Measure
validation
Quick facts
Phase: Measure | Version: 2.0.0 | Category: validation | License: Apache-2.0
Try it: /dashboard-requirements "Your context here"
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
How to Use
Use the /dashboard-requirements slash command:
/dashboard-requirements "Your context here"
Or reference the skill file directly: skills/measure-dashboard-requirements/SKILL.md
Instructions
When asked to specify dashboard requirements, follow these steps:
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.
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.
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.
Design Visualizations
Recommend chart types based on what the data should communicate. Time trends need line charts; comparisons need bar charts; compositions need pie/treemaps. Include dimension breakdowns.
Define Filters and Segments
Specify what drill-downs users need: date ranges, user segments, product areas, geographic regions. Anticipate the "slice and dice" questions users will ask.
Document Data Sources
Identify where data comes from and any known data quality issues. Note latency requirements—does the dashboard need real-time data or is daily refresh sufficient?
Set Permissions and Access
Determine who can view what. Some metrics may need restricted access. Consider both security requirements and organizational politics.
Output Template
Dashboard Requirements: [Dashboard Name]
Overview
Dashboard Name: [Name]
Requestor: [Who requested this]
Date: [When requirements captured]
Priority: [High/Medium/Low]
Target Delivery: [When needed]
Purpose and Questions
Primary Questions This Dashboard Answers
[Question 1 - e.g., "Are users successfully completing onboarding?"]
[Question 2 - e.g., "Where do users drop off in the funnel?"]
[Question 3 - e.g., "Which cohorts have the best retention?"]
[Decision 1]
[Decision 2]
[Decision 3]
What This Dashboard Is NOT For
[Out of scope item 1]
[Out of scope item 2]
Audience
Audience
Usage Frequency
Primary Questions
[Role/Team 1]
[Daily/Weekly/Monthly]
[What they care about]
[Role/Team 2]
[Daily/Weekly/Monthly]
[What they care about]
[Role/Team 3]
[Daily/Weekly/Monthly]
[What they care about]
Usage Context
When will this be viewed?
[E.g., "Weekly team meeting review", "Daily morning check", "Monthly board prep"]
What device/format?
[E.g., "Desktop browser", "TV screen in office", "Mobile for on-the-go"]
Key Metrics
Metric 1: [Metric Name]
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
[Plain language explanation]
Calculation
[Formula: numerator / denominator, etc.]
Data Source
[Where data comes from]
Granularity
[Daily/Weekly/Monthly]
Current Baseline
[Current value if known]
Target
[Goal value]
Notes
[Edge cases, known issues]
Metric 2: [Metric Name]
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
[Plain language explanation]
Calculation
[Formula: numerator / denominator, etc.]
Data Source
[Where data comes from]
Granularity
[Daily/Weekly/Monthly]
Current Baseline
[Current value if known]
Target
[Goal value]
Notes
[Edge cases, known issues]
Metric 3: [Metric Name]
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
[Plain language explanation]
Calculation
[Formula: numerator / denominator, etc.]
Data Source
[Where data comes from]
Granularity
[Daily/Weekly/Monthly]
Current Baseline
[Current value if known]
Target
[Goal value]
Notes
[Edge cases, known issues]
Metrics Summary Table
Metric
Definition
Source
Target
[Metric 1]
[Short definition]
[Source]
[Target]
[Metric 2]
[Short definition]
[Source]
[Target]
[Metric 3]
[Short definition]
[Source]
[Target]
[Metric 4]
[Short definition]
[Source]
[Target]
Visualization Specifications
Chart 1: [Chart Title]
Attribute
Value
Purpose
[What question this answers]
Chart Type
[Line/Bar/Pie/Table/etc.]
X-Axis
[Dimension - e.g., Date, Category]
Y-Axis
[Metric(s)]
Series/Breakdown
[How data is grouped]
Interactivity
[Tooltips, drill-down, click actions]
Position
[Top-left, prominent, etc.]
Chart 2: [Chart Title]
Attribute
Value
Purpose
[What question this answers]
Chart Type
[Line/Bar/Pie/Table/etc.]
X-Axis
[Dimension - e.g., Date, Category]
Y-Axis
[Metric(s)]
Series/Breakdown
[How data is grouped]
Interactivity
[Tooltips, drill-down, click actions]
Position
[Top-left, prominent, etc.]
