Reports that require informal creation and testing process
- Canned reports ...
- Seek to answer a specific set of questions using defined specifications
- Produced with regular frequency and/or on demand
- Data updated automatically
- Have polished formatting
- … shared internally or narrowly
- Shared only with viewers inside your department
- Or shared with less than 10 viewers inside and outside your department
- Ad hoc analyses
- … more to come as we monitor report creation for this purpose ...
Reports that require formal report creation and testing processes
- Canned reports shared with large or broad audiences
- Shared with 10 or more viewers inside and outside your department
- Or shared representatively across campus (i.e. at least one report viewer from each college)
| Expectation | Informal process | Formal process |
|---|---|---|
| Follow visual design standards, i.e. use style guide/template | Optional | Required |
| Follow accessibility standards | Required |
Required |
| Check report for data accuracy and security
NOTE: If report writer is not the data steward for the report's data content, appropriate use of data should be validated by the data steward. |
Required | Required |
| Use report testers (i.e. another set of eyes than the report author) to check report for formatting, design, and performance | Strongly encouraged | Required |
| Create definitions for data elements and report using Data Docs tool | Optional | Required |
| Business purpose | Name | Viewer limit | Auto data refresh | Visual design standards/template | Accessibility | Data accuracy & security | Independent testing | Data docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I wrote a one-time report and want to share it | Ad Hoc | No limit (within reason) | No | Optional | Required | Required | Encouraged | Optional |
| I want to publish an on-demand report to a limited audience | Informal Canned | <10 unless all are in your dept | Yes | Optional | Required | Required | Encouraged | Optional |
| I want to publish an on-demand report to a wide audience | Formal Canned | No limit | Yes | Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |