Test the Boundaries Safely
Every analytics platform has limits. Understanding them helps you plan
for production council reporting.
Safe to explore: These challenges will not break anything.
You can always try again with different inputs.
Challenges completed:
0 of 3
Boundary challenges
3 minutes
What you'll learn:
Dashboards handle empty or missing data gracefully
The Challenge
Apply filters that result in zero matching records
Try this:
Filter to a date range with no data (e.g., future dates)
Expected Behavior
Charts show 'No data' message; KPIs display zero or dash
Business Implication
Users understand when no data exists vs. when there's an error
How to recover
Clear filters to restore data. Check filter combinations.
4 minutes
What you'll learn:
Performance with very large datasets depends on SPICE capacity
The Challenge
Select the maximum available date range (e.g., 5 years)
Try this:
Set date filter to 'All Time' or the earliest available date
Expected Behavior
Charts may take longer to render; consider aggregation
Business Implication
Large queries may require scheduled reports instead of interactive exploration
How to recover
Reduce date range or apply additional filters to limit data volume.
5 minutes
What you'll learn:
Some calculations are expensive and may slow dashboard performance
The Challenge
Create a calculation with multiple nested functions
Try this:
Try: ifelse(datediff(today(), {Date},'DAY') < 30, 'Recent', 'Old')
Expected Behavior
Complex calculations work but may increase render time
Business Implication
Pre-calculate complex fields in ETL rather than in dashboard
How to recover
Simplify calculation or move to a calculated field in the dataset.
Next steps
Generate Evidence Pack
Create a committee-ready PDF documenting your exploration.
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