The week five pattern is very familiar. A dashboard gets requested, usage spikes, and a month later the analytics show the person who asked for it is the only one opening it. Your reason is the right one: a dashboard is a pull interface, calm is the default, and five people can see a red tile while each assumes someone else has it.

The exception spec is a good replacement because it forces the questions a dashboard lets you skip. Who owns this condition, who is the backup, and where does the alert land so that it arrives inside a tool the owner already uses.

At Ascendra Ventures we have started asking the same thing when a client asks for reporting: name the three or four conditions that should make someone act, and who that someone is. It usually turns a vague dashboard request into a small, clearly scoped piece of work, and the client gets something people actually respond to.

When an exception fires and the owner does nothing, does your spec escalate on a timer, or does it stay with the owner until someone reassigns it?