Visualizing Your Data Through Dashboards

Creating and Building a Legal Aid Dashboard

November 2014

Laura QuinnIdealware,

Founder and

Executive Director

Introductions

www.idealware.org

What We’ll Cover Today

–What is a Dashboard?–Seven Steps to Your Own Dashboard

1. Define Who and What It’s For2. Understand What Your Users Want3. Map Metrics to Your Needs4. Choose Your Dashboard Platform5. Design Charts and Displays6. Implement and Roll Out7. Plan to Iterate

–Some Dashboard Case Studies

Dashboards consolidate information to help measure,

monitor, and manage the way you work.

What Data Does A Dashboard Track?

It depends greatly on the organization, but it could include:• Operational data• Program spend and budget• Program impact

Or all of these things!

Operational DataThey can show day-to-day data, like the number of open cases assigned to each attorney.

LSNTAP, built on Basecamp

More Specific MetricsSome provide more specific, calculated metrics like the average

time that a case is open or the time spent per program.

Atlanta Legal Aid Society, built in LegalServer

Program Impact

While it’s difficult, a few have created dashboards to track

program impact.

If you can collect the right metrics, this can be a valuable tool —the

ability to see organizational impact in one view.

Blue Ridge Legal Services, built in Excel

What Software Should You Use?

There is, unfortunately, no magical “dashboard software.”

You might use anything from Excel to your grants management system to more complex reporting tools.

Where Do I Start?Let’s look at the seven steps to dashboard success!

Define Who and What Your Dashboard is For1.

Who Will Be the Highest Priority Users?

Who are you designing the dashboard for? Will there be additional types of users?

Is Your Goal to Centralize Key Metrics?

Do you want everyone to be able to see the same set of metrics, to help keep everyone on the same page?

Maybe the board?

Or the public?

Or Will Staff Choose Their Metrics?

Customized metrics will help people with their own job…

..but don’t necessarily help get everyone on the same page.

Is Data Self-Service A Goal?

Do you want to allow staff to look up data themselves rather than requesting it from your grants team?

Define What Success Looks Like

Resist the urge to make something that’s all things to all people.

Understand What Your UsersWant From the Dashboard2 .

Find Out What They Currently Do

Convene staff members and talk about their current processes.

Pay more attention to gaps and workarounds than to what they say they’d use.

Consider The “Magical Dashboard”

Asking people to draw out the information they’d like to have can be useful—often desires are surprisingly simple.

Define What They Really Need

• Simple summary of key data?• More complex indicators?• Ability to tailor to their own needs?• To be able to drill into details?• To do scenario planning?

Map Metrics to Your Needs3 .

Find Your Sweet Spot

What Data Will Help You Make Decisions?

Defining the right metrics might take a conversation—or a two year strategic process.

Where Will The Data Come From?

• Do you have the data?• How easy will it be to pull it for your dashboard?• What kind of transformation will it need?

Don’t Underestimate This Process

For many organizations, designing the right metrics—those that are both useful and practical—is the hardest part of a dashboard process.

Choose Your Dashboard Platform4 .

What Platform Will Work Best?

What can pull together all the data you need and support the features your users want?

Your Existing Legal Case Management System

May or may not do what you want…but on the other hand, you already have it.

An Excel Spreadsheet

Also consider Google Docs/ Google Charts

You’ll likely need

to pull in data by

hand, but can be

straightforward

for static charts.

A Plug-In Reporting or Dashboard Tool…

A tool designed to pull in and display data can provide more flexibility—with more effort.

LegalServer with additional modules

…Such As Tableau

Tableau

Not incredibly

powerful, but

straightforward to

setup and

dashboards are

graphically

appealing.

…Specific Dashboard Tools

Tools like iDashboards, GoodData, Birst, and QlikView offer specific dashboard features for those willing to do more technical setup.

iDashboards

…Or An External Reporting Tool

Tools like Crystal

Reports, Jasper Reports,

SharePoint, Cognos, or

BusinessObjects can

provide a platform on

which to build.

Crystal Reports

A Custom-Built Dashboard

More flexibility, but likely requires more time and effort.Custom Kellogg Dashboard

Design Charts and Displays5 .

Match Your Metrics to VisualsLet the data itself take center stage.

Bar Charts Line Charts

Plotted Chart Pie Chart

Beware the Glitzy Graphic

How much room are you taking up with glitz rather than information?

Implement and Roll Out Your Dashboard6 .

Make the Dashboard Magic Happen

Bring the data together with your visuals and platform to let the magic happen!

Obviously, the effort and process will depend hugely on what you’re doing.

Roll it Out Thoughtfully

Don’t forget about training and the process of getting people on board—it doesn’t matter how great it is if no one uses it.

Plan to Iterate7 .

It Makes Sense to Start Small

Start with baby steps.

It’s much easier to figure out what’s needed by iterating than through a huge design process.

Plan to Refine Over Time

Features

Implement

Your dashboard is only as good as your data—but making it more visible can often inspire improvements in data quality.

Refine Your Data as Well

Some Dashboard Case Studies: Atlanta Legal Aid Society

Atlanta Legal Aid Society

Awarded a TIG in 2012 to develop an Executive Dashboard in their existing case management system, LegalServer.

Atlanta Legal Aid Society

The dynamic reports allow the executive team to both see a high-level overview

of programs and services, and drill down to see outcomes for a specific

program or individual.

Some Dashboard Case Studies: Blue Ridge Legal Services

Blue Ridge Legal Services

Static charts and graphs built in Microsoft Excel, displaying performance metrics to compare individual offices, programs, and case handlers.

Used for :• individual performance

reports for staff or offices

• displaying results in case work and client satisfaction surveys

Blue Ridge Legal Services

Long-term goal is to create a template file in Excel, allowing staff to quickly create dashboards from custom reports or queries.

Some Dashboard Case Studies: Utah Legal Services

Utah Legal Services

Awarded a TIG in 2010 to develop dashboards in Kemp’s Case Works to provide

a clearer and more user-friendly version of their quarterly performance reports.

Utah Legal ServicesReports are sent quarterly to advocates, comparing their work to other staff in similar areas focused on:

• Performance Metrics• Electronic Time Reports

• Electronic Expense/ FSA Claims

Questions?