Chart 3: [Chart Title]
Attribute
Value
Purpose
[What question this answers]
Chart Type
[Line/Bar/Pie/Table/etc.]
X-Axis
[Dimension - e.g., Date, Category]
Y-Axis
[Metric(s)]
Series/Breakdown
[How data is grouped]
Interactivity
[Tooltips, drill-down, click actions]
Position
[Top-left, prominent, etc.]
Dashboard Layout Sketch
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [KPI Card 1] [KPI Card 2] [KPI Card 3] │
├────────────────────────┬────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│ [Chart 1: Trend] │ [Chart 2: Funnel] │
│ │ │
├────────────────────────┴────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ [Chart 3: Detailed Table] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Filters and Segments
Global Filters
Filter
Type
Default Value
Options
Date Range
Date picker
Last 30 days
Custom, presets
[Filter 2]
[Dropdown/Multi-select]
[Default]
[Options]
[Filter 3]
[Dropdown/Multi-select]
[Default]
[Options]
Chart-Specific Filters
Chart
Filter
Type
[Chart 1]
[Filter]
[Type]
[Chart 2]
[Filter]
[Type]
Segment Definitions
Segment Name
Definition
Use Case
[Segment 1]
[Criteria]
[When to use]
[Segment 2]
[Criteria]
[When to use]
Data Sources
Primary Sources
Source
Type
Owner
Latency
Quality Notes
[Source 1]
[Database/API/File]
[Team]
[Real-time/Daily/etc.]
[Known issues]
[Source 2]
[Database/API/File]
[Team]
[Real-time/Daily/etc.]
[Known issues]
Data Pipeline Requirements
Refresh Frequency: [Real-time / Hourly / Daily / Weekly]
Refresh Time: [When refresh should complete, e.g., "by 6am UTC"]
Historical Data Needed: [How far back, e.g., "Last 12 months"]
Data Retention: [How long to keep, e.g., "Rolling 2 years"]
Data Quality Considerations
[Known data quality issue 1 and how to handle]
[Known data quality issue 2 and how to handle]
Access and Permissions
Access Levels
Role/Group
Access Level
Restrictions
[Group 1]
Full access
None
[Group 2]
View only
Cannot export
[Group 3]
Limited
Only sees [section]
Sensitive Data
Data Element
Sensitivity
Handling
[Element 1]
[PII/Confidential/etc.]
[Mask/Aggregate/Restrict]
Alerts and Thresholds
Condition
Threshold
Action
Recipients
[Metric 1] drops below
[Value]
Send email
[Who]
[Metric 2] exceeds
[Value]
Slack alert
[Channel]
Acceptance Criteria
Open Questions
[Question 1 for data team]
[Question 2 needing clarification]
Appendix
[Link to related dashboard 1]
[Link to related dashboard 2]
Reference Documents
[Link to metric definitions]
[Link to data dictionary]
Requirements version 1.0. Update as needs evolve.
Example Output
Dashboard Requirements: Product Health Dashboard
Dashboard Requirements: Product Health Dashboard
Overview
Dashboard Name: Product Health Dashboard
Requestor: Maya Johnson, Product Manager
Date: January 2026
Priority: High
Target Delivery: End of Q1 2026
Purpose and Questions
Primary Questions This Dashboard Answers
Are users healthy? What is our overall user engagement and are users getting value from the product?
Where do users struggle? Which parts of the product have the highest friction or drop-off?
What features drive retention? Which features, when adopted, correlate with long-term retention?
Are we trending up or down? How do key metrics compare to previous periods?
Prioritization of product improvements based on friction points
Feature investment decisions based on retention correlation
Resource allocation to high-impact areas
Early warning on user health problems before they hit revenue
What This Dashboard Is NOT For
Deep-dive analysis on specific features (separate feature dashboards exist)
Real-time operational monitoring (use DataDog for that)
Individual user support (use admin tools)
Financial/revenue metrics (finance owns that dashboard)
Audience
Audience
Usage Frequency
Primary Questions
Product Team
Daily
Feature adoption, user friction
Leadership
Weekly
Overall health trends, KPIs
Engineering
Weekly
Error rates, performance impact on UX
Customer Success
Daily
Account health signals
Usage Context
When will this be viewed?
