The Art of Building Visual Dashboards

Introduction

Creating visual dashboards can be an effective way to track, assess and monitor your data. With a visual dashboard, you can quickly and easily gain insight into the success of your business efforts and make informed decisions. But with the huge range of software solutions available for dashboard creation, it can be tricky to know where to start.

In this blog post, we’ll examine the art of building visual dashboards. We’ll define what a visual dashboard is, discuss the different types of visual dashboards available, and provide tips to building an effective and powerful dashboard.

Overview

Visual dashboards are visually appealing displays of data in the form of charts and graphs, making the data more digestible and understandable, and easier to interpret the results. They can be used to track the performance of business processes, measure the performance of individual employees, and identify trends and insights in the data.

Definition of a Visual Dashboard

A visual dashboard is a graphical representation of data and information, usually presented in the form of charts, graphs, and tables. The data is displayed in an organized and easily accessible manner, providing insights into the data and making it easier to interpret the results. Visual dashboards are used to simplify complex data sets, make information more understandable, and aid in decision making.

Components to Consider When Building Visual Dashboards

When developing any visual dashboard, there are several components that should be taken into consideration. These components will contribute to the overall look and usability of the dashboard. Here is a look at the four main components for building effective visual dashboards.

Data Sources

The data sources used in a visual dashboard are essential for providing detailed, informative and accurate information. Careful consideration should be given to the type of data that is being displayed in order to ensure that it is accurate and relevant. Data sources can range from internal sources such as company data sets, to external sources such as public datasets.

Types of Graphs & Statistics

The types of graphs and statistics used in a visual dashboard will vary depending on the purpose of the dashboard. There are many types of graphs and statistics that can be used to provide insights regarding data. Examples of some popular types of graphs and statistics used in visual dashboards include bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, histograms, and scatter plots.

Layouts

Layouts are important in any visual dashboard as they will help to better showcase the data. Careful consideration should be put into the layout of the dashboard in order to make sure that the data can be easily seen and understood. It is also important to make sure that the layout of the dashboard will be functional for users; for example, by making sure that the dashboard is not too cluttered or too busy.

Interactions

Having the ability to interact with a visual dashboard is essential for providing a better understanding of the data. Interactions may include hovering over a graph to view the individual data points or selecting a specific data point to view additional information. Including interactions in a visual dashboard will provide users with more control over the data they are seeing and a better understanding of the information being presented.

When building a visual dashboard, it is important to consider all of the components mentioned above. By taking these components into consideration, an effective and useful dashboard can be created that will help to provide meaningful and accurate insights to users.

Benefits of Visual Dashboards

Visual dashboards offer several unique benefits which are helping businesses and organizations to make smarter decisions faster. In a world of big data and increasingly complex business operations, visualizations are rapidly becoming an essential element of successful strategies.

Easier Communication

Data is only useful when it can be effectively communicated to intended audiences. Visual dashboards allow data to be quickly and clearly understood. Detailed rows and columns of numbers appear as vibrant and dynamic graphs and charts that offer greater insight into the data than traditional text-based documents.

Rapid Analysis

In addition to allowing for better communication of data, visual dashboards also make it easier for data analysts to identify trends and process large amounts of data. Dashboards provide the tools for analysts to gain comprehensive insights into data patterns. This can help them to quickly draw conclusions and quickly refine strategies.

Greater Data Immersion

Visual dashboards don’t just help to quickly convey data insights, they also offer interactive features that make it easier to dive deep into specific elements or segments of the data. With immersive visualizations analysts can drill down into individual figures and quickly explore relationships between sources and data segments.

Overall, visual dashboards represent an invaluable tool for data analysts and business leaders, helping to better understand key metrics and indicators, and providing the information necessary to make impactful decisions quickly.

Steps to Follow When Building Visual Dashboards

Clarify the Objectives

When building visual dashboards, it is important to clearly establish the main objective of the dashboard and its associated goals. This will help determine the type of dashboard to create, the information it should contain, and the metrics that need to be tracked. The objectives should be specific, measurable, and achievable.

Select Data Sources and Select the Required Data

Once the objectives are established, the next step is to choose the most appropriate data sources to provide reliable data for the dashboard. It is important to select data sources that are up-to-date and secure. Any existing data that can be used should be identified, as well as any new data that needs to be collected. Once the sources are identified, the data that is needed for the dashboard should be selected.

