{"id":"fpa-kpi-trend-direction-table","audience":"fpa","category":"finance-work","track":"finance","technique":"format","level":"beginner","title":"Show three quarters of KPIs with change and direction, not good or bad","free":false,"task":"You're building a KPI trend table for the board deck. Write a prompt for a markdown table with columns KPI | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q2 to Q3 change | Direction, one row per KPI. The change is Q3 minus Q2 with a sign. Direction is exactly Up, Down or Flat and describes the number only, not whether it's good. Don't use words like improving, worsening, good or bad. No commentary. Under 90 words.","materialLabel":"KPI values for three quarters (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"KPI TREND INPUTS - Fieldstone Software, FY26\n\nKPI | Q1 | Q2 | Q3\nRevenue ($M) | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.2\nNet revenue retention (%) | 98.0 | 97.5 | 97.0\nQuarterly logo churn (%) | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.1\n\nNotes: Direction describes the movement of the number only. The CEO said 'everything is trending well' in the all-hands; the table must not editorialize. For churn, a rising number is shown as Up even though a lower churn is better.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":90},{"type":"maxBullets","max":0}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the columns","patterns":["kpi.*q1.*q2.*q3.*change.*direction","columns"]},{"label":"Restricts Direction","patterns":["up, down or flat","exactly up"]},{"label":"Gives the change formula","patterns":["q3 minus q2"]},{"label":"Bans value words","patterns":["(never|do not|don'?t).*(improving|good|bad)"]},{"label":"Limits output","patterns":["no commentary","only the table"]}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Judging churn as good","why":"The AI marks churn rising as 'worsening' or Down.","fix":"Say: \"Direction is the movement of the number only: churn rising is Up.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Value words","why":"The AI adds 'improving' or 'trending well'.","fix":"Add: \"Never use the words improving, worsening, good, bad or well.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Missing signs","why":"The AI shows 0.2 without a plus sign.","fix":"Add: \"Change = Q3 minus Q2 with a plus or minus sign.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Wrong columns","why":"The AI drops the Direction column.","fix":"Say: \"Columns exactly: KPI | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q2 to Q3 change | Direction.\"","checks":["r0","maxBullets"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits.","fix":"Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each line short.","checks":["maxWords"]}],"hint":"A trend table describes direction without judgment. Give the exact values, the change formula and the banned words.","rubricLabels":["Table has the columns KPI | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q2 to Q3 change | Direction with three rows: Revenue, Net revenue retention and Quarterly logo churn","Changes are +0.2 (revenue), -0.5 (NRR) and +0.1 (churn) and Direction values are Up, Down and Up exactly","The output never uses the words improving, worsening, good, bad or well, and has no commentary"]}