Let’s cut to the chase: there is a trick to designing awesome dashboards and reports:
You don’t build great reports & dashboards by using the data available. You build them by using data that answers specific questions.
Sound a bit lofty? Maybe even a bit vague? Well let me elaborate a bit and hopefully the quote will stick with you after you finish reading this.
Basically, what we’re saying here is that anybody (including modern AI tools) can feed some source data into a chart or graph; but the best reports aren’t built by asking, “what data do we have?” They’re built by asking, “what decisions do we need to make?”
The problem with charting source data
Most people instinctively start the design process by looking at the data they have. So if you’re in sales & marketing working on a dashboard, you might make a chart showing daily website traffic and beside it you put a chart of daily sales. Then you can look at the two and start to think about how your traffic impacts sales. It makes sense and it’ll be helpful.
Now that the dashboard is done, you’re getting on with using it. You’ll look at the traffic chart, then look at the sales chart. You’ll begin creating a relationship in your head and based on that relationship, you go back to making decisions.
But here’s the problem: the most helpful part of your decision-making is in your head. And that’s where it stays. This becomes an issue when you ask yourself these questions:
► Will another person looking at this data see the same relationships I did?► Will I interpret the relationship the same way a week or a month from now?
► Can this relationship be applied to other parts of the business?
The answer to these questions are usually, “no.” Especially if precision and accuracy are being considered.
How we do it
Start with the decision to be made. What will be the determining factor for making a decision? That is what you want to see in a chart.
Here’s a rule I like to follow:
If you can’t make a decision in less than three seconds, you’re looking at the wrong chart.
– me, any time I’m talking about dashboards
Returning to our example: instead of creating two visuals and leaving conclusions up to subjective interpretation, what you want to do is define that relationship systematically, build a calculation for that relationship, and then visualize that data.
It does require you to put a bit more work into creating a series of calculated metrics, but you’ll be able to go back to those three questions and answer a confident, “yes,” across the board.
Kill the guesswork
The most powerful, impactful reports & dashboards eliminate the guesswork. When you start your reports & dashboard design with the decision you’re trying to make, something magical happens. Those data visualizations will start to tell the story for you. Consistently. To anyone who looks at them.
Want some help?
We’re pretty good at helping you get to the right data visualizations. If you’d like some help getting your data to tell its own story, contact us for a no-obligation consultation, and let’s build something awesome together.
