4 Steps to BetterDashboard Design

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Steps inspired by:

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

● Data Science for Dummies

● By Lillian Pierson

● Chapter on data dashboards

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Dashboard design is best kept simple

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7960563@N07/6964596021/Georg Sander

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Step 1: Have a plan.

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

● Do you believe dashboards are simply a collection of charts?

● Do you think fussing over dashboard design is a waste of time?

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You probably haven’t encountered a dashboard lacking design forethought!

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

6 4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

“Bad design is usually the direct result of poorly

scoped purpose.”

-Lillian Pierson-

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Step 1: Have a plan.

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

• A dashboard, like a recipe, should have an end goal defined at the start.

• It should have specific purpose for a specific audience.

How do you set these goals and purposes?

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Step 2: Know Your Audience And Their Needs

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

1. Who is your audience?Example: Emma, a small business owner who sells cat toys.

2. What does the audience need to know?She needs to see key performance indicators (KPIs) for each part of her business.

9 4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

“If the insights aren’t actionable, your target audience won’t adopt the

dashboard a decision-support instrument.”

-Lillian Pierson-

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Step 2: Know Your Audience And Their Needs

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

Actionable insight suggestions:• Marketing

• Website traffic

• Top traffic sources

• Sales

• Sales by region

• Conversion rate

• Top sellers

• Accounting

• Revenue vs. expenses

• Product margins

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Step 3: Choose the Right Charts

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

• Selecting chart types is the next important step.

• You don’t need to use solely bar charts.http://findaccountingsoftware.com/expert-advice/7-alternatives-to-the-bar-graph-and-when-to-use-them-in-bi-reporting/

• You don’t need to use traditional charts

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Step 3: Choose the Right Charts

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

• Sometimes the best way to visualize data is a table or list.

• In the case of Emma, the top traffic sources are easiest to read in a table or grid.

13 4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

“Graphs are useful when a picture of the data makes meaningful relationships visible (patterns, trends,

and exceptions) that could not be easily discerned from a table of the

same data.”

-Stephen Few-

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Step 3: Choose the Right Charts

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

• The dashboard and individual charts should flow.• In the example of Emma, bullet graphs visualize

conversion and cart abandonment rates.• Quickly ID if a particular stat is a positive or negative

outlier, e.g. in the “danger zone”.

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Step 3: Choose the Right Charts

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

• Charts can make decisions easier• Example: Ring chart with drill down interactive

feature• Allows the user to drill down and learn more about

other successful products

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Step 4: Keep the Big Picture in Mind

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

• Use key annotations but don’t overwhelm

• Use only the most important information

• Use plenty of whitespace to allow for focus

• Rows help for flow and organization

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Step 4: Keep the Big Picture in Mind

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

Visit http://www.zingchart.com/demos/ecommerce-dashboard/ to access the fully interactive demo

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Additional Dashboard Information

4 Steps to Better Dashboard Design

Read Morehttp://www.zingchart.com/blog/2015/07/16/4-steps-to-better-dashboard-design/

Try out a dashboard with your datahttp://www.zingchart.com/try