MIDA / GETTING STARTED

How to scope your first reporting project

Choose one question, one audience and a verifiable outcome.

Choose a decision worth supporting

“Build a dashboard” is too broad to estimate or accept. A clearer brief is “help the channel manager compare completed sales and refunds by channel each week.” It names a user, a decision and a cadence. Record what the person does today and which part is slow or unclear.

Limit the first set of sources

Begin with the sources needed for the priority question. Check access and historical coverage before agreeing delivery dates. A consistent weekly export can be more useful initially than an ambitious set of incomplete API connections. Add sources after the first report reconciles.

Agree definitions and exclusions

Write down the date basis, order states, currency rules and calculation formulas. Call out costs or records outside the first scope. If a number cannot yet be supported, leave it out or identify the gap clearly. A precise scope helps avoid accidental promises.

Define the evidence of completion

Agree a reconciled reporting period, useful filters, a detail view and the handover materials. Include a user walkthrough and a way to report issues. Acceptance should concern the reliability and usefulness of the output, not merely whether a page has been delivered.

Prepare a brief for the first conversation

List your current sources, the report you need, who uses it and the main uncertainty. The consultation form captures this information and returns a reference for tracking. Access credentials and detailed customer data are shared separately through an agreed project process.