Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

Best Practices in Data Visualization

WHAT’S A DASHBOARD?

Dashboards are an effective communication tool for presenting information across the organization. While there are several definitions, as shown in the sampling below, the common theme is monitoring

business activities to ensure successful execution of initiatives that propel the business forward.

Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

The most

important defining

characteristic of a

dashboard, when

compared to other

means of presenting

information, is

that it is used for

monitoring.

A dashboard is a

visual display of

the most important

information needed

to achieve one or

more objectives,

consolidated and

arranged on a

single screen so the

information can

be monitored at a

glance.

A performance

dashboard is a multi-

layered application

built on a business

intelligence and

data integration

infrastructure that

enables organizations

to measure,

monitor, and

manage business

performance more

effectively.

Rich Data, Poor Data: Designing Dashboards to

Inform, Stephen Few, 2006

Dashboard Confusion, Stephen Few, 2004

Performance Dashboards, W. Eckerson, 2006

USAGE ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION

Dashboards serve a variety of purposes, depending on your role in your organization.

Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

Assist executives

and staff in

charting their

progress toward

achieving strategic

objectives

Help managers

and analysts

track and analyze

departmental

activities,

processes, and

projects

Enable front-

line workers

and supervisors

to track core

operational

processes

Strategic Analytic Operational

Effective dashboards are prepared with these attributes in mind:

Organization Vision: consider your organization’s objectives

Business Awareness: take into account the marketplace, industry, and economic contexts the firm operates within

Domain Knowledge: provide rich, informative insight within the focus area, e.g. financial

Analytically Structured: present relationships between measures

Effectively Presented: use graphical or visualization methods to support analytical methods and focusing attention on the critical few

Communication: encourage dialogue across consumers of information

Architecture & Standards: consistently follow solid design, visualization, and technology standards

Intuitive Tools: use technology that encourages exploring the information

Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

Taken in total, these attributes help the dashboard tell the business story. If there is one takeaway, great

dashboards — the ones that are actively used — convey a message that people can easily understand and also

enable them to dig deeper into the contents if they desire. Many of the same principles applied to broadcast

journalism are applied to the dashboard: engage the reader, provide the headlines, and make getting the

supporting details easy.

PREPARING EFFECTIVE DASHBOARDS

Organization Vision

Business Awareness

Domain Knowledge

Analytically Structured

Effectively Presented

Communication

Architecture & Standards

Intuitive Tools

The dashboard reports (tables, charts, or narratives) are themes that convey the message. Measures and

metrics are the building blocks. Ensure your KPIs provide the information you need with this checklist:

Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

Don’t forget about how metrics support cause and effect relationships. Be sure to have a good mix of leading

and lagging measures. Consider this template for organizing your measures and prepare a simple dictionary.

7 GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE MEASURES

What makes this dashboard effective?

Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

EXAMPLE OF AN EFFECTIVE DASHBOARD

Health, Safety & Environment

Realizing HS&E objectives is directly linked to managing operational risk. Mitigating risks calls for a deeper understanding of factors influencing operations and ultimately the HS&E outcomes. Identifying and quantify-ing the possible factors influencing safety is necessary for knowing what factors are controllable, establishing good training, and selecting indus-try benchmarks. Integrated HS&E analytics provide increased visibility and insight to key metrics — allowing for continuous operations, reduced costs, better workforce morale, and a more reputable marketplace image.

Actionable, critical metrics direct the reader where to focus their attention. Is there a call to action?

Industry definitions of safety and common presentation of metrics make the report easy to interpret. Nothing extraneous is presented, keeping the reader focused on the business objectives.

The detail readily supports the summary and trend reports. Tables and charts appeal to visual and numerical thinkers.

Information is filtered to the relevant data for the reader. Cloud-based web tools encourage exploring the information and gives the power to ask “why” and uncover new insight.

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Effective Dashboard Concepts and Designs

PICTURE RESULTS.

About US-Analytics

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