Why Dashboards Are Important

If you are reading this then we can assume that you have already built, or tried to build a dashboard for a report or presentation in the past. In case this is your first time embarking on this adventure, welcome and good luck!

Dashboards are an integral part of any complex reporting or presentation that you will do. While it might be sufficient to simply copy and paste a table of data onto a slide, or the first tab of a spreadsheet, it is not enough to properly convey your message. Efficient dashboards should be able to, at a glance, convey valuable insights without the need to dive into any of the source data.

Where many people falter (myself included) is not in the analysis or quality of the results they generated, but in their presentation. I found myself having committed all of the faux-pas that are covered in this article more than once in my career.

Mistake 1: Clutter

Too many times have we seen dashboards with so little white space that they look more cramped than 3 full size adults flying side-by-side in economy. Taking advantage of scale and font size in order to add more white space, even at the cost of making the items in your dashboard smaller, should not be undervalued.

Having a cleaner look will make it easier for others to focus their attention. When too much is happening at once your dashboard becomes distracting and ineffective.

Some tips for reducing the clutter of a dashboard:

Remove visible gridlines!

Seeing the light grey grid lines behind tables, charts, and textboxes is only distracting and takes away from the message you are trying to convey. Both Excel and Google Sheets allow you to hide these gridlines. It is a simple way to provide a much more satisfying experience.

Zoom out

While it may initially seem counterintuitive, even going from 100% to 90% zoom can have a big impact on the amount of space available to you. This lets you spread out the tables and charts you are displaying. I usually prepare dashboards at around a 60% zoom.

Limit the number of objects

It may not really be necessary to show Q1-Q4 of the current year and of the previous year in your dashboard. Sometimes less is more, and showing only the most relevant information will allow you to declutter your page. That being said you can keep the other tables available, but they would have their own place in the document.

Dashboard after applying the tips from step 1!

Mistake 2: Placement and Organization

If you have ever seen a dashboard which suffers from poor organization, you will know that the lack of proper placement can hold the attention of others more than the actual information being conveyed. This can often happen as a result of a table or chart fitting more nicely in a format which is different from the others within the dashboard.

There are things which can be done in order to mitigate this effect.

Align Controls

Depending on the software you are using, you will have access to tools that can automatically align an object to a location on your page. Adding to that, holding shift while moving an object in many applications will force it to only move on either the vertical or horizontal axis, keeping it in line with its original position. Using this can make it exponentially easier to ensure your objects are properly placed.

Grouping Controls

Whether it be PowerPoint, Excel, Google Sheets, or any number of other applications, they will have grouping controls. Grouping allows you to take multiple objects and have them treated ‘as one’. This means that any movement, resizing, or alterations made will affect all grouped members the same way. This allows you to keep similar pieces of information together easily.

Pixel and Page Guides

In any solution, you are able to view either a ruler/grid of the canvas you are working with, or the pixel measurements of individual objects. Some solutions support both measures. Using these grids and guides, it becomes easier to make sure that text boxes, charts, tables, and other key pieces of a dashboard line up properly and do not overpower each other.

Dashboard after applying the tips from step 2!

Mistake 3: Font and Text Size

Key information from a dashboard does not always come in the form of a chart or a graph, sometimes it is presented as a number or a phrase. What should be taken away from this is that it is not only ok, but encouraged, to supersize some of the text that is placed on a dashboard. Key takeaways are no less important because they are a piece of text instead of a chart.

Font legibility is something which must be respected, and so unless you are presenting to a group of teachers, the font Chalkboard is not particularly appropriate anywhere.

Web and Print Fonts

Not all fonts are made equal. Aside from the differences between serif and sans-serif fonts, every font has a unique combination of spacing, flourish, complexity, and legibility. Some fonts (such as Bell Centennial) have features such as ink traps, which make them more suited towards printed documents over digital media. In general, fonts which are more suited to digital media are sans-serif, have larger blank spaces within letters, and minimal ascenders and descenders. One of my preferred fonts is Myriad Pro, however I recommend looking through the Google Fonts and Adobe Typekit selection of fonts to find one which interests you!

Bold, Italics, and Underline

While it may seem attractive to use a variety of text effects in a dashboard, I would limit the types of effects used down to one or two. In some cases having underlined subheadings above information will be more attention grabbing than the use of a bold header or italicized subheading. It is important to keep a clean appearance to a dashboard, and this can mean removing unnecessary formatting.

