Interactive tool

Data-Question Framer

"Why are sales down?" cannot be answered by any dashboard; it is a feeling wearing a question mark. Fill the six slots below and watch the vague question become one your data (or your analyst, or an AI) can actually answer.

Runs entirely in your browser; nothing you type is stored or sent. Avoid entering confidential figures; the tool needs the shape of the question, not the numbers.

Start from a classic vague question

1. What will you decide or do with the answer?

2. What measurable quantity are you asking about?

3. For which part of the business?

4. Over what time window?

This monthThis quarterThe last 12 monthsSince a specific change

5. Compared against what?

the prior periodthe same period last yearthe target or budgetthe rest of the business

6. What result triggers what action?

Your framed question

Still vague (0/6)

To decide [the decision it informs]: measure [the quantity you care about] for [the whole business] over [a fixed time window], compared against [an explicit comparison].

The six marks of an answerable question

Names the decision (not yet)
A question with no decision attached produces a report nobody acts on.
Names a measurable quantity (not yet)
"Performance" is not measurable; "monthly revenue and gross margin" is.
Names the segment (not yet)
Totals hide answers; the interesting movement is almost always in a slice.
Fixes the time window (not yet)
Without a window, everyone quietly picks the range that proves their point.
Fixes the comparison (not yet)
A number is only high or low compared with something explicit.
Sets an action threshold (not yet)
Deciding in advance what result triggers what action keeps the answer honest.

The six marks of an answerable question

Framed the question? Now pick the numbers.