Multi-dimensional navigation modeling using BI analysis graphs

To solve analysis tasks in business intelligence, business analysts frequently apply a step-by-step approach. Using their expert knowledge they navigate between different measures, also referred to as business ratios or key performance indicators, at different levels of detail and focus on different aspects or parts of their organization. In this paper we introduce BI Analysis Graphs to document and analyze these navigation steps. We further introduce BI Analysis Graph Templates to model and re-use recurrent navigation patterns. We describe reasoning tasks over BI Analysis Graph Templates and sketch how they are implemented in our proof-of-concept prototype. BI Analysis Graph Templates may serve as formal foundation for interactive dashboards and guided analytics in business intelligence applications.