3 Must-Haves in Your Dashboard

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Help your stakeholders and team members make quick decisions by looking at your dashboard. Make sure to include the following 3 must haves in your dashboard.

Have you been working hard on your dashboard? Have you defined your metrics and sorted through tons of raw data? But somehow you feel your dashboard is missing some key ingredients. Here are three must haves that your dashboard should include.

  1. Design
    When someone looks at your dashboard for the first time, they will immediately look at the visual appearance. To pass this first test, you have to make your dashboard look beautiful. If you have to show a half-baked dashboard to your stakeholders, you may never have the chance to correct your first impression and your dashboard may always be thought of as “less appealing”. It is a proven fact, that the design of a dashboard can have a great impact on the viewer. Having said that, it does not mean that you should just throw in visuals and complicated charts. But it does mean that you need to put in some thought, effort and time into turning your dashboard into a professional looking tool that is also visually appealing. If you do not have design skills, it would be best to use the skills of a professional graphic designer. Also make sure that you get your dashboard reviewed by someone else, before you present it. A big “no” would be to use default templates that are present on your tool, as these will not impress a user looking at your dashboard.
  2. Content
    Now that you know the importance of a good-looking dashboard, it is time to move on to content. After being able to generate initial excitement from your user with a good design, you must be able to retain their attention with the right content. This means that your dashboard should include indicators and metrics that your users care about. For instance, if your dashboard shows data that does not impact users in one way or another, then your dashboard will be of no use, even it is a very pretty looking dashboard. Apart from including KRIs (Key Result Indicators), also make sure to include KPIs (Key performance Indicators) in your dashboard. Make sure to give your users data that they can use in their decision-making process or data that they can relate to. For instance, “How many deals did we close this month which came from our website?” is something that will interest your stakeholders.
  3. Accessibility
    If content is the king of a dashboard, then usability is definitely the queen. How easy is it for your users to access your dashboard? Is your dashboard loading nicely on your desktop, but is inaccessible from an external laptop or tablet? Once a user is able to access your dashboard, the information flow should be natural. He/she should be able to quickly drill down to where they feel the need, obtain additional info in the tool tips and effortlessly reach to the data that he/she wants. The clicks, the hovers and any other interaction that you place on the dashboard, should be easy to use and intuitive. For instance, a click on a data point should impact only related data and the user should notice the impact. Remember that the location of the click also matters. If your filter applies to only one visualization, place the filter next to the visual and do not group it other filters, as this will affect the entire dashboard. If your dashboard is useable, your users will not require any training to start using it.

If your dashboard includes these 3 must haves, you can be sure to expect a high adoption rate. To make sure your dashboard is easily understandable, show it someone who is not related to the project. If he/she is able to understand the information, then you are on the right path to getting your team to use it and benefit from your dashboard.

Looking for custom dashboard creation services?

Are your decision makers unable to make quick data-driven decisions by looking at your dashboard? If not, then you may need custom dashboard creation services. The problem does not lie in the lack of data, as you may be having plenty of raw data. The actual problem lies in the presentation of the data. If your data is cluttered, confused and hastily presented on a PowerPoint, you will face problems when it comes to decision-making. At Outsource2inida, we can assist you with expert dashboard creation. We can present your data in a snippet, so you can view important information at glance, without getting distracted with not-so-important information. Why not stay ahead of the crowd by getting a customized dashboard for any aspect of your business, be it analytics, marketing or social media? Find out more about our custom dashboard creation services.

Did you like reading this post? Do you think a dashboard is a key factor in decision-making? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment in the box below. We, at Outsource2india love to hear from you!

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