Data

Owned by Karen Hogan (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Sept 02, 2022
4 min read

What should I include in my dashboard?

It can be daunting creating a dashboard from scratch so the following list might help to get you started:

  1. First and foremost, who is your audience? The data that you add and the way you present it should be geared towards a specific type of user.

  2. Now you know the audience, have a think about the KPI’s those users would need to see. If, for example, the target audience is the CEO they will probably be more interested in final sales figures/ value and which region/ area is performing the best whereas an employee would probably be more interested in seeing lower level information like stock quantities or customer details.

It can sometimes help to sketch out your ideas on paper before trying to build your dashboard

Hints & Tips

  1. Include your most important information in the top-left corner of the dashboard. This is naturally where the eye is drawn first.

  2. Think about where your users are based. If the user base is in a country that reads differently e.g. from right to left rather than left to right point 1 would not work well for those users and you would therefore need to place your most important information on the right hand side.

  3. Stick with the same colour theme. Remember the saying ‘Less is more’. The main purpose of the dashboard is for users to see the data. If you change colour themes on each chart, they’re more likely to be looking at the colours then focusing on the data.

  4. When creating your charts/ data tables ensure that the labels and titles are easy for the user to understand. You might have a naming convention that you need to use from a development perspective but think about whether the user would understand that name and be able to work out what the data was telling them.

  5. Think about what’s the best way to present certain data. For example, if you have lots of different information you need to give users a data table might be better than a chart. If you have chronological data, a Spline chart might the best option. If you’re unsure, try different chart types to see how they look.

  6. Avoid abbreviations. You might understand them but would a new starter with the company also know what they mean?

  7. Keep Pie and Doughnut charts to 5 slices or fewer. A nice simple Pie chart can really help to get your message across.

  8. Think about introducing Targets or Trendlines. Targets and Trend Lines are a really great way of helping users understand the data. For example, if you need to tell users about a required number of new customer accounts that need to be generated a Target is a great way of identifying this on a chart and if you need to show users whether your sales are increasing or decreasing a Trend line might be a better option.

  9. Try adding some filters. If you think your chart looks too busy, try filtering the data so only the most important information is seen. If you have a large customer base for example you might only want to show your top customers rather than displaying every customer or give your users the ability to filter the chart based on what they want to see.

  10. Have you thought about Drill Levels. Rather than having lots of charts on your dashboard, think about using drill levels. You can still use the same amount of charts but add them as drill levels, which keeps your main dashboard view clean and easy to read but also provides a user with the option of seeing different levels of the data in a drill level if they need to.