Design principles of reporting

To ensure accuracy in a report, it is important to gather required data carefully and associate different sources or tables accurately.  

For instance, if an organization wants to generate a medical beneficiary report, the following tables need to be associated with each other: 

• Employee 
• Dependents 
• Beneficiary enrollment 
• Available benefits 

Generating an accurate medical beneficiary report requires careful consideration of the beneficiary enrollment table. If you join the Employee table directly with the Benefits table without taking the beneficiary enrollment table into account, the report will not be accurate. 

To create the required join conditions between tables, it is crucial to have a complete understanding of the relationship between data types and an effective Data Model. An effective Data Model is essential for better reporting and scalability. 

As an LSA, it is a best practice to use sample data and analyze the output to evaluate the join conditions before you create the actual report definition in the application. 

To maintain consistency in a report, keep the order and arrangement of columns constant, even if the data content changes over time. Altering column names and positions in new application releases might cause ambiguity, potentially leading to poor decision-making by organization executives. 

Before creating a report, identify the report title, the columns, their arrangement order, and the column type. After stakeholders finalize and approve the chart type, concentrate on maintaining a consistent chart type, including colors and shades. 

Make any changes to the column order, chart type, or report output in a new report to avoid ambiguity in older reports. 

For example, suppose a table has an Employee designation column that is relabeled as an Employee job card. This change can cause confusion and ambiguity if report users are not informed. 

Ensure that the report is accessible to the necessary stakeholders. Reports aid the decision-making process, so accurate and relevant information must be available. The LSA must manage all access control policies to ensure the necessary report is accessible and available to stakeholders.

The report output must align with the business objectives and goals. The LSA must concentrate on designing reports specific to business needs. One report for one purpose is the best practice. Creating a report with too many columns to meet all business needs can make it difficult for users to access only the information that they need.

Reports might contain relevant information but might not be clear and understandable. The report design is ineffective if the business has to spend time on the report output to find the necessary data. Reports need to be user-friendly. Every user's perspective and needs are different. Arrange the report data so that the stakeholders understand and benefit from the output.

Ensure stakeholders are satisfied with the report output and its use. Users might seek dynamic responses to the changes in settings and filters on the report. Many report users in the business experience dynamically changing requirements, and they want the report to meet their needs. As an LSA, consider the optimal way to use Pega Insights when there are dynamic reporting needs.

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