- Product team: Daily standup (quick KPI check) and weekly deep-dive
- Leadership: Weekly product review meeting
- CS: Before customer calls to assess account health
What device/format?
- Desktop browser (primary)
- Shared on TV in product team area
- Exported to PDF for monthly board reports
Key Metrics
Metric 1: Daily Active Users (DAU)
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
Unique users who performed any meaningful action in the product on a given day
Calculation
COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) WHERE action_type NOT IN ('login', 'logout') AND event_date = date
Data Source
events.user_actions table
Granularity
Daily
Current Baseline
12,400
Target
15,000 by end of Q2
Notes
Excludes bot accounts and internal users
Metric 2: DAU/MAU Ratio (Stickiness)
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
Ratio of daily active users to monthly active users, indicating how often users return
Calculation
DAU / MAU (rolling 30-day MAU)
Data Source
Derived from events.user_actions
Granularity
Daily
Current Baseline
0.32 (32%)
Target
0.40 (40%)
Notes
Industry benchmark for SaaS is 0.20-0.40
Metric 3: Feature Adoption Rate
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
Percentage of MAU who have used each core feature at least once in the past 30 days
Calculation
COUNT(DISTINCT users who used feature) / MAU
Data Source
events.feature_usage table
Granularity
Daily (rolling 30-day)
Current Baseline
Varies by feature (see chart)
Target
Top 5 features > 50% adoption
Notes
Breakdown by feature; shows per-feature adoption
Metric 4: User Retention (Cohort-based)
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
Percentage of users from a signup cohort who are still active after N days
Calculation
(Active users in cohort at day N) / (Total users in cohort)
Data Source
events.user_actions + users.signups
Granularity
Weekly cohorts, measured at D7, D14, D30, D60, D90
Current Baseline
D30: 42%
Target
D30: 55%
Notes
Compare cohorts over time to see if retention is improving
Metric 5: Time to First Value (TTFV)
Attribute
Value
Business Definition
Time from signup to completing first meaningful action (creating first project)
Calculation
MEDIAN(first_project_created_at - signup_at)
Data Source
users.signups + events.project_created
Granularity
Daily (rolling 7-day average)
Current Baseline
2.3 days
Target
< 1 day
Notes
Users who never create a project counted as NULL/excluded
Metrics Summary Table
Metric
Definition
Source
Target
DAU
Unique users with meaningful action
events.user_actions
15,000
DAU/MAU
Stickiness ratio
Derived
40%
Feature Adoption
% MAU using each feature
events.feature_usage
Top 5 > 50%
D30 Retention
Users active 30 days post-signup
events + users
55%
TTFV
Time to first project creation
events + users
< 1 day
Visualization Specifications
Chart 1: KPI Summary Cards
Attribute
Value
Purpose
At-a-glance health check of key metrics
Chart Type
KPI Cards (4 cards in a row)
Metrics Shown
DAU, DAU/MAU, D30 Retention, TTFV
Comparison
Show vs. previous period and vs. target
Interactivity
Click card to see trend chart
Position
Top of dashboard, most prominent
Chart 2: Engagement Trend
Attribute
Value
Purpose
Show DAU and MAU trends over time
Chart Type
Line chart with dual axis
X-Axis
Date (daily)
Y-Axis
Left: DAU, Right: DAU/MAU ratio
Series/Breakdown
DAU line, MAU line, DAU/MAU line
Interactivity
Hover for values, zoom on date range
Position
Top-left main section
Chart 3: Feature Adoption Breakdown
Attribute
Value
Purpose
Show which features users are/aren't adopting
Chart Type
Horizontal bar chart
X-Axis
Adoption rate (%)
Y-Axis
Feature name
Series/Breakdown
Single series, sorted by adoption
Interactivity
Click bar to see feature trend over time
Position
Top-right main section
Chart 4: Retention Cohort Heatmap
Attribute
Value
Purpose
Compare retention across weekly cohorts
Chart Type
Cohort heatmap (weeks × retention periods)
X-Axis
Days since signup (D1, D7, D14, D30, D60, D90)
Y-Axis
Signup week cohort
Series/Breakdown
Color intensity = retention %
Interactivity
