Design for the Person Using the Report

One audience, decomposed composites, and the anecdote doing its own job.

See the situation

Start with the situation below. Next, we will work through an example together before you try the activity.

Elena · Reporting lead

The case

A middling score that means something else

Adapt explanation to the reader's authority. Show the components of any composite before inviting a conclusion.

Structure: One half floored at zero, then another half added
A middling score therefore: Can be entirely the second half
What it looks like: Partial health
What it means: No momentum at all, plus recent contact
Visible to the reader: Only if the components are shown

Your task

Choose the reader and assemble the brief. Show the component measures behind the shared headline score.

Need a little guidance?

You’re done when: The reader can tell what happened, what it means, what is uncertain, and what they can do next.

Reporting is communication for a decision, not a catalog of available metrics.

Need a reminder? Reopen the worked example

Watch one example first

Two accounts share a composite score of 60, but one has strong adoption and weak outcomes while the other is reversed. Components tell the operator what to investigate.

Why this follows from the evidence

A summary should help a named reader act without hiding conflicting components. One anecdote can motivate investigation but cannot replace the population evidence.

GTM Lab

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Case evidence

A middling score that means something else

Structure: One half floored at zero, then another half added
A middling score therefore: Can be entirely the second half
What it looks like: Partial health
What it means: No momentum at all, plus recent contact
Visible to the reader: Only if the components are shown

The composite above is about to be misread by somebody reasonable. Decide what this reader needs, and stop the misreading.

Check the case below to save your activity result and this chapter’s prepared example plan section. You can inspect that template in the saved plan above; no live records are changed.

Inspect the prepared example

Build a brief sentence that fits one reader

Two profiles have the same composite (60) but different components. Choose the reader, show the components, and keep one conflicting anecdote inside its evidence boundary.

Equal composite, different signalsCompare the original state with the proposed change. This preview does not change live records.

Equal composite, different signals
Item	Before	Outcome and total	Why
Profile A	Process 100/100	Outcome 20/100 · composite 60	The total does not show which component is driving it.
Profile B	Process 20/100	Outcome 100/100 · composite 60	The total does not show which component is driving it.

Profile A: BeforeProcess 100/100; Outcome and totalOutcome 20/100 · composite 60; WhyThe total does not show which component is driving it.
Profile B: BeforeProcess 20/100; Outcome and totalOutcome 100/100 · composite 60; WhyThe total does not show which component is driving it.

Who is the brief designed to help act?What headline is supported by the profiles?How should the conflicting anecdote be framed?

Restoring this data activity…

Optional: compare alternative reasoning

The case tool above saves your result and completes this activity. These comparisons are extra practice; they do not change your saved plan.

Work the case · 0 of 2 sections drafted

Design for one person

Compare these alternatives one section at a time. Check a choice to see its consequence; the draft summary below keeps the proposed changes together.

Step 1 of 2

Your reader owns the outcome and can reassign people. What do they need?

Everything both readers need, in one brief with clear sections.The outcome, the segments, where it stopped, and a path into the records.The outcome, the trend, and one sentence on what is being done.

This is a proposed draft until the chapter check runs. Selecting a choice alone does not complete the chapter.

4b · Proposed

Metric definition draft

Metric definition draft · current draftCompare the original state with the proposed change. This preview does not change live records.

Metric definition draft · current draft
Item	Before	Proposed	Why
Your reader owns the outcome and can reassign people. What do they need?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
How do you present the composite?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

Your reader owns the outcome and can reassign people. What do they need?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
How do you present the composite?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

A choice appears here as a proposal, not as evidence that a live system changed.

Your place saves as you go.

Chapter 8 of 90 complete