Designing a Report for a Non-Technical Audience¶

A report that's genuinely useful to a research team - dense with cross-tabs, every nuance visible - can overwhelm someone who just needs to know what to decide. Building for a non-technical audience isn't about dumbing anything down; it's about choosing what to surface and what to leave available but out of the way.

Lead With the Finding, Not the Data¶

Put your clearest, most important widget first, with a title that states the finding in plain language rather than just naming the question ("Most respondents want faster support response" reads faster than "Q7 Results"). A stakeholder skimming a report should get the headline before they've had to interpret a single chart.

Favor Simple Chart Types¶

Bar, column, and simple cross-tabs read fastest for someone seeing the data cold - see Choosing the Right Widget for Your Report. Save more specialized chart types (waterfall, treemap, Route Network) for an audience that will actually take the time to interpret them, or for a supporting appendix rather than the headline view.

Limit the Number of Widgets on Screen at Once¶

A report with twenty widgets asks a lot of a reader trying to figure out what matters. Consider whether every widget needs to be in the primary view, or whether some belong in a separate, more detailed report for anyone who wants to dig further.

Use Titles and Context Generously¶

A chart with just a question number as its title assumes the reader remembers what that question asked. A short, plain-language title and a brief note on what the widget shows removes that burden - especially important if the report will be viewed without you in the room to explain it.

Consider the PowerPoint Export as the Real Deliverable¶

For a genuinely executive audience, the exported deck (see Exporting Your Report to PowerPoint) is often the actual deliverable, not the live report - which means it's worth reviewing your report specifically with an eye toward "does this read well as static slides," since that's the form most stakeholders will actually encounter it in.

Test It on Someone Outside the Project¶

Before sending a report to its intended audience, show it to a colleague who wasn't involved in building the survey. If they can't quickly tell you what the headline finding is, the report needs simplifying before it goes out.

FAQ¶

Should I remove detailed cross-tabs entirely for a non-technical audience?
Not necessarily remove - consider moving detailed widgets later in the report or into a separate, more technical version, so the primary view stays focused on the headline finding.

Is there a recommended number of widgets for an executive report?
No fixed number, but if you're struggling to describe the report's takeaway in one sentence, it likely has more widgets than the audience needs.

Does chart color matter for readability?
Yes - consistent, distinguishable colors across a report help a reader track a specific segment or category through multiple charts without confusion.

Should I include raw percentages or round them for a lay audience?
Rounding to whole numbers is usually more readable and, for results without formal significance testing behind them, arguably more honest than implying decimal-level precision.

For the chart-selection side of this, see Choosing the Right Widget for Your Report.