Technique map
The recurring pattern is a controlled path from ambiguity to evidence. Different environments need different pieces of it.
Constrain
Put fields, transforms, encodings, layout, and interactions between natural language and renderer code.
A/B bounded Raiven · nvAgent · NL2Dashboard · NL4DV-LLM · Flint
Can formalize the wrong question or exclude useful forms.
Externalize
Keep transformed tables, direct encoding controls, branch history, explanations, and atomic modifications in view.
A small studies Data Formulator 2 · DashChat
Learnability and prototype speed are not long-term correctness.
Ground
Bind questions to governed measures, field metadata, permissions, verified queries, sample values, and source vintages.
C/D mechanism Power BI · Tableau · Looker
A semantic layer can be stale, wrong, or silent about missing concepts.
Verify
Compile, recompute, inspect ASTs, test aggregation and encoding invariants, render in a browser, and record runtime evidence.
B/C repeated Raiven · nvAgent · Vizro · DashArena
Check coverage is partial; “no exception” is not semantic truth.
Observe use
Give evaluation the rendered artifact, intended task, interaction sequence, resulting state, and a defined human judgment.
A/B frontier DashArena · Data Formulator · DashChat
Model-authored intent is not actual reader behavior.