<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->

Dashboard Requirements

A dashboard requirements document specifies what questions a dashboard should answer, what metrics it displays, and how data should be visualized. Clear requirements help data teams build dashboards that actually inform decisions rather than just displaying numbers.

When to Use

• When requesting a new dashboard from data/analytics teams
• To define KPI tracking for a product, feature, or team
• When formalizing ad-hoc reporting into a persistent dashboard
• Before quarterly planning to specify what visibility you need
• When onboarding stakeholders who need self-serve analytics

When NOT to Use

• You need the event tracking that feeds dashboards -> use measure-instrumentation-spec; instrument first, visualize second
• You are designing an experiment readout, not a standing dashboard -> use measure-experiment-design and measure-experiment-results
• You want OKR progress scored at cycle close -> use measure-okr-grader
• The questions the dashboard should answer are not yet agreed -> frame outcomes first with foundation-okr-writer or define-problem-statement

Instructions

When asked to specify dashboard requirements, follow these steps:

1. Define the Purpose Start with the questions this dashboard should answer, not the charts it should show. What decisions will this dashboard inform? A dashboard without clear purpose becomes a vanity metrics display.

2. Identify the Audience Specify who will use this dashboard, how often, and in what context. An executive weekly review has different needs than a team's daily standup board.

3. Specify Key Metrics For each metric, document: name, business definition (in plain language), calculation formula, data source, and baseline/target values. Ambiguous metrics lead to misaligned dashboards.