Determine report types
Generally, report design is classified by report type. Often, a direct mapping between the report audience and the report type exists. Meet audience needs through one, or possibly a combination, of four report types:
- Dashboard
- Analytical
- Operational
- Educational
Commonly, executives work with dashboards, analysts work with analytical reports, and information workers work with operational reports. General audiences might work with educational reports.
Usually each report type requires you to adopt a different approach to the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) requirements. These requirements are described in more detail later in this module.
Dashboard
The primary goal of a dashboard is to monitor and interpret key facts as quickly as possible. User interactions are limited by insights that are highly curated toward the audience. Report visuals are focused, self-explanatory, and clearly labeled. A dashboard directly communicates the meaning behind the data to minimize misinterpretation or confusion.
A good example of a dashboard is an executive dashboard, which often presents high-level metrics that are displayed on a single page. Dashboards help answer performance-related questions such as "How are we doing?" or "Are we there yet?"
At the Contoso Skateboard Store, a dashboard is a report that allows users to view several key performance indicator (KPI) values, targets, statuses, and trends.
Analytical report
An analytical report is the most common type of report that can serve various report consumer use cases while providing a structured space for analysis.
The primary goal of an analytical report is to help report consumers discover answers to a broad array of questions by interacting with the report and its visuals. Analytical reports often have many slicers to filter report data, and they usually contain complex visuals that expose in-depth detail of the data.
Report pages are often expressly designed for interactivity with a focus on UX features. Multiple pathways are often provided for the report consumer to follow, which allows them to explore a topic of interest, share their findings, or return to where they started. Report consumers can remove layers and add context and detail by incorporating interactive features. Common interactive features include drill-down, drillthrough, and tooltips.
A good example of an analytical report is one that extends beyond the "How are we doing?" type of question to answer the "Why did that happen?" or "What might happen next?" types of question.
At the Contoso Skateboard Store, an example of an analytical report is their sales analysis report. It allows drilling into sales revenue from year, down to quarter, month, and day.
Operational report
An operational report is designed to give the report consumer the ability to monitor current or real-time data, make decisions, and act on those decisions. Operational reports can include buttons that allow the report consumer to navigate within the report and also beyond the report to perform actions in external systems. Frequently, operational reports serve as a hub for action that's used by report consumers as part of their daily activity and workload.
This type of report should minimize the number of analytical features to ensure that focus remains on the operation it's designed to serve. A streamlined user experience is the primary aim for this report type because excessive clicking or illogical flow can lead to high dissatisfaction and impede productivity.
A good example of an operational report is one that allows monitoring of a manufacturing production line. When an unexpected event arises, such as equipment malfunction, a button could allow workers to start a maintenance request.
An example of an operational report at the Contoso Skateboard Store is their inventory report. It informs the report consumer of current stock levels and highlights low stock levels or back orders. It also includes a Submit Order button that allows users to create a purchase order.
Educational report
An educational report assumes that the report consumer is unfamiliar with the data or context. So it must provide clear narrative detail and guidance to help with understanding. This type of report is often used in journalism and by governments to disseminate information to large audiences that have varying levels of understanding of the subject.
A good example of an educational report is one that describes the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination progress and that can filter by the home geographic region of the report consumer.
