Goal. Someone can see where their usage is heading before the period ends, while there is still time to do something about it.
Today the page only shows what has already happened. If you are halfway through the month at 60%, nothing tells you whether that lands at 90% or at 130%.
What to build. The same number in three places:
- a Projected end-of-period tile, alongside the other figures
- a dashed line on the chart, carrying on from today to the end of the period
- a sentence under the meter, like "On track to use ~1.9M (94% of your limit) by 17 Aug". When the projection goes over the limit, it should say that instead
All three read from one calculation, so they cannot disagree with each other.
When not to show it. Early in a period an average means very little: two busy days out of three would project a wild number. Pick a point before which all three are hidden, whether that is a number of days or a share of the period.
Call it an estimate. It is a straight-line average of usage so far, not a forecast, and the wording should not promise more than that.
Done when
- the projection appears in all three places once there is enough of the period to mean anything, and in none of them before
- a projection that lands over the limit is obvious without working it out
Depends on knowing how long the period is, which arrives with the resolved period from the API.
Goal. Someone can see where their usage is heading before the period ends, while there is still time to do something about it.
Today the page only shows what has already happened. If you are halfway through the month at 60%, nothing tells you whether that lands at 90% or at 130%.
What to build. The same number in three places:
All three read from one calculation, so they cannot disagree with each other.
When not to show it. Early in a period an average means very little: two busy days out of three would project a wild number. Pick a point before which all three are hidden, whether that is a number of days or a share of the period.
Call it an estimate. It is a straight-line average of usage so far, not a forecast, and the wording should not promise more than that.
Done when
Depends on knowing how long the period is, which arrives with the resolved period from the API.