Ultimate guide to choosing the right metrics for an effective dashboard

Tips for choosing relevant information and improving the user experience

In our blog post on Dashboard design basics we explained what makes a dashboard understandable and appealing. Now we turn to the design of your dashboard and explain how to select the right information and tell it apart from the irrelevant. You will also learn how to assess that information in terms of usability and derive requirements for your dashboard from it. Because a dashboard is only successful if it actually solves problems and its content is justified from the target group's point of view. So it is important to start with the person at the centre of the usage context: the user. Users work with operational dashboards to visualise work-relevant information and derive recommendations for action from it. Their actions in turn influence the information to be visualised. Since employees already have a mental model of their work, a dashboard should only refresh or support their awareness of the processes in that mental model. That works best when the information is presented so that it matches the mental model as closely as possible.

Understanding and using the mental model for optimal process visualisation

Everyone who carries out a particular work process has a mental model that runs through each step of the process in a specific order. That model includes an understanding of how the parts of the process relate to and influence one another. It also covers the measures that can be taken when problems arise. Since a work process naturally follows a specific sequence, its individual parts are arranged in the mental model so that they reflect that sequence. A dashboard that arranges information the same way will therefore make it easier for the employee to take in what is displayed. If you want to design a successful dashboard, you should first understand how the viewers think and capture the mental models of exactly those processes the dashboard is meant to support.

How to prepare your processes with effective sketches

To work out the individual parts and processes of a mental model, it helps to draw them schematically. Simple sketches of circles or rectangles representing parts of the process, plus lines connecting the parts that belong together, are usually enough. Talk to someone from the department and ask questions such as “How is X related to Y?” or “If there is a problem here, how does it affect Z?” Refine the sketch iteratively until it matches the target group's mental model as closely as possible. That gives you a picture of what the dashboard's usage context looks like.

The perfect dashboard strategy: key questions for effective information selection

Now that you understand the usage context, it is time to work out what information is needed for an effective visualisation. You can find that out by asking the following questions:

Who is the dashboard aimed at?

Start with the target group: who will need the dashboard for their work, and which information is really relevant? What prior knowledge is there? Have there already been positive or negative experiences with dashboards?
A thorough understanding of the audience will help you create a tailored dashboard that can be used efficiently and effectively. Dashboards can be made available to different users, who may in turn belong to different departments. Using one dashboard in several areas of the company has the potential advantage of bringing many employees on board. It is not easy, though, to design a dashboard that serves the needs of different user groups equally well.

What is the added value of the dashboard?

Define in advance what you want to achieve with the dashboard. It can help to limit yourself to three of these functions:

• Create or direct attention
• Visualise goals and how attainable they are
• Provide an overview of the situation
• Prompt specific actions in good time
• Warn when a problem occurs
• Communicate progress and successes
• Provide an interactive interface for intervening in processes
• Inform the workforce about important topics

What type of dashboard is needed?

Dashboards can take a wide variety of forms and be designed for a wide range of applications — but whatever their function, they have one thing in common: they should contain only the most important information and present it clearly. How detailed or interactive a dashboard is, and which time frame it covers, depends on the particular application. Our templates, incidentally, give you a good overview of different types of dashboard.

‍Which key figures measure the goals?

Key figures are always the basis of a visualisation. They provide the content of the dashboard and should always present relevant relationships in a tangible, measurable and sometimes even comparable way.
You can distinguish between key figures that follow the goals of a process and describe progress within it, and those that describe possible risks or problems.

Less is more, for maximum relevance and user satisfaction

We are used to being exposed to a constant flood of information — much of it irrelevant. As a result, dashboards often contain information that may have been useful in the past but no longer offers any real value. The force of habit keeps users from weeding it out.
To stop such irrelevant information appearing on your dashboard and wasting space or time, decide beforehand whether it still contributes to optimising the process. Ask questions such as “In which situation is this information useful?” and “How does it affect what you do?” If no situation comes to mind, the information does not belong on the dashboard. After all, dashboards are not just there to convey information. They should also help prevent problems, spot opportunities or trigger action. So it is important that only the information supporting that gets visualised.

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