How to Master the Art of Dashboard Design

HOW TO MASTER THE ART OF DASHBOARD DESIGN APRIL 2013

@jenveese @brennertwit

2 @jenveese @brennertwit

About Merkle •  A customer relationship marketing agency •  Largest privately-held agency in the US •  1,800 employees, including ~300 statisticians and analysts •  Manage 1.6+ petabytes of customer data


What we’ll cover today

Best &ps for dashboards

and visualiza&ons

Things you should know about dashboards

Criteria for selec&ng a dashboard

tool

Dashboard tools

compared


FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DASHBOARDS


5 Things you should know about dashboards

•  It’s not a dashboard unless it… –  Has strong visual elements –  Is focused on key performance indicators (KPIs)

•  It’s not a good dashboard unless it… –  Provides context for the KPIs –  Fits on one screen or page

•  Substance and style are equally important

•  An automated dashboard is better than a perfect one

•  Executive dashboards are highly visible, so a well-designed one can boost your career


TEN BEST TIPS FOR DASHBOARD DESIGN


10 Best tips for dashboards & visualizations

1.  Separate KPIs, diagnostic metrics and smoke alarms

2.  Select the most meaningful metric

3.  Provide context by making comparisons

4.  Include insights, not narration

5.  Location, location, location

6.  Use size to show relative importance

7.  Select the right visualization for the job

8.  Eliminate distractions and superfluous detail

9.  Be deliberate about axis values

10. Ensure your labels are legible


Separate KPIs, diagnostic metrics and smoke alarms

Key Performance Indicator

A business outcome or measure of success

Diagnostic Metric A metric used to identify which

lever(s) will have the most impact on the KPIs

Smoke Alarm A metric that no one pays

attention to unless it suddenly goes way up or way down

SUBSTANCE

A metric is not a KPI unless…

•  It measures performance against an objective

•  Someone is accountable for that performance

•  There is context for whether the value is good or bad

This is important because each type of metric will be in a different place on the dashboard


Select the most meaningful metric

Create a new metric when you want to:

•  Highlight the relationship between two metrics (i.e. Visits per Visitor)

•  Provide important context (i.e. Revenue per Visit)

•  Normalize the data (i.e. Leads per Day)

SUBSTANCE


What are the constituent parts?

How are two numbers related?

Where does the item appear in a hierarchy?

How does the metric change over time?

Provide context by making comparisons SUBSTANC

E

Where do the items fall across a range?

How does the metric compare to a target, benchmark or previous time period?


Include insights, not narration

Don’t just make observations based on the visualizations!

Add valuable insight by answering questions:

–  Do you notice any trends?

–  Are there any anomalies? –  Is anything different than

you would have expected?

–  Why should I care? What are the implications?

–  What do you recommend based on this data?

SUBSTANCE


Location, location, location

Sample Dashboard Layout

LAYOUT



•  Place your KPIs at the top

•  Place your least important information in the bottom right

Most important metrics

Least important metrics

LAYOUT





•  Group related metrics together

Traffic-related Conversion -related

LAYOUT





•  Group related metrics together

•  Align to a grid

LAYOUT


Use size to show relative importance

•  KPIs should use a larger font size than diagnostic metrics or smoke alarms

•  Similar graphs should be a similar size

•  Font size should follow a hierarchy: –  Dashboard name

–  Objectives or section titles

–  Chart titles

–  Axis values

–  Chart subtitles

LAYOUT

Sample KPI Block


Select the right visualization for the job

BAR Comparisons & Rankings

PIE Composition

SCATTER Distribution & Correlation

COLUMN Comparisons

LINE Trends

STACKED AREA Alt to stacked column

VISUALIZATIONS


Eliminate distractions & superfluous detail VISUALIZATION

S

•  Colored backgrounds •  Garrish color (use a

neutral palette instead)

•  Third dimension •  Excessive axis values

•  Zeros and decimals places

•  Gap width (eg, columns should be wider than the space between them)

•  Gridlines (usually)

•  Don’t use decimal points unless the difference is statistically significant

•  Don’t be afraid to create an “other” category

•  Don’t use stacked columns unless composition is important to know

•  Don’t use a large graph when a sparkline will do


A few tips about color…

•  Things that are the same should be the same color

•  Use a neutral color palette

•  Use variations in saturation rather than in color (light to dark)

•  Don’t rely solely on stoplight colors (red/yellow/green) to show bad/caution/good

•  Don’t use stoplight colors unless you intend to send a message about bad/caution/good

We use color to make our visualizations more meaningful, not to make them pretty!


Be deliberate about axis values

•  Set maximum value high enough that it won’t change from period to period –  Guideline - 25% larger than your best guess at the highest

value over time

•  Usually set minimum value at 0 to avoid giving the appearance that the difference between values is more significant than it really is

•  Visualizations that will be compared should have the same axis values

•  Increment axis units by numbers that people commonly count by (2, 5, 10, 25, etc.)

