Skip to main content

Functional Design Document: Strategic Decision Dashboard

1. Feature Name​

Strategic Decision Dashboard

2. Objective & Target Users​

  • Objective: To provide executive leadership with a clear, concise, and interactive summary of the recommended S&OP plan, enabling them to understand its risks and implications within seconds and to make and formally approve final, high-stakes trade-off decisions.
  • Target Users: C-Suite executives and VPs of Sales, Operations, and Finance ("David," "Maria," etc.) during the live Executive S&OP meeting.

3. Core Design Principle: The "10-Second Rule"​

The entire layout and information architecture is designed to be understood at a glance. This is achieved through:

  • Clarity over Density: We will show only the most critical, outcome-oriented metrics, not raw data.
  • Guided Narrative: The layout will guide the executive's eye from the overall health of the plan, to the key operational outcomes, to the financial impact, and finally to the decision levers.
  • Visual Quantification: Risk and uncertainty will be visualized, not just stated in text.

4. Information Architecture & Layout​

To avoid a "haphazard collage," the dashboard will use a structured four-zone layout.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  [ZONE A: THE HEADLINE] Plan Summary & Overall Probability of Success    |
+------------------------------------------+-------------------------------+
|  [ZONE B: OPERATIONAL OUTCOMES]          | [ZONE C: FINANCIAL IMPACT]    |
|  Key Probabilistic Results &             |  Projected P&L and            |
|  Critical Trade-off Decisions            |  Balance Sheet Impact         |
|                                          |                               |
+------------------------------------------+-------------------------------+
|  [ZONE D: THE DECISION ENGINE] Executive Override Levers & Impact        |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

5. Widget-by-Widget Functional Specification​

ZONE A: The Headline (Instant high-level summary)​

  • Widget 1: Plan Title: Displays the current context (e.g., "October S&OP Cycle: Recommended Plan").
  • Widget 2: Overall Probability of Success: A single, large, color-coded metric that provides the headline from the Monte Carlo simulation. For example: <font color="green">82%</font> Probability of Achieving Plan Targets.

ZONE B: Operational Outcomes (The "What")​

  • Widget 3: Key Outcome Distributions: Instead of complex charts, this uses simple visual "risk bars" for the 3-4 most important outcomes. Each bar visually shows the P10 (worst case), P50 (most likely), and P90 (best case) from the simulation.
    • Service Level (AAA): [ P10 --|--- P50 -----|-- P90 ] (97.5% - 99.2% - 99.8%)
    • End Inventory (Units): [ P10 --|--- P50 -----|-- P90 ] (-5k - +15k - +40k)
  • Widget 4: Critical Trade-offs: A concise, plain-language list of the top 2-3 decisions made during the reconciliation phase.
    1. Decision: Prioritize AAA customer service level >99%.
    2. Trade-off: Accepted a -0.7% hit to Gross Margin.
    3. Decision: Increased production uptime by 10% via overtime.

ZONE C: Financial Impact (The "So What")​

  • Widget 5: Projected P&L Summary: A simplified table or waterfall chart showing the financial outcomes of the recommended plan.
    • Projected Revenue: $150M
    • Projected COGS: $86.2M
    • Projected Gross Margin: $63.8M (42.5%)
  • Widget 6: Balance Sheet Impact: Simple KPI cards showing the impact on key financial health metrics.
    • Working Capital: $22M (🔻 vs. $20M target)
    • Inventory Value: $27M (🔻 vs. $24M target)

ZONE D: The Decision Engine (The "What If")​

  • Widget 7: Executive Override Levers: A small set of high-level strategic levers for executives to interact with.
    • Risk Tolerance: [Dropdown: Conservative / Balanced / Aggressive]
    • Strategic Safety Stock: [Slider: +0% to +50%]
  • Widget 8: Live Impact Comparison: When a lever is changed, this table instantly populates to show the full trade-off, comparing the original recommendation with the new "Executive Override Scenario".
MetricRecommendation PlanExecutive Override ScenarioDelta
Probability of Stockout18%4%✅ -14%
Projected Gross Margin42.5%41.8%🔻 -0.7%
Working Capital$22M$27M🔻 +$5M

