Before you build a dashboard, ask this first
READ TIME - 4 minutes
Analytics teams don’t struggle because they lack tools or skills.
They struggle because the work starts too late in the process, after the important thinking should have already happened.
This issue explains that gap and why good dashboard work often falls apart because of it.
The problem you already know
Most data visualization projects don’t fail because of tools.
They fail because no one ever defined the decision the dashboard is supposed to support.
Stakeholders ask for a report but struggle to explain what they’ll do differently once it exists. Teams start building before they’re clear on why they’re building at all. It feels familiar because it happens everywhere.
Every week, professionals tell me the same things: they can’t get aligned on business definitions, they built the dashboard they were asked for and no one uses it, or they’re stuck in constant rework because requirements keep shifting.
There’s a reason for that... and it isn’t Power BI’s fault.
Why most analytics work feels like rework
What I see most often is organizations treating analytics like an engineering problem.
"We need one more dashboard. Maybe a new piece of software.
That should fix it."
But analytics is a decision problem first, not a tool problem.
If you don’t know what decision the work will influence, every report becomes an experiment in hope.
You build, you ship, you wait... and then you’re surprised when nothing changes. The cost adds up quickly: time, credibility, stakeholder trust, and executive attention. This is where most projects derail, long before the first dashboard ever ships.
How I learned this
I’ve watched teams sprint into SQL, models, and visuals without ever stopping to ask a simple question:
“What choice will this help someone make?”
And when that question isn’t answered, the result is almost always the same:
- more dashboards,
- more explanations,
- and less impact.
Every time, it came back to one thing: you can do solid work and still miss the point if the framing is off.
What this newsletter is for
This newsletter exists to fix that upstream problem.
It’s not about teaching Power BI features or DAX tricks. It’s about changing how dashboards get designed in the first place, so the work actually compounds instead of restarting every time.
The focus is on:
- Align stakeholders before writing SQL
- Clarify decisions before defining metrics
- Move from “Power BI builder” to trusted analytics partner
- Build reusable data visualization assets that scale across projects
We’ll focus on the thinking that makes the rest of your analytics work meaningful.
A simple reflection
Before you open your favorite BI tool next time,
pause and ask:
“What decision am I trying to influence?”
If you don’t have that answer yet, don't worry...
...you’re not alone!
And this newsletter is for you.
💌 Reply and tell me:
What’s the last dashboard you built,
and what decision was it actually meant to support?
I read every response.
That’s all for this week.
PS: If you want a framework and examples to improve your analytics thinking, stay tuned... I'm building a toolkit you can use in real projects and the first 500 subscribers will get it for free!
See you next week!
