UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT
A metric dictionary documents what a number means. Include its owner, formula, source events, units, reporting period and exclusions. Without this, different teams can produce equally polished dashboards with incompatible answers.
Keep definitions versioned and show refresh time and coverage. Support drill-down to source records where appropriate. A percentage should expose its denominator, and a financial figure should show currency and period. Treat missing observations differently from measured zero.
Questions to take back to your team
- Can a reader find the formula and denominator?
- Are refresh time and coverage visible?
- Are historical definition changes retained?
Further reading
Explore the primary references below. Requirements and applicability depend on your organization and jurisdiction.
