SO YOU THINK YOU WANT A DASHBOARD?
Considerations for collaborating to create data-based dashboards
July 21, 2014
Prepared by:Barb Knittel
Emma Stewart
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What is the purpose of a dashboard?
A dashboard is a handy overview for data, but is not the final destination.
A dashboard is the map that leads us to a decision.
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Who is involved in dashboard development?
Subject matter expert
Knowledgeable about the audience
Familiar with your data
Data and data visualization expertFamiliar with various
dashboard tools (Excel, Tableau, etc.)
Knowledgeable about best practices in using data for decisionmaking
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Who is your audience?
Audience considerations:• What type of decisions are they
intended to make?o Managemento Advocacy/ needs prioritizationo Project/ activity tracking• How familiar are they with the
data?o Is this the first time they will be
seeing the information?o Are they the data provider?
Knowing your audience is a critical first step in designing an effective dashboard.
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No tool can be everything to everyone
AUDIENCE: This dashboard is intended for use by district level stakeholders in agriculture, WASH, and health (nutrition, family planning, malaria).PURPOSE: To raise awareness of the causes of anemia and related interventions, in order to identify enter points and support anemia prevention efforts at the district level.
Stating in writing the intended audience will ensure that all members of the dashboard development team remain on the same page throughout the process.
It will also make it easier to solicit feedback when you share the dashboard with others.
Dashboard User Profile
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What data do you have?
Data considerations:• What is the source(s) of your
data?• Does the timing align across
your sources?• How frequently is the data
updated?• Do you have qualitative data,
quantitative data, or both?
Garbage in- Garbage outInformed decision-making relies on good data. No matter how pretty the picture, without quality data, your dashboard will suffer.
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Determine your data sources
Determine where the data for your dashboard will come from.
Does it already exist?
Will it need to be collected? By whom? How often?
If you need to collect data, this is a separate activity to building the dashboard, and should be planned out with the appropriate M&E staff
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Pay Attention to Timing Dashboards are used to
make decisions so it is important that data be
comparable and any differences in time period are clearly
marked
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Consider update frequency
How frequently the data will be updated will:
Inform the dashboard design-- particularly the backend
Dictate how much manipulation is feasible for translating data into images/graphics
Once a Year
Weekly
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Identify the data type(s)
Quantitative and qualitative data are handled differently on a dashboard.
Your data type will impact the LOE required and influence your design- particularly if you are showing both types.
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Content expert and dashboard designer meet to scope out projectAudience
Dashboard type
Data
Medium Printed Online Dynamic/static
Branding/marking requirements Colors Fonts Disclaimers
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Designer creates dashboard mock up
The mock up will: Help determine feasibility
of design with given data/ constraints
Layout general design elements
The mock up will not: Be populated with all of the
data Have all of the final design
elements incorporated
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Content expert provides feedback
Dashboard design is an iterative process.
Keeping in mind your audience and purpose,
provide feedback to the designer on the usability of the
dashboard and if the key data has been
captured in a way that improves
decisionmaking.
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Seek an outside opinion
DO Ask someone unfamiliar with the
tool and project
Provide the audience and purpose of the tool
Ask the user to make a decision based on the data
Allow both the subject matter expert and designer to hear the feedback
DON’T Provide additional assistance in
navigating the tool
Get defensive if the tool is not as intuitive as you thought- better to know this now!
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Repeat
There will likely be many rounds of feedback to get both the functionality and layout just right.
Build time into your project timeline for this review process
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