Communicating Intel to Decision-Makers: Toward the Integration Text and Charts in Reports

TL;DR

This study investigates how decision-makers receive and interpret intelligence reports, aiming to identify factors that enhance report effectiveness and improve communication between analysts and decision-makers.

Contribution

It provides insights into the preferences and interactions of report consumers, offering guidance to improve report quality and communication strategies.

Findings

Decision-makers value clear, concise summaries.

Effective reports align with decision-makers' informational needs.

Recommendations can reduce misunderstandings and improve report utility.

Abstract

Intelligence analysts' roles include analyzing reports, identifying important information relevant to the current state of affairs, and communicating their takeaways. These reports are then analyzed and reported to decision-makers or translated into a presidential brief. While these tasks seem consistent across analysts, each step differs in its content, level of detail, and format. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of how consumers of analytic products receive and interact with reports. This was accomplished via a series of online questions to 22 experts recruited to provide input. Our analysis provides insight into what makes analytic products effective for decision-makers, which could improve the quality of reports produced and alleviate common customer pain points, should recommendations be appropriately incorporated.