Build your Library around questions
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Put the questions your business asks again and again at the center of your Library, with their follow-ups under them, so every view, KPI and fact you add has somewhere to belong.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- Permissions: anyone who’s signed in can ask the Librarian to add a question. There’s no button to create a question or a collection by hand.
- Data you need: none to start. Questions can come before data.
- Credits this uses: each message to the Librarian uses a credit. Reading statuses costs nothing.
1. Pick the questions you’ll ask again
Section titled “1. Pick the questions you’ll ask again”Some questions you ask once, like “What did we sell yesterday?” Others come back every week, like “How are online sales trending?” Build your Library around the second kind. Once a view answers a recurring question, the answer is ready the next time anyone asks.
Write down the handful that come up in every planning meeting. Start with questions, not tables explains why the Library works this way.
2. Test each one
Section titled “2. Test each one”When you add a question during onboarding or in chat, the Librarian weighs it on four things. Check your list against them first:
| Test | Weaker | Stronger |
|---|---|---|
| Broad enough to gather follow-ups | ”What was online order value in March?" | "How is online order value trending?” |
| Something you’ll keep asking | ”Did the spring sale work?" | "Which promotions bring in extra sales?” |
| Pulls related questions together | ”What’s our top product in the Portland store?" | "Which products sell best in each channel?” |
| About your business, not any business | ”How do companies measure retention?" | "Which wholesale accounts are ordering less than last year?” |
If a question is too specific, the Librarian may suggest a broader version. You can keep yours, and the narrow question can still sit under the broad one.
3. Make the broad question an anchor
Section titled “3. Make the broad question an anchor”A broad question anchors a collection, and the narrower ones become refining questions under it. A collection page calls them Main question and Follow-up questions.
Curio’s Revenue & Sales collection is anchored by “What is our revenue by channel (eCommerce, retail, B2B)?” Its refining questions each come at it from one direction:
- one channel: “What is the average order value for eCommerce?”
- one period: “What were total eCommerce sales last quarter?”
- each customer: “What is the total revenue per customer?”
- a cause: “What are our biggest revenue leaks: churn, downgrades, and credits?”
To add one, ask the Librarian, for example “Add a follow-up question under revenue by channel: which stores are growing fastest?” Anchor and refining questions covers how the two fit together.
4. Tie questions to the numbers you track
Section titled “4. Tie questions to the numbers you track”A question’s panel lists Bound KPIs, the KPIs that measure it. If an anchor has none, what one number would tell you whether it’s going well? Ask the Librarian to track that. See Choose the KPIs to track.
5. Read where each question stands
Section titled “5. Read where each question stands”There are two places to look, and they answer different things:
- A collection page’s Coverage counts answered questions, like “6/20 answered”. Each question card reads Answered, Answerable or No view yet, depending on whether a view answers it.
- The Questions tab reads ANSWERABLE, PARTIAL or UNANSWERABLE, depending on whether your data reaches the question at all.
6. Give each question a next step
Section titled “6. Give each question a next step”| On the collection page | Next step |
|---|---|
| Answered | A view answers it already. Ask away |
| Answerable | Click + Build a view to answer this. It opens Librarian chat with the request written, and nothing happens until you send it |
| No view yet | Check the badge on the Questions tab. ANSWERABLE means ask it or build a view; UNANSWERABLE means the data is missing. See Find what your data can’t answer yet |
7. Reword questions that drift
Section titled “7. Reword questions that drift”Questions get worded in a hurry. To fix one, click its text at the top of its panel and edit it. Keep anchors broad, and keep refining questions to one direction each.
Check your work
Section titled “Check your work”- Each collection’s Main question is broad, and one you’ll keep asking.
- Its narrower questions sit under it as Follow-up questions.
- Your anchors have at least one KPI under Bound KPIs, or you’ve decided they don’t need one.
- Every No view yet question has a next step.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”There’s no button to add a question. That’s by design. Ask the Librarian, or accept an Inbox card that adds one, such as Question worth a view.
The same topic has two collections. A Cleanup card in the Inbox can merge them. Accepting it deletes the other collections, so read it first.
A question’s Ask button is turned off. The question is UNANSWERABLE. Connect the data it needs, or refine the question.
The Librarian keeps suggesting a broader version. Your question is probably a one-time look. Keep it as a refining question under the broader one.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- Start with questions, not tables: why the Library starts from questions.
- Anchor and refining questions: how a broad question breaks down.
- Choose the KPIs to track: the numbers that go with your questions.
- Find what your data can’t answer yet: what to do when the data isn’t there.