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Reading an answer

What an answer contains, how to check a number, and why two people get the same answer.

A session: the dashboard on the left with its charts and figures, and on the right the chat that built it, with the question at the top and Mira's answer beneath.

Overview

An answer is more than the words. It carries the tables Mira looked in and the working behind every figure, so you can check any number in it and so two people asking the same question get the same answer. This page shows what is in an answer and how to read it.

The parts of an answer

Reading from the top:

  1. What Mira did. One or two lines saying what it searched and which tables it read. Click a line to open it and see the tables, the calculation in plain English, and the rows it got back.
  2. The answer. The words, with the important figures marked. A short "why" follows, then what to do about it.
  3. Charts and figures. If you asked for a chart, it appears in the answer and goes onto the session's dashboard.
  4. A next step. Mira usually ends by offering the next question. You can take it or ignore it.

Checking a number

Every marked figure can be opened. Click it and you see three things:

  • The tables it came from. By name, so you can find them in the catalogue.
  • The calculation, in plain English. For example, "sums net revenue for the quarter and the wholesale invoices".
  • The exact calculation. For anyone who wants to check it line by line. You do not need to read it.
A marked figure clicked open, showing the tables it came from, a plain-English description of the calculation, and the exact calculation.

If a figure looks wrong, this is where to start. Most surprises turn out to be a table that was out of date, or a table Mira chose that was not the one you had in mind. Pointing at a table fixes the second.

Why two people get the same answer

Mira does not guess. It looks the answer up in your tables, and the same question against the same tables gives the same result, whoever asks and whenever they ask. When the numbers change it is because the data changed, and the working shows you where.

That is also why Mira will say "I can't find that" rather than fill the gap. An answer you cannot trace is not an answer.

When an answer looks wrong

  • Open the working and check which tables Mira used.
  • Check the date on the table. An upload from last month gives last month's answer.
  • Point at the table you meant and ask again.
  • Ask a narrower question. "Revenue" can mean several things; "net revenue from the web store in August" means one.
  • If none of that helps, tell your department lead. The table may need updating or a definition may need agreeing.