A dashboard is a visual summary of important data points that allows for the continuous monitoring of the progress of different campaigns, collaboration with clients in real time, and the identification of issues as they arise. A report is a comprehensive analysis of data presented in a structured format often used to provide comprehensive updates to executives, communicate progress to clients, or share information across departments. Dashboards and reports are not mutually exclusive — they can complement each other, providing strategic insights through charts and tables.

Netflix researchers developed methods to analyze historical A/B test data to understand the relationship between proxy metrics and long-term business outcomes. They propose three estimators that offer more robust solutions for understanding the true relationship between proxy metrics and north star metrics: Total Covariance (TC), Jackknife Instrumental Variables Estimation (JIVE), and Limited Information Maximum Likelihood (LIML).

Simply because two variables move together doesn't mean one directly influences the other. For example, ice cream sales and sunburn rates correlate, but the actual cause is a third variable: temperature. The same applies when making decisions in engineering teams: charts can be helpful, but they shouldn't be taken as the sole representation of reality, as the real world is far more complex.