Notice Regarding Chart Zoom Bargaining
The number is the number. The subject has zoomed in three times to make sure.
Minutes: Weekly Metrics Review Meeting held November 2022. Duration: 47 minutes. Subject: Q4 performance indicators.
Attendees
Four people. One screen being shared.
Agenda Item 1: The Chart
The dashboard was opened. The chart was displayed. The chart showed a number. The number was lower than the expected number by a margin that was notable but not alarming. Discussion of the number began.
During the discussion, the person sharing the screen zoomed in on the chart. This was the first zoom.
The First Zoom
The first zoom brought the chart to approximately 150 percent. The number remained the same. The axis labels became larger. No additional information was revealed. The zoom was performed silently, without comment.
The Second Zoom
A question was raised about whether the time period shown in the chart was the correct time period. The time period labels were now larger. The time period was confirmed as correct. The number remained unchanged. The person sharing the screen zoomed in further. This was the second zoom.
The chart has been examined at four zoom levels. The metric has remained unchanged across all of them.
The Third Zoom
A participant asked whether the chart included a specific data segment. The chart did include that segment. This was determined by hovering over a bar, which produced a tooltip, which confirmed the segment's inclusion. The person sharing the screen zoomed in to see the tooltip more clearly. This was the third zoom. At this zoom level, one bar occupied approximately half the screen.
The number was still the number.
The Governing Rule
Zooming does not change the data. The person zooming knows this. They are zooming anyway. The zoom serves a function unrelated to data discovery: it signals engagement, communicates concern, and performs the act of looking more carefully without changing what is looked at.
The number is being scrutinized. The scrutiny is visible. The number is indifferent to it.
The Absurd Core
A chart exists to communicate a number at normal viewing distance. Once that function is served, additional magnification retrieves no new information. The chart is now filling the monitor. The number has not moved. The meeting is seven minutes in.
Consequence
Eventually chart zoom bargaining acquires an unwritten enforcement system that everyone denies creating. Metrics reviews now include a phrase, spoken or unspoken, when a bad number is encountered: "let me look at this more closely." The zoom happens. The number remains. The conversation continues.
Action Items
One. Review Q4 projections. Owner: everyone. Due: next week.
Meeting adjourned.