5 Steps to Get S tar ted

I R O N S I D E G R O U P.CO M

I t comes in many types and requires

even more tools .

DASHBOARDS CAN HELP.

1. Know your audience

2. Ask the right questions

3. Make insights actionable

4. Emphasize what’s important

5. Group content logically

Let ’s explore.

See from Their Perspective

1

you have to see from your audience’s perspective . This

means you first need to figure out who your audience is.

Too much clutter

A dashboard that ’s confusing for everyone

OR WORSE

A dashboard that ’s completely ineffective in reaching user goals

Say you build a dashboard for a more vocal user who’s

concerned with operational efficiency, but the real main

user of the dashboard is the marketing manager…

A marketing manager needs to know where to focus their resources.

That means you need to give them metrics like conversion rates, sales

opportunities, or how much is spent on advertising. That way, you can

give them the tools to be successful .

Make sure you’re ta lk ing to the r ight

people to get the dashboard to

answer the right questions .

Find the Why

2

- Stephen Few F o u n d e r , P e rc e p t u a l E d g e

It’s very important to make sure you understand how

the audience is really going to be using your dashboard

in order to build it correctly.

This means asking follow-up questions.

Avoid too many unrelated questions

Tell a cohesive story

Fit all the pieces together

Always ask WHY

If your main user is a tech manager and they tell

you they’re looking to see how much of the budget

was spent in each department…

Most likely, they really want to know who spent the money and why, not

what department and how much. Ask them why they want the

information and what they hope to accomplish. If you figure out why

they want to ask the questions they’re asking, you’ll find the root desire

behind the question is really what you need to answer.

Search for the motivat ion behind

the init ia l quest ions you get.

Discover desires, not metrics .

Drive Real-World Results

3

you also need to make sure people can act on the

answers they get. Lay the groundwork for this in step 2 by

constantly asking why instead of how. Keeping this focus

will get you to what actions should result from your

dashboard findings.

Continuing with our tech manager from step 2, we already know

we’ve uncovered the why behind their dashboard question…

Giving them the ability to know exactly who spent

money and why helps them know who to follow up

with and what to speak about to get the budget in

order. This is how you turn the original question

into an actionable insight.

Give dashboard users the power to

turn their data into plans and tasks.

Make a measurable impact .

Draw the Eye

4

- Edward Tufte P ro f e s s o r E m e r i t u s / S t a t i s t i c i a n , Ya l e

Deciding what matters most is the next necessity for

effectively presenting your data. If the users care most

about comparing a budget number against an actual,

emphasize those numbers.

Placement

Color

Sizing

Important information should stand out the minute someone sees the dashboard.

How can you decide what’s important? You can’t. Everything’s the same

size and color. This would be better if we put the important metrics

up top in a larger font or a different color.

Source: https://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?p=54

The key metrics draw the eye first through bright colors, large size, and

position. Visual priority even extends to the charts: the most important

one is the largest and close to the top. It gives clear direction.

Source: http://www.responsivemiracle.com/collective/best-responsive-html5-admin-dashboard-panel-templates-2014/

Get people looking where they need to

before they have to think about what

they ’re seeing .

Tell a Story

5

you want the different pieces of content in your dashboard

to fit together in a way that makes sense. All the pieces

should be organized logically.

If your dashboard’s for a CEO, you’d add an executive

summary component to answer questions like:

Where have we been (past data)?

Where are we now (current data)?

Where are we going (forecast data)?

by department or by functional area, such as putting

finance data on one tab, pipeline data on another, and

operational data on a third.

If you mix departments on a single page, similar

departments should be grouped together physically.

Also make sure to use white space and symmetry.

Source: http://www.matillion.com/uploads/2015/01/good-dashboard-examples-2.jpg

This dashboard makes important

metrics visible in the top bar and with

callouts on the map.

It also clearly groups the results

shown by software, region, and dates

with great use of white space

between the different groupings.

Bui ld a logical narrative for your

audience to fol low.

Aimee Carvalho is one of Ironside’s foremost

advisors in the areas of design, visualization,

and dashboarding. Combining analytics know-

how with creativity and aesthetic sophistication,

she generates displays that unlock data for our

clients every day.

IronSense gives you the building blocks to create

actionable, intuitive, and beautiful dashboards

that put information where it ’s needed most.

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