An online dashboard is a visualisation tool that can be used to analyse and evaluate business processes, key performance indicators, and other, organisational data points.
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Dashboard types include Strategic, Analytical, Operational And Tactical.
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A 'best-in-class' dashboard can be described simply as one which clearly answers the questions it's designed to answer and where the key principles outlined below have been followed.
'Best in Class' Dashboards:
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Part 1) CLEARLY DEFINE THE OBJECTIVES, SCOPE OF WORK, TIMELINES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Working with key stake holders, agree:
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The objectives of the dashboard and the end user requirements. Essentially, what questions do we want the dashboard to answer?
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The key metrics to display and any calculations. Include forecasting or benchmarking?
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Brand guidelines: logos, colours and fonts to use
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A plan for data extraction, transforming and loading (ETL)
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A project plan with time lines and responsibilities including documentation, testing and user feedback
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'Analytics': do we want to track usage of the dashboard?
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Part 2) CREATE A SIMPLE, HIGH IMPACT USER FRIENDLY DASHBOARD
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Working top to bottom, display the key summary data at the top of the page increasing the detail moving down the page.
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Think 'less is more': make simplicity and answering the questions the priority. Use 'dashboard tricks' to enable users to switch between data and views to make the dashboard data rich whilst minimising the number of tables and graphs.
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Use colour appropriately and sparingly to achieve maximum contrast
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Use the right chart/table for the story you want to tell
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Provide context, as examples:
i) Comparisons to the previous week, month, quarter or year results
ii) Use clear headings and other labelling plus scales on charts
iii) Include chart tooltips and notes
6. Build the dashboard so it can be viewed across different devices.
7. Plan ahead if the dashboard is to form part of a suite of dashboards, or to be repurposed for other clients.
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