How to Build a Dashboard in Analyst

Overview

A dashboard in Analyst isn't something you configure. It's a question you already asked, or a report you’ve already built, saved so you don't have to ask it again.

That's the whole model. You ask something in Analyst’s chat, you get an answer worth keeping, you save it — and now it's a view you open on Monday morning instead of a question someone re-types every month. The work of figuring out the right question happens once.

The part people miss: the chat doesn't go away when you save. It stays attached to the dashboard, so the dashboard isn't a frozen screenshot. You can come back into that conversation any time to re-check the data, narrow it down, or ask the follow-up you didn't think of the first time.

Building an App

1. Ask the question until the answer is right.

   Don't save the first thing that comes back. Ask, look at the chart and the data table, and refine. "Which case types settle highest?" is a fine start, but "which case types settle highest this year, by attorney?" is the version you'll actually want standing. This iteration is the real work of building an app. Everything after it is a click.

2. Save it.

   Once the answer is the one you'd want to see again, use the “Save” option to save it to your reusable dashboards. Now, when you head into the Analyst tab in Eve, you’ll see this saved dashboard to come back into later.

3. Name it for the question, not the data.

   "Settlement Performance by Attorney" tells a partner what they're looking at. "Q3 Report v2" doesn't. Whoever opens this in four months won't have the context you have right now — the name is what carries it. 

4. Share with your team. (optional)

   Be aware that saved dashboards are private - you’ll be the only one able to see that same output. If your team member needs to see the same app, they’ll need to copy and paste the prompt you used to create the dashboard in their own analyst chat.

Coming Back Into the Chat

A saved dashboard keeps its conversation. Opening the dashboard and going back into that chat gives you the same question, running against current data — not the numbers from the day you saved it. So the routine check is just: open it, look, and if something stands out, keep talking.

Three things that's good for:

1. Re-checking the data. The dashboard answers from live firm data every time it runs. If settlement totals moved this week, they've moved in the app. You're not looking at a snapshot you have to remember to refresh.

2. Filtering it down. You don't need a new dashboard to look at a slice. Ask the narrowing question right there in the chat — "just the Denver office," "only case types over $50K," "same thing but last quarter." The dashboard is the standing view; the chat is where you drill into it.

3. Asking the obvious follow-up. Most useful questions are the second one. The dashboard shows three attorneys pacing behind goal, and what you actually want to know is what those matters have in common. Ask it in the chat instead of starting over somewhere else.

When to Build One (and When Not To)

The trigger is repetition, not importance. When you catch yourself asking the same question a second time, save it. That's a better signal than trying to plan a suite of dashboards up front — firms that end up with a genuinely useful set of dashboards almost always got there by noticing repeats.

Some things don't need to be dashboards:

• A one-time question. If you're settling a specific argument or checking one number, just ask it. Not every answer needs to live somewhere.

• A narrow slice of a dashboard you already have. That's a filter in the chat, not a second app.

• Something a starter dashboard already covers. Analyst ships with a starter slate, including the Pipeline Command Center — stalled matters, stage bottlenecks, workload by attorney. Check whether the view you want already exists, and adapt it rather than rebuild it.

A handful of dashboards your team actually checks is worth more than a full library, and it's easier to keep honest.