Text Size

One common mistake people make when creating a dashboard is not making text big enough. If a key point of your data is a dollar value, do not hesitate to make it large and impactful. That being said, it cannot be overstated that having a simple set of text formatting is almost a requirement in dashboard building. Having one format for headings, another for subheadings, a third for on chart labels, and a fourth for standalone text results is my preferred method. This leaves me with four formats which repeat across my dashboards, leaving a very clean look to the presentation.

Dashboard after applying the tips from step 3!

Mistake 4: Colour and Design

While a simple concept, it is both very tempting to make this mistake, and very easy to get carried away by. Charts and other objects tend to have colourful display options which use multiple colours to get the information they contain across to the viewer. Where this can become complicated is when a colour scheme is not consistent, or when it contains colours which are impacted by the various forms of colour blindness.

To mitigate the negative effects this may cause, you can look into the following opportunities.

Colour Choice

Some organizations require use of their organizational colours in any presentation of company information. This can sometimes lead to difficulties in colour coordination. There is a great article on colour theory done by the group behind 99designs.ca which you can read HERE. It explores three types of colour selection used for logos and presentation design by leaders in the global market.

*this is not an ad or sponsored link - 99designs.ca has some incredible work for those interested in all forms of design or are looking for design oriented freelancers*

Design Optimization

The use of accent pieces to create clarity in a dashboard is a very underused tool. Sometimes all it takes is a thin line, or a shaded box surrounding various pieces of content, to enable viewers to focus on the story being told. This is not, however, a call to begin placing arrows, bright signs, and other more distracting objects into your dashboards. Keep in mind the other suggestions that we have discussed when deciding what you will use to provide direction to your dashboard.

Dashboard after applying the tips from step 4!

Mistake 5: Consistency and Transparency

All of the previous mistakes we have covered lead into this one broader category which further exemplifies a critical mistake when it comes to building dashboards. Now that our dashboard is visually pleasing, the content comes under question. We have removed extraneous data, and tidied up our presentation, but what do we do now with the information we have removed and have chosen to present?

Consistent measures

For the information we are keeping within the dashboard, it is important to keep a minimal number of measures, and stick to them. If you are presenting a quarterly report, you could for example keep all your information in terms of the quarter as a whole, and on a per period basis. This would be done instead of presenting some information on a weekly basis, while others are presented monthly, and other quarterly. Trying to keep the statistics you are presenting consistent will allow for others to more easily retain the information, and make it feel more valuable.

Transparent information

Having taken information out of the primary dashboard, we are now showcasing less material. This doesn’t mean that there is no use for it. Especially when using a dashboard for a presentation, it can be critical to have access to that information despite it not being on the main screen. What can be done is to create micro-dashboards containing relevant information to a specific topic. In the example of a quarterly report, while the previous quarters sales information might be displayed on the main dashboard, having a recap comparison to the same period last year, previous quarter, and year to date sales is more relevant on its own page.

Double clicking on this table brings you to the source data tab of the workbook

This is the source data tab you are brought to

Now that we have looked at the most common mistakes that can be seen when building a new dashboard, and different ways to fix them, here is one thing which most people do right.

Copying from others!

While it may seem counter intuitive, especially when throughout our lives we have been hammered with the idea that copying the work of others is wrong and reprimandable, copying similar formats and styles should not only be acceptable but encouraged. A functional layout works for a reason, and using something you have seen for the basis of your own work is perfectly a perfectly valid action.

If you see a particular style of chart, colour scheme, font, or layout which you feel would suit your own dashboard there is nothing wrong with taking it as an inspiration for your own work. Many aspects of a dashboard fall less into the category of functional design, and more into the category of aesthetics.

When you look at the art world, some of the most well known figures across all facets of history were not the people who created new styles of art. Rather they were the ones to build upon the foundations laid by another. In art, seeing others attempt to copy your style of work is a high complement. Why shouldn’t it be the same with the presentation and organization of a dashboard?

I will note here that I am in no way condoning plagiarism and the actions of those who forge artwork or take the work of others as their own. There is a clear line between drawing inspiration from someone and taking the work of another and laying claim to it.

Do you have any tips, tricks, or solutions you use when building dashboards? Leave them in the comments section below and teach us something new!

Building a Dashboard: Top Five Mistakes People Make

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