Business/ Companies Leaders (CEO’s, Managers, Supervisors etc.) take pleasure in strategically running their businesses/ Companies whilst saving time and energy. When you are having to work on different and/or many projects at once, all of which need your attention and decision making; it tends to get quite difficult when you have to go back to the books to get information that’s needed to move on to the next step.
Imagine a place where you are able to visualise Important Information all at once when you need to without having to go into the details. Imagine going into a meeting with the members having an idea of what is it to take place so the meeting is full of reciprocity. A place where Business performance is visual and can be accessed for much easier decision making and overall management of the Business.
The writer Stephen Few said, “Dashboard design is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives; consolidated and arranged on a single screen so that the information can be monitored at a glance”. With Dashboard design, you are able to display Key Performance Indicators (KPI’S) and Metrics using visualisations like tablets, line charts, bar charts etc.
Dashboard design can be used and implemented for various Businesses and/or different departments in Business/ Companies from Financials; Customer details in tracking invoices, Sales and Payment Delays; Getting work/job done through scheduling; a Visual of where the market is at that particular time; Product Analysis and/or Managing memory and usage of your computer.
Designing a Dashboard is for the purpose of presenting data in a visual and a way that is approachable by the audience intended in order to make the decision-making process easy and reliable every time. Let’s get into a few principles to consider when designing a Dashboard.
How to design a Dashboard: Our 4 Rules to a Successful Dashboard Design
1. Know Your Audience
Before you choose how to go about your dashboard design, it is important to know who is going to use the dashboard. Dashboard design is always for the purpose to present data therefore the first thing to consider is who you want to present the data to. This is an important principle since the design has to be suitable for the audience who will use it.
Take into Consideration the type of data that your audience will want to see, and/or what information will be beneficial and will help your audience to better understand the Business/ Situation.
Choose applicable/relevant KPI’S
Its important to identify/choose KPI’s that are relevant and applicable to YOUR business. A KPI is a measure that helps your Business/ Company make Decision and take it to the next level and/or to growth. KPI is meant to lead the Business/ Company to make the right decisions, i.e. all KPI’s road lead to decision making.
With KPI’s metrics you want to indicate what is important to the success of your business/ customers/ employees/ products etc. After you have indicated these KPI’s, you need to measure them in a way where the metrics allow you to have a clear observation of where your Business/ Company is and where its going.
Choose the right type of Dashboard Design
Earlier we have seen that there are different dashboard designs for different purposes/ departments in Business/ Companies. Dashboard design can be used to present information of four types; Operational, Strategic, Analytical and Tactical; therefore, it is important to select the right one for the right purpose, whether Sales, Customers, Financials etc.
Together with selecting the right type of Dashboard Design, it is important to also select the right type of data presentation tools. For instance; Charts are one of data presentation tools, but there are different charts for different purposes. Use of the right charts will help convey the right information/ data to your audience and deliver what is intended. Also, it is important to make sure that your Dashboard is visually organized to help convey the information across when seen. Start with the most important/ key information.
Focus on Simplicity
Dashboard Design is intended to make Business/ Company operations easier when it comes to managing and making decisions. It is therefore important to present the data on the dashboard with simplicity. You have to consider the audience and make sure what is to be presented can be easily grasped at a glance, i.e. When your audience takes a look at the Dashboard, they should be able to get enough information before they give out the next direction/ opinion and/or decision.
For instance; if your audience will have to go back to make calculations of the data presented then you know that the design is too complex for your audience.