Goal Structuring Notation (GSN) in Power BI
A Power BI GSN visual that lays out a safety case, an assurance case or any structured argument from the rows in your report: goals broken down through strategies to solutions that reference the supporting evidence, with context, assumptions and justifications attached where they qualify the argument. Every connection is checked against the GSN Community Standard as you build.
Part of Ataytis Assurance, with all six analysis modes in one visual. 30-day free trial, licensed and billed through Microsoft Marketplace.
GSN structure, checked
Every SupportedBy and InContextOf is checked against the connections the GSN Community Standard Version 3 permits.
Modules and away elements
Modules, contract modules, interfaces, and away goals, solutions and contexts naming the module they come from.
Decorators and challenges
Undeveloped, optional, multiplicity and choice marks, and elements that challenge another element or a relationship.
About the method
What is Goal Structuring Notation?
Goal Structuring Notation (GSN) is a graphical notation for arguments. It shows a claim as a goal, breaks it down through strategies into sub-goals, and ends in solutions that reference the evidence supporting them, with context, assumptions and justifications attached to the goals and strategies they qualify. It is most often used to present safety cases and assurance cases.
Also known as
- GSN
- Goal structure
- GSN diagram
Common uses include
- Safety cases
- Assurance cases
- Security cases
- Compliance arguments
- Certification evidence
- Software and AI assurance
Goal Structuring Notation can be used wherever a claim needs to be shown to hold, with the reasoning and evidence behind it laid out for review.
The standard's symbols, or your own colours
By default the argument is drawn in the symbols of the GSN Community Standard Version 3. Switch Profile to Custom and each element type gets its own colour, with InContextOf links dashed. The rows are the same under both, each read as a sentence: G1 SupportedBy S1, G1 InContextOf C1.
Review claim and evidence status at a glance
Colour goals and solutions by status and the summary strip counts them. Click a count, such as In review, and those claims are highlighted while the rest of the argument fades. Mark a goal undeveloped and the standard's hollow diamond is drawn beneath it. Select an element and the Node Inspector lists its status and everything else your table holds for it.
GSN structure checked as you build
Remove a column the argument needs and the Validation tab says what broke: how many pieces the argument has split into, and which field is missing. Put the column back and it reads Validation clear. Every connection is checked against the standard too: nothing may support a solution, and contexts, assumptions and justifications are joined only by InContextOf.
Your data
A safety argument in fifteen rows
A top goal with its context and assumption, a strategy over the identified hazards with its justification, sub-goals, a solution referencing a test report, an away goal argued in another module, and a goal still to be developed. Add a Diagram ID and one table holds several assurance cases, with a slicer or the diagram picker switching between them.
| Node ID | Connected Node ID | Node Type | Relationship Type | Label | Module Reference | Decorators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | C1 | Goal | InContextOf | Cooling system is acceptably safe to operate | ||
| G1 | A1 | Goal | InContextOf | Cooling system is acceptably safe to operate | ||
| G1 | S1 | Goal | SupportedBy | Cooling system is acceptably safe to operate | ||
| C1 | Context | Cooling system as installed in 2026 | ||||
| A1 | Assumption | Operators follow the approved procedures | ||||
| S1 | J1 | Strategy | InContextOf | Argue over each identified hazard | ||
| S1 | G2 | Strategy | SupportedBy | Argue over each identified hazard | ||
| S1 | G3 | Strategy | SupportedBy | Argue over each identified hazard | ||
| S1 | G4 | Strategy | SupportedBy | Argue over each identified hazard | ||
| J1 | Justification | Hazard list comes from the 2026 HAZOP | ||||
| G2 | Sn1 | Goal | SupportedBy | Loss of cooling flow is acceptably unlikely | ||
| Sn1 | Solution | Pump reliability test report | ||||
| G3 | AG1 | Goal | SupportedBy | Overpressure is prevented | ||
| AG1 | Away Goal | Relief system is adequately sized | PRV-CASE-02 | |||
| G4 | Goal | Operator error is controlled | undeveloped |
What it draws
Every element and relationship
Drawn by default with a profile designed with reference to the GSN Community Standard Version 3, with the modules, away elements and challenges of its modular and dialectic extensions. A Custom look uses the same data.
Core elements
- Goal
- Strategy
- Solution
- Context
- Assumption
- Justification
Undeveloped and choice
- Undeveloped goal
- Undeveloped strategy
- Choice
Modular elements
- Module
- Contract module
- Module interface
- Away goal
- Away context
- Away solution
- Away assumption
- Away justification
Relationships
- SupportedBy
- InContextOf
- Challenges
- Module supported by
- Module in context of
Validation
Checked against the rules of the method as you build
The Validation tab lists anything that breaks these rules and where it is, so the diagram is right before it reaches a review.
- At least one goal
- No cycles in the support hierarchy
- SupportedBy and InContextOf join only what the standard permits
- Contexts, assumptions and justifications are joined only by InContextOf
- Identifiers are unique
- Decorators are recognised and used where the standard allows
Getting started
From your table to goal structures in a report
Install from Marketplace
In Power BI Desktop, open Get more visuals, search for Ataytis Assurance, and add it.
Add your table
Put Node ID, Connected Node ID, Node Type and Relationship Type in Data fields.
Choose Goal Structuring Notation
Select the visual, open More options (…) and choose Edit, then pick Goal Structuring Notation in the Diagram type list on the left.
Licence it to publish
Power BI Desktop needs no licence. Readers in the Power BI Service do, with the first 30 days free.
Pricing
One licence includes all six analysis modes
Goal Structuring Notation is included alongside Fault Tree Analysis, Bow-Tie Risk Analysis, Event Tree Analysis, Reliability Block Diagram and Markov State Diagram. Ataytis Assurance is licensed per user: $4.99 per user per month for small teams, dropping to $2.49 for 500 users or more. The first month is free on every plan, billed by Microsoft.
Licensing a large team or a whole organisation? Request an enterprise quote
Also in Ataytis Assurance
The other analysis modes in the same visual
Every licence includes all six. Switch mode in the editor, and each one keeps its own mapping, layout and look.
Fault Tree Analysis
How could this top event happen?
Explore fault treesBow-Tie Risk Analysis
What can go wrong, what prevents it, and what limits the consequences?
Explore bow-tiesEvent Tree Analysis
What follows an initiating event, and how often?
Explore event treesReliability Block Diagram
Does the system keep working when parts of it fail?
Explore reliability block diagramsMarkov State Diagram
How does a system move between states over time?
Explore Markov diagramsQuestions
Goal Structuring Notation questions
Your next assurance case, in Power BI
Build it in Power BI Desktop with no licence and nothing to sign up for. A licence only comes into it when the report is published for others to open.