Welcome

Self-teaching Dashboards:Building in Instructions to Complex Dashboards

Owen Xia

Software Engineer

Dashboard Applications

@owentableau

# T C 1 8

Jewel Loree

Product Manager

Dashboard Applications

@jeweloree

Act 1: Scene 1-“Owen is very confused.”

Principles of Intuitive Dashboard Design

Thinking Through the Layout

Determine what needs to go on your dashboard

•What questions are your users trying to answer?

•What do they need to answer that question (and what don’t they?)

Keep each dashboard focused

Break your dashboard into multiple ones if you are trying to answer multiple questions.

Think through the interaction flow

What actions are you planning on? Things that are meant to be interacted with should go on top. The results should go on bottom.

Utilizing Text

Make your title a question

This alerts the user to the purpose of your dashboard and gives them an idea of where to start.

Check your axis labels

Sometimes dimension or measure names don’t really make sense. Check all your axis labels and make sure that your user knows precisely what they mean.

Make human readable tooltips

The default tooltip formatting is awful and can do more to confuse people than help.

Add a data dictionary

Define what all the dimensions and measures mean in your dataset.

Define how all calculated measures are calculated.

This ensures that everyone can trust the data!

Try adding a “help” menu

Be explicit on what the workflow of the dashboard is by adding step by step instructions

Teaching Interactivity

Use titles to make it clear what is interactive

Titles are a great place to give explicit directions

Start with an example

If a dashboard has a really complicated flow, try giving them an example question to ask and guide them through the answering.

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Utilize navigation to direct users through analysis

Take advantage of new navigation buttons to help your users move between the questions

Filters are fun (or at least…they can be)!

DO YOU REALLY NEED 10 FILTERS THO?

Too many filters slow down performance. They are also overwhelming to the user.

Imply how to use the filter in the title

Imply the action that each one will do

Prevent disappearing data

Act 2: Scene 5-Owen chooses a bass

Intuitive Dashboard Design

• Think through the layout• Define what questions your user is trying to answer

• Keep each dashboard focused on the question it’s trying to answer

• Think through the interaction workflow and layout your elements accordingly

• Utilizing Text• Make your titles into questions to prompt the users to try to answer the question

• Make sure your axis labels are user-friendly

• Either make human readable tooltips or turn them off

• Add a data dictionary

• Add a Hover help menu

Intuitive Dashboard Design

• Teaching Interactivity• Define the expected interaction workflow through sheet titles

• Answer an example question to better help your user understand how to use the dashboard

• Utilize dashboard navigation as a way to propel your users through the workbook

• Make filters fun, not funky!• Get rid of unnecessary filters and focus on the question you want to answer

• Explained how to interact with different filters in their titles (choose, select, search)

• Prevent disappearing data by only using relevant values

Q&A

The FUTURE

Thank you!

#TC18

@jeweloree & @owentableau

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