Reporting guide
Before building a dashboard: a practical planning checklist
Define your audience, metrics, data checks and review process before building a dashboard. A practical SI Analytics guide for reporting teams.
By SI Analytics ·
Name the decision and the person making it
Write a sentence that starts, “This report helps this person decide…” If the sentence is vague, work on the question before choosing a visual. A dashboard for a weekly operational review has different needs from a detailed research report.
List the questions that matter most and distinguish them from information that is merely interesting. Start with a small, coherent set of views.
Define each metric before displaying it
Record what each metric means, the unit, the time period, the included population and the source. For a rate or percentage, write down both the numerator and denominator.
For example, “completion rate” might mean completions divided by all registrations, active learners or eligible learners. Those definitions answer different questions. Label the one you actually use.
Check the data and the comparisons
Look for missing values, duplicated records and inconsistent dates or categories. Decide how to treat them and keep a record of those decisions. Avoid silently treating missing data as zero.
When comparing periods, check that the periods and populations are comparable. Explain material gaps or changes in collection. A precise-looking chart cannot resolve an unclear definition.
Test the report with its users
Give a reviewer a specific question to answer using the draft. Notice where they hesitate or interpret a measure differently. Use those observations to improve labels, context and layout.
Before handover, agree who owns the data, how it is refreshed, who can access it and how mistakes will be reported. These decisions are part of the reporting workflow, not an optional finishing touch.