The Psychology of Reporting: How Stake Holders Actually Use Reports
People don’t use reports the way we think they do. They scan. They skim. They click the one chart they trust. They go straight to the number they’re already worried about. They make snap judgments and then go back to their email. If your reporting doesn’t account for this, it won’t get used.
Reporting isn’t just a technical problem; it’s a behavioural one. That’s why great reports are not only accurate and timely but designed for the way people think.
Why Psychology Matters in Reporting
When a user opens a report, they’re doing one of three things:
Looking for confirmation of what they already believe
Trying to find something unusual or wrong
Hoping to understand what to do next
If the dashboard doesn’t support any of those needs quickly, they’ll close the tab. Understanding this behavioural pattern helps us design reports that:
Prioritise relevance over exhaustiveness
Build user trust through transparency
Reduce decision fatigue with focused visuals
As Microsoft notes in their official Power BI design guidelines:
“People don’t want more data. They want answers that help them make better decisions.”
What We Consider in User-Centred Design
At Flock, we think about:
Cognitive load – Can a user process this dashboard at a glance?
Trust triggers – Is the source clear? Is the logic sound and consistent?
User memory – Does the report match how they already talk about the business?
Emotional cues – Does this dashboard increase confidence or anxiety?
Good reporting reduces friction. That means no more over-designed interfaces, and no more ten-step filters to get to a simple number.
ThoughtSpot puts it this way:
"Analytics needs to be as easy and intuitive as using a search bar. If users have to wait or decode, you’ve lost them."
Tools Can Help, If You Use Them Right
Modern platforms can support psychology-aware reporting but only if you use them intentionally:
Power BI: Use custom tooltips, bookmarks, and conditional formatting to guide user attention.
ThoughtSpot: Allow users to self-serve their questions through natural language search and guided AI suggestions.
Snowflake: Speed matters. Performance, caching, and query efficiency all affect whether a dashboard builds trust or frustrates.
Coalesce: Data transformations should support user understanding, not just developer efficiency. A well-documented pipeline increases confidence in the numbers.
Snowflake reminds us:
"Data access alone doesn’t drive action. Trust, performance, and context do.”
What to Ask Before Publishing a Report
Here’s a quick checklist to help your team think like your users:
What question is the user really trying to answer?
Does the report match their workflow and mental model?
Are the most important numbers front and centre?
Have we tested how a non-technical user interacts with it?
Have we included signals that increase trust and reduce friction?
If you can’t confidently answer all five, you’re likely designing for the developer, not the decision-maker.
Reporting that works isn’t about making things simpler, it’s about making things usable.
By designing with real human behaviour in mind, and using the right tools in the right way, you can turn reports from ignored artifacts into decision-driving assets.
Because the best dashboards aren’t just technically sound, they’re human-friendly by design.