Understanding Business Analysts' Needs for Data Report Authoring

Abstract

Business analysts often create static, data-driven reports to summarize and communicate findings from marketing dashboards. However, the requirements and workflow for creating data-driven reports in business analytics have not been fully investigated. In this work, we interviewed fifteen professional analysts to understand their unique needs for data-driven report authoring and identify gaps between their goals, technical skills, and existing reporting tools. Our findings suggest eight fundamental takeaways for report authoring, such as the need for persistent interactive experiences combined with more robust narrative authoring for linking story pieces and customizing the narrative layout. Based on these interviews, we synthesize the results into five design guidelines to direct future analytic reporting tools.