{"id":"data2-revenue-dip-anomaly-memo-finance","audience":"finance","category":"data","track":"data","technique":"verification","level":"intermediate","title":"Write an anomaly memo on a one-day revenue dip","free":false,"task":"Finance Director Omar Haddad asked about Sunday's low revenue. Write exactly 3 labeled lines in plain text, under 90 words: Headline, Explained and Unexplained. Show the arithmetic, treat only the confirmed outage amount as explained, and keep the unconfirmed theory out of the Explained line.","materialLabel":"Notes from the data channel (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Revenue anomaly - Sunday Nov 2 (Silverpine Online)\n\nTypical Sunday revenue: $41,000.\nSunday Nov 2 revenue: $29,000.\n\nFindings:\n- The payment processor had a 3-hour outage Sunday afternoon. The processor confirmed it by email. Orders that failed to pay were queued and retried on Monday: $9,000 of orders were retried and completed successfully Monday (recorded on Monday's date).\n- A site speed test showed slower pages Sunday, but the effect on orders has not been measured.\n- A teammate thinks a competitor promotion drew customers away. No data supports that; nobody has looked.\n- Ad spend was normal.\n- Sunday traffic was 6% below a typical Sunday.\n\nOmar prefers: numbers first, no speculation presented as fact.\n\nMath to use: gap = typical minus actual.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":90}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Blaming everything","why":"The AI lists outage, slow pages and competitors as causes.","fix":"Add: \"Explained: only the confirmed payment outage.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"No arithmetic","why":"The AI says 'partly explained' without numbers.","fix":"Add: \"Show $41,000 - $29,000 = $12,000 and $12,000 - $9,000 = $3,000.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Repeating the rumor","why":"The AI repeats the competitor theory.","fix":"Add: \"Don't mention the competitor idea; unmeasured items are not causes.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Leaving the format to chance","why":"The AI picks its own length and layout unless told the exact shape.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold or headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each part instead, for example \"each line under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the reader","patterns":["omar","finance director"]},{"label":"Gives the three labels","patterns":["headline:","explained:","unexplained:"]},{"label":"Asks for the arithmetic","patterns":["12,?000","gap","subtract"]},{"label":"Separates confirmed from open","patterns":["confirmed","unmeasured","not causes"]},{"label":"Drops the rumor","patterns":["competitor","rumor","don.t mention"]}],"hint":"Anomaly notes should separate confirmed causes from open questions and show the subtraction.","mission":"Explain Sunday's low revenue for the finance director.","musts":["Three labeled lines","Show the subtraction","Keep rumor out"],"rubricLabels":["Headline states Sunday revenue was $29,000 versus about $41,000 typical, a gap of $12,000","Explained gives $9,000 of orders delayed by the confirmed 3-hour payment outage and retried Monday, and the arithmetic leaves $3,000 unexplained ($12,000 - $9,000 = $3,000)","Unexplained shows the $3,000 and lists the slower pages and traffic as unmeasured or unconfirmed possibilities, without stating the competitor promotion as a cause, in exactly three lines labeled Headline:, Explained: and Unexplained:"]}