benefits you get with a relational database. Unless you don't have anyone with any semb

I think with databases, it's natural to go for normalized forms for the benefits you get with a relational database. Unless you don't have anyone with any semblance of DB design, you usually have more friction when you want to de-normalize the DB instead. At least, that's been my experience, but I did have the luck of mostly working with experts in DB design.