Interactive guide
Report on What Matters
Imagine a report that shows activity but does not answer a decision-maker’s question. A second report may display a plausible rate while hiding which records count or how much evidence supports the comparison.
For example, a small segment may show a dramatic rate from only a few records, or a two-point change may be described as a doubling without showing counts. This guide makes the population, calculation, evidence limits, and next action easier for a reader to inspect. You will build a Metric Dictionary and Reporting Brief. The lab saves your progress in your browser.
Find the decision behind the dashboard with Elena.
Inspect populations, compare trends, and follow metrics back to records. Build a reporting brief that shows what the numbers support, what they leave out, and what the reader can do next.
Start with a broken answer
Ask a Business Question, Not for a Dashboard
Chapter 1 of 9 · 12 min
The learning path
The first chapters inspect what a number represents: its population, definition, and uncertainty. Later chapters focus on the reader: what they may conclude, what the brief does not show, and how they can check a claim against source records.
What the report is about
- 01Ask a Business Question, Not for a DashboardA question with a decision behind it, and one named reader.~12 min · exercise
- 02Choose the Right Population and DenominatorState what the number is about, what it leaves out, and which way that bends the answer.~14 min · exercise
- 03Separate Volume, Speed, Quality, Cost, and OutcomeA metric set that answers different questions rather than five versions of one.~14 min · exercise
- 04Compare Trends and Useful SegmentsReport the level and the direction, and cut only the segments somebody can act on.~12 min · exercise
- 05Use Leading and Lagging IndicatorsPair them, state the lag, and write what would prove the relationship wrong.~14 min · exercise
Honesty, and the reader
- 06Show Sample Size, Missing Data, and Blind SpotsPrint the thing next to the number that stops it being misread.~14 min · exercise
- 07Connect Summary Metrics to the RecordsEvery summary opens, and one of them gets read on purpose.~16 min · exercise
- 08Design for the Person Using the ReportOne audience, decomposed composites, and the anecdote doing its own job.~14 min · exercise
- 09Capstone: Build a Reporting BriefRead the assembled brief four ways, validate it, and approve version 1.0.~20 min · exercise