Unit 12.00: The one number at the top

A number without a comparison is not a finding.

The one number, and what it is measured against

Four ways of opening a dashboard, and what the reader leaves with.

The code sorts them.

LAYOUTS = [
    ("one number, large, with its comparison and period",
     "the reader leaves with the finding"),
    ("one number, large, with no comparison",
     "is 87 good? nobody can say"),
    ("six numbers of equal size",
     "the reader picks one, probably the first"),
    ("no number, four charts",
     "the reader derives the number, or does not"),
]
print(f"{'top of the dashboard':52} what the reader takes away")
for layout, effect in LAYOUTS:
    print(f"{layout:52} {effect}")

print("""
A number without a comparison is not a finding. "87% on-time" needs either
last period, the target, or both -- "87%, against a 90% target, down from
91%" is a sentence someone can act on.
""")

"87% on-time" prompts the question "is that good?", which the dashboard then fails to answer. "87%, against a 90% target, down from 91%" is a sentence someone can act on without asking anyone.

Six equally-sized numbers is the other common failure: with no hierarchy the reader picks one, usually the first, and that becomes the headline by accident.

The mistake this prevents

The mistake is putting the metric at the top without its comparison because space is tight. The comparison is what makes it a finding - without it you have used the most valuable space on the page for a number nobody can interpret.

Takeaway

Lead with one number and its comparison - a target, a previous period, or both. A number alone prompts a question the dashboard then has to answer.

Mark complete