Compare Trends and Useful Segments

Report the level and the direction, and cut only the segments somebody can act on.

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

The same rate, two opposite responses

A segment's current level and its direction over comparable periods answer different questions.

Segment rate: Low
If it has doubled over the period: A success story worth funding
If it has halved over the period: An emergency, and recent
What the report shows: The rate
Cost of showing both: One column

Your task

Compare the two trend lines. Choose which segment to investigate and what must be comparable.

Need a little guidance?

You’re done when: The interpretation cites the actual series instead of reading only the latest point.

Two teams can end at the same number after moving in opposite directions.

Need a reminder? Reopen the worked example

Watch one example first

Segment A rises from 6% to 14%; B falls from 28% to 14%. Their current levels match, but B’s decline calls for a different investigation from A’s improvement.

Why this follows from the evidence

Level and direction answer different questions. Compare population rules, periods, and capture before attributing the movement to a cause.

GTM Lab

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Case evidence

The same rate, two opposite responses

Segment rate: Low
If it has doubled over the period: A success story worth funding
If it has halved over the period: An emergency, and recent
What the report shows: The rate
Cost of showing both: One column

The chart shows two segments at 14% in Q4. Segment A rose from 6%; Segment B fell from 28%. Decide what that shared final level does and does not tell the reader.

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

Choose a follow-up from level and direction

Both segments end at 14%, but their paths differ. Choose the segment to investigate, then name what must be comparable before you attribute the change.

Same Q4 level, different directionRead the level and direction together. Exact values and missing observations are in the table.

Segment A · n=100 each quarter
Segment B · n=100 each quarter

Same Q4 level, different direction: exact values
Period	Segment A · n=100 each quarter	Segment B · n=100 each quarter
Q1	6%	28%
Q2	9%	23%
Q3	12%	18%
Q4	14%	14%

Which segment merits immediate investigation?Before attributing a cause, what should you verify?

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

Level and direction, together

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

A segment is at a low rate. What do you conclude?

Nothing yet. The level is one fact and the direction is another, and the response depends on both.That it needs investigation, like every other low-rate segment.That the segment is weak and should be deprioritised.

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
A segment is at a low rate. What do you conclude?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Which segments belong in the brief?	No saved change in this exercise draft	Not drafted yet	Choose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.

A segment is at a low rate. What do you conclude?: BeforeNo saved change in this exercise draft; ProposedNot drafted yet; WhyChoose a proposal to see what it would add to the draft.
Which segments belong in the brief?: 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 4 of 90 complete