R1 — Before building any dashboard, qualify every proposed metric: named owner + named decision + action threshold; if it fails the "what would I do if it moved?" test, drop it

Rule: For each proposed dashboard metric, require: (a) a named owner; (b) a decision it drives; (c) a threshold that triggers action. Drop any metric that fails the "what would I do if this number doubled or halved tomorrow?" test (The "what would I do if this number doubled or halved tomorrow?" test — if no action follows, it's vanity).

Change-the-plan benchmark: if the client cannot name 3-7 decision-linked metrics, they do not need a dashboard yet — they need a cleaner data-capture layer or a periodic report.

Why: Five criteria separating a used dashboard from a vanity one: built for daily user / every metric tied to decision+threshold / embedded in existing workflow / trusted / few metrics (~5-7 per view) — vanity metrics drive nothing and burn trust when they conflict with source-of-truth systems. Adoption stagnation (BARC / Eckerson Group (March 2022, 214 D&A leaders surveyed Nov-Dec 2021) — BI/analytics adoption at 25% of employees on average; "stuck around 20% for many years" per Eckerson, Gartner — "pervasive business intelligence remains elusive, with BI and analytics adoption at about 30% of all employees" (doc 3753469, Howson & Sallam)) reflects the cumulative effect of vanity-dashboard rollouts that did not earn user habit.

How to apply:

• Use the "decision + threshold" worksheet in every dashboard scoping conversation.
• If the conversation drifts to "we want everything in one place," substitute the worked examples (Construction: weekly job-cost dashboards (labor variance, committed vs actual materials, change orders, billing vs % complete, backlog) catch margin erosion before month-end financials arrive, Professional services: DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) dashboards with aging buckets + at-risk-customer flags; 30-45 days is a common "good" benchmark; rising DSO is an early cash-flow warning, Cross-industry internal dashboards round-up: e-commerce (conversion, inventory turns, CAC), healthcare (occupancy, readmissions), logistics (on-time, exceptions), SaaS (activation, churn, NRR), hospitality (occupancy, no-shows)).
• 5-7 metrics per view is the practitioner ceiling.