Choose How to Visualize Data

The next step is to decide the most appropriate way to visualize the data. It is important to choose visuals that enable a comprehensive understanding of the data and to provide an easy way to interpret insights. Various types of visuals should be considered such as tables, charts, graphs, and diagrams. Additionally, selecting the right type of chart to represent the data can enhance its readability. Basic charts such as a pie chart or a line chart may suffice, but if the requirements are more advanced, bar charts, scatter plots or treemaps may need to be used.

Select an Appropriate Tool

Once the data and type of visualization are determined, the next step is to select an appropriate tool for creating the dashboard. It is important to pick a tool with the necessary features for creating and securing the dashboard. The tool should also be able to support any existing data sources, and provide visual components for customizing the dashboard.

Connect Sources & Test Out the Visual Dashboard

Once the sources and the tool are selected, it is time to create the dashboard by connecting the data sources and arranging the visuals on the dashboard. It is important to identify relevant metrics and select the right visuals to track them, as well as to set up filters and lookup tables. Finally, the dashboard should be tested to ensure the visuals are working correctly and to ensure the dashboard is displaying accurate information.

Takeaways for Those New to Visual Dashboards

When building visual dashboards, it's important to keep in mind some basic principles. These tips can help those new to visual dashboard design create effective and user-friendly interfaces that provide meaningful insights.

Start Small and Scale Up

When starting a visual dashboard project, it's best to start small. Begin by outlining the key metrics to be tracked and incorporate relevant visualizations. Once the initial dashboard is built, add additional metrics and expand the dashboard as needed. This allows users to have a clear visual understanding from the start and quickly grasp the insights available.

Focus on Reusability

When designing visual dashboards, it’s important to emphasize reusability. This will maximize the value of creating a visual dashboard by allowing it to be easily customized and adapted to different use cases. Instead of putting all the metrics onto a single page, allow users to easily filter and drill down into data. This allows visual dashboards to be customized more easily and makes users more likely to return to them.

Test Your Visual Dashboard

When the visual dashboard is complete, it’s important to test the interface with users before deployment. Receive feedback on the navigation, usability, and design to ensure the dashboard is as user-friendly and intuitive as possible. This will also help clarify whether the metrics presented in the dashboard are accurately reflecting user needs and delivering meaningful insights.

• Start Small and Scale Up
• Focus on Reusability
• Test Your Visual Dashboard

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Visual Dashboards

Creating a well-designed visual dashboard can be challenging, as there are many elements to consider in order to make the dashboard both useful and informative. To ensure the visual dashboard you build meets the needs of your users and provides valuable insights, here are some common mistakes to avoid when constructing a visual dashboard.

Incorrect Visualization

Visualization is an important part of a dashboard, and it’s important to choose an appropriate visualization method for the data being presented. Choosing an incorrect or inappropriate visualization method can lead to inaccurate or confusing interpretations of the data, so it’s important to consider the type of data and its purpose when choosing a visualization type.

Excessive Customization

While it’s important to create a visual dashboard that’s unique and tailored to the user’s needs, it’s also important to be mindful of over-customizing the dashboard. Too much customization can create a cluttered and confusing visualization, making it hard to find key information or take actionable steps. Instead of creating overly-customized visuals, it’s important to focus on what’s necessary and easiest to understand.

Not Considering Users of the Visual Dashboard

Finally, it’s important to consider the people who will be using the visual dashboard. It’s essential to know what type of information they’re looking for and how often they’ll be using the dashboard. This will help you to create a visual dashboard that’s useful and relevant for your users and easy for them to navigate.

Conclusion

Building visual dashboards is an important task for many businesses, and can be a powerful tool to communicate data. Once created, visual dashboards can be used to inform decisions on anything from marketing strategy to product development. With the goal of providing insights into a business’s operations, it’s important to develop visual dashboards that are seen as insightful and helpful by stakeholders.

Summary

The purpose of this blog post was to explain the importance of visual dashboards, as well as the key processes involved in creating them. We explored the concept of data visualization and why it is such an important tool for businesses. We highlighted the importance of creating an intuitive dashboard design, with visually appealing components and meaningful data. We also discussed the support that is available for creating visual dashboards, from free tools such as Google Sheets to more comprehensive platforms such as Tableau and Microsoft Power BI.

Takeaways and Next Steps

To recap, here are the key takeaways:

• Data visualization can be a powerful tool for businesses, providing meaningful insights into operations
• Creating an effective visual dashboard requires an understanding of the key elements of design and data
• There is support available for creating visual dashboards, from free tools to more comprehensive platforms

With the right guidance and tools, businesses can create visual dashboards to inform important decisions. Going forward, the best strategy may be to research which tools provide the most value for your specific requirements and gain the necessary skills for creating visual dashboards that are insightful and meaningful to your stakeholders.