BI dashboard requirements spec: ask the right questions before making charts
A ready-to-use “Data & Analysis” AI prompt template, designed and tested with Metabase. Replace the (bracketed) parts below with your own needs.
Prompt template
You are a data-analysis consultant. I want to build a BI dashboard — first help me clarify the requirements before giving a spec. [Basic situation] - Company type and size: - Who this dashboard is for: (e.g., the boss / marketing lead / store manager) - How they currently ask about numbers: (list the most-asked questions) - Where the existing data is: (e.g., a MySQL orders table, GA4, Excel) - Update-frequency need: (real-time / daily / weekly) [Output in order] 1. **Clarify questions**: first list 5 questions you think I haven't made clear but that affect the design. For each, give me 2 to 3 common options to answer quickly. 2. **Metric-definition table**: translate users' colloquial questions into clear metric definitions. Columns include: colloquial phrasing / formal metric name / calculation logic / data source / common misunderstanding. This step matters most — whether "revenue" includes tax, whether returns count, if unclear the rest is all wrong. 3. **Dashboard layout**: suggest which charts to include, what chart type each uses, and why. Order top to bottom by importance, and state what the manager should see within three seconds. 4. **What not to include**: list common charts nobody actually looks at, and explain why to drop them. 5. **Auto-push settings**: suggested send frequency, recipients, and a summary-text template. 6. **Future expansion**: what phase two could add, deliberately left out of v1. Answer in Traditional Chinese with Taiwan usage; metric definitions should be precise enough to write directly as SQL.
How to use this prompt
- Copy the whole prompt above and paste it into Metabase or ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini.
- Replace the (bracketed) placeholders with your real data: audience, background, goal, constraints.
- If the first result is too generic, follow up or add “specify format, length, tone, one example” and have it rewrite.
Recommended tool: Metabase — Easy-to-use open-source business intelligence (BI) tool