Performance Dashboard Design

Designing effective performance dashboards can be a challenge for beginners.  Some common questions asked of new dashboard designers include:

·         What metrics should I visualize?

·         What visualization controls should I use to represent my data?

·         What is the most effective dashboard design and layout?

Purpose of Performance Dashboards:

It is important to define your dashboard’s objectives before entering the design phase.  Generally speaking, a good performance dashboard:

·         Displays relevant information and key performance indicators (KPIs) in a logical, concise manner.

·         Serves as an aid when analyzing company data.

·         Facilitates intelligent decisions based on the visualized data.

Dashboard Metrics:

One of the most important aspects of good dashboard design is determining what metrics the dashboard should display.  This should be decided well before any actual design occurs and should also involve all participants such as business executives, analysts, designers and project managers.

One mistake is trying to squeeze too many metrics into one dashboard.  This could result in a cluttered visualization that ends up confusing the end user, instead of helping to make intelligent decisions.

A good rule of thumb is to display only those metrics related to one another.  The metrics should also have an analytical purpose.  Avoid throwing in metrics that look “cool” but actually do little to effectively visualize your data!

Data Visualization Controls:

The following lists common visualization controls and describes their usage:

·         Charts are a great way to display trends in your data.  Bar and column charts display data for given time or date increments (e.g., monthly or weekly).  Line charts (which can overlay column charts) display upward and downward trends along a continuous time or date line.  Pie and doughnut charts are effective for displaying data as percentages.

·          Gauges and dials can be a visually appealing way to display specific subsets of data (usually the data subset is related to another visual element such as a chart).  They are also useful when determining the performance of some metric. For example, how close is your company to meeting its sales targets?

·         Indicators can be used to show if a metric is within an acceptable or unacceptable level or condition.

·         Heat maps are useful for displaying trends.

·         Geographical maps can help to identify regional performance differences.  They also serve as a trigger when viewing subsets of data.  For example, clicking on a state within a map of the United States can result in the display of data for that given state.

Dashboard Design and Layout:

The first rule is to use white space.  White space tends to accentuate the visualization components that really matter to the end user.

 Another rule is that a performance dashboard with too many visualization elements takes away from the overall purpose by confusing the end user with too many visual cues.  Remember, performance dashboards should help users to quickly identify trends in data, thereby leading to intelligent decision making!

Other helpful design and layout tips are:

·         Determine the colors you want to use and start by selecting a color palette.  You may also want to utilize corporate/organizational colors.

·         Use neutral colors such as pastels and light tones of gray for dashboard and control backgrounds.

·         Clearly delineate major dashboard sections.  Try using frames that have appropriate headings when grouping visualization controls.

·         Pay close attention to the alignment of visualization controls.

·         Make sure that all chart axes have relevant titles, with tick marks that are labeled in an appropriate manner (end users should be able to quickly tell what values the tick marks represent).