# Prompt 8 — Build a Dashboard from a Brief

> Adapted from Chapter 12 (Rohan worked example, executive dashboard). The CSAR-loop entry point for full-page dashboards anchored on a primary KPI.
>
> **Verified against**: Power BI Copilot, June 2026 surface

## Crystallize

> "Build me an executive dashboard for the services-revenue model with services-revenue-vs-plan as the single headline number, spanning the top of the page; four supporting visuals below; takeaway on whether we are on track for the quarter."

The Crystallize move names:

- **Primary KPI** (services-revenue-vs-plan)
- **Layout intent** (single full-width headline + four supporting)
- **Takeaway anchor** (are we on track for the quarter)

When any of these three is missing, Copilot defaults to its own composition heuristics — which favor more visuals over fewer.

## Scope

Copilot restates the primary KPI position, the four-visual lower row, the takeaway anchor. Confirm.

If the restatement adds more than four supporting visuals, push back at the restatement turn rather than waiting for the Assemble output. Copilot's tendency to add is the 5-Visual Rule's primary adversary.

## Assemble

Expect Copilot to return more than five visuals despite the Crystallize/Scope agreement — in the Rohan case, nine visuals (two cards across the top, a line chart, a stacked bar, a donut, a small map, two tables, and a Smart Narrative paragraph). This is normal. The discipline is in the Refine phase.

## Refine (corrections named by the chapter's rubric)

- **5-Visual Rule** (Ch 12 anchor): the page has too many visuals. The work is **removal**, not addition. Cut to five.
- **Ch 4 (chart-family fit)**: identify the redundant visuals (in the Rohan case: the donut and the small map duplicated the supporting bar). Cut redundant visuals before considering layout.
- **Different-question visuals**: a table or chart that answers a different question than the primary KPI is not a supporting visual — it is a different page. Cut.
- **Hierarchy**: the redundant primary KPI cards become one full-width primary KPI; the remaining supporting visuals share the bottom row at equal smaller sizes.
- **Composition**: remove brand-accent color from the supporting visuals; let the primary KPI alone carry the accent. Color discipline is what makes hierarchy visible.
- **Mobile**: open mobile preview; pin a three-visual phone-specific layout (primary KPI, variance card, narrative). Mobile is not desktop in miniature.

See the [companion to Chapter 12](/ch/12/) for the dashboard-composition treatment.

## Ship decision

Ship when the **blurred-thumbnail test** shows a clear primary, a clear supporting cluster, and visible white space. The blurred-thumbnail test is the most honest test of hierarchy because it removes the legibility of individual elements and shows the page's actual visual structure.

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**When to use this prompt**: You need a full-page dashboard anchored on a single primary KPI with supporting context. The discipline is in resisting Copilot's tendency to add and in cutting until the page reads cleanly at thumbnail size.

**Dataset**: [rohan-services-dashboard](/datasets/rohan-services-dashboard/) — download CSV + JSON to reproduce the Rohan 9-visual → 5-visual rebuild end-to-end.