Hover for exact values
Position
Middle section, full width
Chart 5: Funnel Drop-off Analysis
Attribute
Value
Purpose
Identify where users struggle in key flows
Chart Type
Funnel chart
X-Axis
Funnel step
Y-Axis
Users (absolute and %)
Series/Breakdown
Steps: Signup → Onboarding Complete → First Project → Invited Team → Paid
Interactivity
Click step to see breakdown by segment
Position
Bottom-left
Chart 6: Detailed Metrics Table
Attribute
Value
Purpose
Detailed view for deep-dive analysis
Chart Type
Data table with sorting
Columns
Date, DAU, MAU, DAU/MAU, New Signups, Churned Users, Feature 1-5 adoption
Interactivity
Sort by any column, export to CSV
Position
Bottom section, collapsible
Dashboard Layout Sketch
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [DAU: 12.4K] [Stickiness: 32%] [D30 Ret: 42%] [TTFV: 2.3d] │
│ ▲ +5% ▼ -2% ▲ +3% ▼ +0.2d │
├────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│ 📈 Engagement Trend │ 📊 Feature Adoption │
│ [Line chart: DAU/MAU] │ [Horizontal bars by feature] │
│ │ │
├────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 🔲 Retention Cohort Heatmap │
│ [Week cohorts × D1/D7/D14/D30/D60/D90] │
│ │
├────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│ ⬇️ Funnel Analysis │ 📋 Detailed Data Table │
│ [Signup → Value funnel] │ [Sortable metric table] │
│ │ │
└────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘
Filters and Segments
Global Filters
Filter
Type
Default Value
Options
Date Range
Date picker
Last 30 days
Last 7/30/90 days, MTD, QTD, Custom
Plan Type
Multi-select
All
Free, Starter, Professional, Enterprise
User Segment
Multi-select
All
New (<30d), Active, At-risk, Churned
Platform
Dropdown
All
Web, iOS, Android
Chart-Specific Filters
Chart
Filter
Type
Feature Adoption
Feature category
Dropdown (Core, Advanced, Admin)
Funnel
Entry point
Dropdown (Organic, Paid, Referral)
Segment Definitions
Segment Name
Definition
Use Case
New Users
Signed up within last 30 days
Track onboarding effectiveness
At-Risk
No login in 14+ days but not churned
Target for re-engagement
Power Users
> 20 sessions per month
Understand ideal user behavior
Enterprise
On Enterprise plan
Compare enterprise vs. SMB health
Data Sources
Primary Sources
Source
Type
Owner
Latency
Quality Notes
events.user_actions
Snowflake table
Data Engineering
1 hour
99.9% complete
events.feature_usage
Snowflake table
Data Engineering
1 hour
Some features not instrumented
users.signups
Snowflake table
Data Engineering
Real-time
Authoritative source
users.subscriptions
Snowflake table
Data Engineering
Daily
Synced from Stripe
Data Pipeline Requirements
Refresh Frequency: Hourly during business hours, daily overnight
Refresh Time: Dashboard current as of top-of-hour; overnight refresh complete by 6am UTC
Historical Data Needed: Last 24 months
Data Retention: Aggregated data retained indefinitely; raw events 24 months
Data Quality Considerations
Bot traffic filtered but occasional false positives; flag if DAU spikes >20% unexpectedly
Feature usage for "Reports" feature incomplete before Nov 2025 (instrumentation added)
Enterprise accounts have multiple users; user_id is individual, account_id needed for account-level views
Access and Permissions
Access Levels
Role/Group
Access Level
Restrictions
Product Team
Full access
None
Engineering
Full access
None
Leadership
Full access
None
Customer Success
Limited
Cannot see individual user data
Sales
View only
Cannot export, account-level only
Sensitive Data
Data Element
Sensitivity
Handling
User email
PII
Not displayed; use user_id
Account name
Confidential
Visible to CS/Sales only
Alerts and Thresholds
Condition
Threshold
Action
Recipients
DAU drops below
10,000
Email + Slack
Product team
D30 retention drops below
35%
Email
PM + Leadership
TTFV exceeds
5 days
Slack
Onboarding squad
Feature adoption (any) drops
>10% week-over-week
Email
Feature owner
Acceptance Criteria
Open Questions
Should we include revenue/MRR on this dashboard or keep it separate?
Do we need real-time DAU or is hourly sufficient?
Should cohorts be weekly or monthly granularity?