6. User Interaction Flow​

  1. The executive team opens the dashboard and, within 10 seconds, understands the plan's overall health (Zone A), key operational risks (Zone B), and financial impact (Zone C).
  2. A discussion ensues about one of the critical trade-offs or a risk they are uncomfortable with.
  3. An executive uses an Override Lever in Zone D to model an alternative strategy.
  4. The Live Impact Comparison table instantly updates, showing the full consequences of the proposed change. The team can now have a data-driven debate about the trade-off.
  5. Once a final decision is made, the facilitator uses the "Consensus Lock-In Protocol" to approve and freeze the final "One-Number Plan".

This structured design ensures that the dashboard is not a "haphazard collage" but a powerful, narrative-driven tool that respects executives' time and empowers them to make better, faster decisions.

Applying the McKinsey Principles to the ChainAlign Dashboard​

This moves our design from a well-organized data summary to a powerful, data-driven argument.

1. The "Action Title": Replacing the Static Headline​

The most significant change is to Widget 1. It's no longer a static "Plan Title." It's a dynamic, AI-generated "Action Title" that summarizes the core takeaway and the decision that needs to be made.

Old Title (Label):

"October S&OP Cycle: Recommended Plan"

New "Action Title" (The Story): The ChainAlign AI will generate a title based on the most critical outcome of the plan.

  • Example A (Financial Constraint Scenario):

    "The Recommended Plan successfully mitigates the stockout risk to below 5%, but will exceed the quarterly Working Capital target by $5M, requiring a final trade-off decision."

  • Example B (Clear Profitable Decision Scenario):

    "Approving the €150k for expedited air freight is the recommended action to protect €750k in gross margin and secure the critical Q4 promotion for the 'Widget Pro Max'."

This title immediately passes the "10-second rule." An executive can read that one sentence and know exactly what the situation is and what they need to decide.

2. The Dashboard as "Supporting Proof"​

With the Action Title in place, the rest of the dashboard is now framed as the supporting evidence for that title, perfectly following the Pyramid Principle.

  • ZONE A: The Headline: Now contains the new, long-form Action Title and the overall Probability of Success. This is the complete "answer."
  • ZONES B & C (Operational & Financial Outcomes): These are now the "proof points."
    • If the title mentions a $5M working capital overage, Widget 6 (Balance Sheet Impact) must clearly and visually show that exact number.
    • If the title mentions protecting €750k in margin, Widget 5 (Projected P&L Summary) must clearly show that projected margin.
  • ZONE D (The Decision Engine): This becomes the "Call to Action." The title has framed the decision, and the interactive levers in this zone allow the executive to test the alternatives and execute the final decision (e.g., approve the budget increase or model a different scenario).

Revised Functional Design Snippet: The "Live Decision Slide"​

This is how the updated design would look in our Functional Design Document:

  • Feature Name: The Strategic Decision Slide
  • Core Design Principle: The "10-Second Rule," achieved by structuring the dashboard as an interactive McKinsey-style slide with a clear "Action Title."
  • Layout:

{/* end list */}

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  [ACTION TITLE - Widget 1]                                                      |
|  "The Recommended Plan successfully mitigates stockout risk to below 5%, but    |
|   will exceed the quarterly Working Capital target by $5M..."                    |
|                                                                                 |
|  [PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS - Widget 2] <font color="green">96%</font>                                     |
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|  [OPERATIONAL PROOF - Widget 3 & 4]      | [FINANCIAL PROOF - Widget 5 & 6]     |
|  - Service Level Risk Bar: Low           |  - Projected Gross Margin: 41.8%     |
|  - Key Decision: Increased Safety Stock  |  - Working Capital: $27M (🔺 $5M over)|
+------------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|  [CALL TO ACTION - Widget 7 & 8]                                                |
|  Live Impact Comparison Table & Final "Lock-In" Button                          |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

By adopting this "live slide" approach, ChainAlign doesn't just present data; it presents a data-driven argument, guiding executives directly to the most critical decision that needs to be made. This is a brilliant refinement.