Dashboard
A dashboard is a visual representation of important data and information, typically displayed in a single screen or webpage. It is designed to provide a quick and easy way to monitor key performance indicators, track progress toward goals, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. Dashboards can be customized to display data from various sources, such as spreadsheets, databases, or web analytics tools. They often use charts, graphs, tables, and other visual elements to present data in a user-friendly and easy-to-understand format. Dashboards are commonly used in business, finance, marketing, and other industries to track and analyze data, improve efficiency, and drive decision-making.
Leading practices
How to understand your audience?
- Keep your target user in mind
- Understand their mental model and context (user interview, co-creation workshops, etc.)
- Know their goals and what they need to do
- Build alignment on how analytics can help them
- Define with them what is the most important insights they need
- Understand how frequently they will use the dashboard
Make it goal-oriented
- Choose the right type of dashboard (analytical, operational, strategic, tactical)
- Define what business goals, KPIs and data are the most important
- Choose the right timeframe for your data (Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly, etc.)
- Understand the flow & context where this dashboard will live
Tell the right stories with data visualizations
- Choose data viz type based on the type of insight you want
- Reuse well-known patterns
- Remove all unnecessary and repeated information
- Select colors and icons that convey a clear meaning
Organize the content
- Add text like titles and descriptions
- Avoid long pages requiring scrolling; use tabs instead to separate the content
- Display numbers and terminology consistently (i.e., 2,5K, Tickets or Cases?)
- Think about how users scan your dashboard, with the most important insights on the top left
Types of dashboards
Strategic dashboard
A strategic dashboard is a visual tool used by organizations to track and monitor progress toward achieving strategic goals and objectives. It presents key performance indicators (KPIs) and other important data in a clear and concise manner, allowing leaders to quickly assess the organization's overall performance and make informed decisions. Strategic dashboards typically include a mix of financial, operational, and customer-related metrics, providing a comprehensive view of the organization's performance and helping to identify areas for improvement. They are often used by executives and managers to gain insights and make strategic decisions that drive the organization's success.
Operational dashboard
An operational dashboard is a visual representation of real-time data related to a company's day-to-day operations. It provides a snapshot of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that are crucial for monitoring and managing the ongoing activities of an organization. Operational dashboards typically include interactive charts, graphs, and other visualizations that allow users to quickly and easily track progress, identify trends, and make informed decisions. These dashboards are often used by managers and executives to monitor the health and performance of their teams, departments, or the entire organization. They can also be customized to display specific data relevant to a particular role or function within the company.
Analytical dashboard
An analytical dashboard is a data visualization tool that displays and analyzes key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics in a visual format, such as charts, graphs, and tables. It provides a comprehensive and real-time overview of an organization's performance, allowing users to track progress, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions. Analytical dashboards are commonly used in business intelligence, marketing, and finance to monitor and analyze data from various sources, such as databases, spreadsheets, and online platforms. They can be customized to display specific metrics and can be interactive, allowing users to drill down into the data for deeper analysis.
Do's and Don'ts
Sizing
Single Scores and Time Series Charts:
- Always use the same templates on the same row
- Different Single Score templates can be used to break apart the data but should be in a new row
- All charts should fill the row or column with consistent sizing
- DO NOT make single scores the same size as a time series – use new rows or additional scores to fill the space
Widget titles
Short and concise titles in dashboards are critical to communicate content efficiently without being redundant to customers. Strive to apply the same naming conventions throughout the work because that level of consistency for customers is important.
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Open Incidents | Number of Open Incidents |
| Age of Incidents | Age of Open Incidents |
| Closed Incidents | Number of Closed Incidents |
| Problems Pending Change | Number of Problems Pending Change |
Colors
- Use consistent colors for headlines and or backgrounds, but not both
- Avoid brash/bright colors as they can conflict with widget colors that are conveying a message