VISUALIZATIONS


Ensure your labels can be read easily

•  Don’t make them smaller than 8 pt (usually)

•  Don’t rotate them at an angle

•  Always use a sans serif font

•  Select a font that is legible at a small size

•  Increase legibility in a table by reducing font size and increasing row height

VISUALIZATIONS


Example #1 If the analyst wanted to compare completion rates by product category, this is the wrong visualization. A bar graph would be more effective.


Example #1

The values in a bar graph should be sorted. Now, clean it up and duplicate for each step.


Example #1 Much better, but wait… How do you compare overall performance?


Example #1

If you want to compare overall performance, use a measure of overall performance.


Example #2 Let’s make this time series data. There’s still a lot to change.

Better, but it doesn’t help me compare product categories.


Example #2

To make comparisons, use a different visualization.


SIX CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A DASHBOARD TOOL


Six Tool Selection Criteria

No Data – No Dashboards

Design Before You Develop

Acknowledge Limitations

Who is Going to Use It?

Easy Access is Defined by the User

Great Dashboards are Continually Optimized

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No Data – No Dashboards

Data Sources •  Where is your data coming from?

Data Volume •  How much data do you have and when does it arrive?

Automation •  What tools integrate with your automation strategy?

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Design Before You Develop

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Dashboard Speed Research methods to make

tools run faster.

Graphic Arts

Find someone with a detailed eye to help you out.

Tools cannot improve design.

Budget Identify what tool components you need and what they cost.


Acknowledge Limitations

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Skill Set •  What tools constrain your creativity?

IT Architecture

•  What company tool standards are negotiable?

Honestly inventory and review your constraints.

Don’t guess: Try before you buy


Who Is Going to Use It?

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Executive Support

Daily Meetings Quarterly Sessions

Operational Decisions Tactical Planning

Global Reach

Which Tools Support Multiple Languages?

What Cultural Aspects Must You Respect?

Aspiring Executives

They May Actually Use It the Most


Easy Access is Defined by the User

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List of

Users

Tool Use PC Mac

Phone Tablet

Email Alerts

NON -Tool Use

Printed Copies

Executive Summaries

Security: Who Can See it?

How do they login?


Great Dashboards are Continually Optimized

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Idea

Design

Create

Discuss

How are ideas prioritized?

Who will enhance the dashboards?

Who will validate the changes?

What might be coming next?


List Your Secrets to Success

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Element Item Tool A Tool B Tool C

Data Teradata Link

Real Time Frequency

Design List of Design Elements

Creation & Enhancements

Non-Technical Authors

Access

LDAP Security

PC & Mac

Mobile

Online

Email Alerts


Find Your Best Match for Your Unique Needs

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Element Item Tool A Tool B Tool C

Data Teradata Link ● ● ○ Real Time Frequency ◑ ◕ ◕

Design List of Design Elements ◑ ● ●

Creation & Enhancements

Non-Technical Authors ● ● ◕

Access

LDAP Security ◔ ● ● PC & Mac ● ● ● Mobile ◑ ◔ ● Online ● ● ● Email Alerts ◕ ● ◕

@jenveese @brennertwit 38

Often, What You Already Have

It is OK to select something different. It is all about the User Experience.

Use What’s Available Knowledgeable Authors

Established Training

Use What’s Familiar Executives may already be

used to something.

IT Coordination Already Approved Likely Low Costs


FOUR DASHBOARD TOOLS COMPARED


Everyone has an Opinion

•  Some are formal: –  Gartner Quadrant

•  Some are informal: –  Someone is updating their BI blog

right now.

•  The market constantly changes –  New Versions –  New Products –  New Companies

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4 Dashboard Tools Compared

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Our Business Intelligence analysts have the luxury of working with multiple tools. Here’s what we think for Executive Dashboards:

Actual Example For a specific

project


Business Objects

42

Well Established Owned by SAP

Security Multiple Options

Enterprise Tool Strong IT Integration

Dashboards Strong Ad-hoc Environment

Access Multiple Options

Visualization Traditional Options


Cognos

43

Well Established Owned by IBM


Enterprise Tool Tight Integration with

Unica & SPSS

Dashboards Strong Ad-hoc Environment


Visualization Traditional Options


MicroStrategy

44

Well Established One of the first true

BI companies


Enterprise Tool Strong IT Integration

Dashboards Excellent

Performance


Visualization Moderate Options


Tableau

45

Emerging Pre-IPO Company

Security Transparent

Personal Tool Dashboards for all

Dashboards Strong Components

Access Limited Options

Visualization Expansive Options


It’s All About Balance

It is critical to balance substance, style, and tool choice.

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The quality of your dashboards speaks directly to your credibility as an analyst.


JENNIFER VEESENMEYER Vice President, Digital

Analytics

443.542.4611 612.356.4191 (cell) @jenveese [email protected]

CARL BRENNER Director, Business

Intelligence

208.597.3991 (cell) @brennertwit [email protected]