Appendix
Feature Deep-Dive: Reporting (dashboard link)
Onboarding Funnel Dashboard (dashboard link)
Finance & Revenue Dashboard (dashboard link)
Reference Documents
Metric Definitions Wiki (internal link)
Data Dictionary (internal link)
Instrumentation Spec for Feature Tracking (internal link)
Requirements version 1.0. Update as needs evolve.
Real-World Examples
See this skill applied to three different product contexts:
Storevine (B2B): Storevine B2B ecommerce platform — Campaigns adoption and revenue analytics dashboard requirements
Prompt:
/dashboard-requirements
Dashboard: Campaigns adoption and revenue — post-GA monitoring
Audience: Growth PM (daily), Merchant Success (weekly), Head of Product
(monthly board prep)
Key questions to answer:
1. Are non-adopter merchants sending their first campaign?
(primary hypothesis metric: first-send rate, 60-day window)
2. Is Campaigns driving measurable revenue for merchants?
(7-day attributed revenue per campaign send)
3. Is the email-related churn rate declining since GA?
(churn cohort analysis: merchants with and without Campaigns sends)
Metrics needed:
- First-send rate (60-day, non-adopter segment)
- Campaigns-attributed revenue (7-day window, rolling)
- Active Campaigns merchants (sent ≥1 campaign in last 30 days)
- Churn rate by Campaigns usage cohort
- Send failure rate and unsubscribe rate (guardrails)
Analytics platform: Amplitude (events) + Storevine order DB (revenue)
Need: full dashboard requirements doc with metric definitions,
visualizations, filters, data sources, and acceptance criteria.
Output:
Dashboard Requirements: Campaigns Adoption and Revenue
Brainshelf (Consumer): Brainshelf consumer PKM app — Resurface experiment dashboard requirements for Amplitude
Prompt:
/dashboard-requirements
resurface experiment dashboard for amplitude. need it ready before
the a/b test starts (mar 9).
two audiences:
1. product team (priya, chloe, alex, jordan) — daily monitoring
during the 4-week test
2. marco (ceo) — weekly exec check-in, needs a single-screen summary
questions the dashboard should answer:
- is the treatment group returning more than control?
- are users clicking items in the digest?
- is the unsubscribe rate within the guardrail?
- what's the opt-in funnel conversion rate?
- are there segment differences (library size, cadence)?
charts i want:
1. 7-day return rate trend (treatment vs control, weekly)
2. email CTR trend (daily)
3. opt-in funnel (card viewed → opted in)
4. unsubscribe rate trend (weekly, with guardrail line)
5. segment breakdown table (library size, cadence)
filters: date range, experiment variant, library size segment.
Output:
Dashboard Requirements: Resurface Experiment Dashboard
Workbench (Enterprise): Workbench enterprise collaboration platform: Blueprints post-launch monitoring dashboard requirements
Prompt:
/dashboard-requirements
I need dashboard requirements for the Blueprints post-launch monitoring dashboard. Here's the context:
**Audiences:**
1. Rachel V. (PM) -- daily check: adoption trends, approval bottlenecks, template usage
2. Sandra C. (Head of Product) -- weekly review: executive summary, account growth, key health metrics
3. Karen L. (Engineering) -- real-time: system health, merge latency, error rates
**Key metrics from the PRD and experiment results:**
- Median time-to-approved (target: ≤2.5 days [fictional])
- Empty-section submission rate (target: ≤10% [fictional])
- Approval cycle count (target: ≤1.5 cycles [fictional])
- Blueprint adoption: monthly active Blueprint creators (target: 2,000 [fictional])
- Enterprise account growth (target: 500 → 650 in 12 months [fictional])
**Data sources:**
- Workbench analytics pipeline (event data from instrumentation spec)
- WebSocket provider telemetry (merge latency, connection count, error rate)
- CRM pipeline (account growth, enterprise tier)
- Support ticketing system (Blueprint-related ticket volume)
**Visualization preferences:**
- Time-to-approved: trend line over time (weekly median)
- Adoption: stacked area chart by department/template type
- Approval funnel: horizontal funnel chart
- System health: real-time gauges with alert thresholds
Please generate the full dashboard requirements including layout, filters, alerts, and acceptance criteria.
Output:
Dashboard Requirements: Blueprints Post-Launch Monitor
Quality Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md to structure the output.