InformationDashboardDesign ByStephenFew ...............................................

Publisher:O'Reilly PubDate:January2006 ISBN:0596100167 Pages:223

Copyright
Copyright2006StephenFewAllrightsreserved. PrintedinItaly. PublishedbyO'ReillyMedia,Inc.1005GravensteinHighwayNorthSebastopol,CA95472 O'Reillybooksmaybepurchasedforeducational,business,orsalespromotionaluse.Onlineeditionsare alsoavailableformosttitles(safari.oreilly.com).Formoreinformation,contactourcorporate/institutional salesdepartment:8009989938orcorporate@oreilly.com. Editor ProductionEditor ArtDirector CoverDesigner InteriorDesigners ProductionServices PrintHistory January2006: TheO'ReillylogoisaregisteredtrademarkofO'ReillyMedia,Inc.InformationDashboardDesignand relatedtradedressaretrademarksofO'ReillyMedia,Inc. Manyofthedesignationsusedbymanufacturersandsellerstodistinguishtheirproductsareclaimedas trademarks.Wherethosedesignationsappearinthisbook,andO'ReillyMedia,Inc.wasawareofa trademarkclaim,thedesignationshavebeenprintedincapsorinitialcaps. Whileeveryprecautionhasbeentakeninthepreparationofthisbook,thepublisherandauthorassumeno responsibilityforerrorsoromissions,orfordamagesresultingfromtheuseoftheinformationcontained herein. 0596100167 ColleenWheeler Genevieved'Entremont MikeKohnke StephenFew MikeKohnke,TerriDriscoll SpecializedComposition,Inc. FirstEdition.

Tomyparents,BobandJoyceFew,whoseprideinmyjourneyhoweverstrangethatjourneymusthave sometimesseemedinstilleddeepdownintomybonestheresolvetokeepplacingonefootinfrontofthe other.

AbouttheAuthor
StephenFewhasover20yearsofexperienceasanITinnovator,consultant,andeducator.Today,as PrincipaloftheconsultancyPerceptualEdge,Stephenfocusesondatavisualizationforanalyzingand communicatingquantitativebusinessinformation.Heisworkingtoraiseconsciousnessandtoprovidea treatmentplanthataddressestheneedsofbusinessinthelanguageofbusiness.Hispreviousbook,Show MetheNumbers:DesigningTablesandGraphstoEnlighten,isapowerfulfitnessprogramdesignedto targetthedatapresentationaspectsofthisproblem. Today,fromhisofficeinBerkeley,California,Stephenprovidesconsultingandtrainingservices,speaks frequentlyatconferences,andteachesintheMBAprogramattheUniversityofCaliforniainBerkeley. Moreabouthiscurrentworkcanbefoundatwww.perceptualedge.com.

Introduction
Fewphenomenacharacterizeourtimemoreuniquelyandpowerfullythantherapidriseandinfluenceof informationtechnologies.Thesetechnologieshaveunleashedatsunamiofdatathatrollsoverandflattens usinitswake.Tamingthisbeasthasbecomeaprimarygoaloftheinformationindustry.Onetoolthathas emergedfromthiseffortinrecentyearsistheinformationdashboard.Thissinglescreendisplayofthe mostimportantinformationpeopleneedtodoajob,presentedinawaythatallowsthemtomonitor what'sgoingoninaninstant,isapowerfulnewmediumofcommunication.Atleastitcanbe,butonly whenproperlydesigned. Mostinformationdashboardsthatareusedinbusinesstodayfallfarshortoftheirpotential.Therootof theproblemisnottechnologyatleastnotprimarilybutpoorvisualdesign.Toservetheirpurposeandfulfill theirpotential,dashboardsmustdisplayadensearrayofinformationinasmallamountofspaceina mannerthatcommunicatesclearlyandimmediately.Thisrequiresdesignthattapsintoandleveragesthe powerofvisualperceptiontosenseandprocesslargechunksofinformationrapidly.Thiscanbeachieved onlywhenthevisualdesignofdashboardsiscentraltothedevelopmentprocessandisinformedbyasolid understandingofvisualperceptionwhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy. Notechnologycandothisforyou.Youmustbringthisexpertisetotheprocess.Takeheartthevisualdesign skillsthatyouneedtodevelopeffectivedashboardscanbelearned,andhelpingyoulearnthemisthesole purposeofthisbook. Iftheinformationisimportant,itdeservestobecommunicatedwell.

Acknowledgments
WithoutadoubtIowethegreatestdebtofgratitudetothemanysoftwarevendorswhohavedoneso muchtomakethisbooknecessarybyfailingtoaddressorevencontemplatethevisualdesignneedsof dashboards.Theirkinddisregardforvisualdesignhasgivenmefocus,ignitedmypassion,andguaranteed mylivelihoodforyearstocome. Now,ontothosewhohavecontributedmoredirectlyandpersonallytothiseffort.Asaman,Iwillneverbe abletocreate,shelter,andnourishanemerginglifewithinthisbodyofmine.Inrecentyears,however,I haverecognizedandpursuedtheopportunitytobreathelifeintotheproductsofmyimaginationandpass themontotheworldintheformofbooks.Writingabookisabitlikebearingachild.Workingwitha publishertohelpthechildlearntowalkbeforeventuringintotheworldisalessonintrust.Thefolksat O'ReillyMediahavetaughtmetoentrusttothembeginningwithunspeakableangst,butproceeding throughunfalteringstepstowardeverincreasingcomfortthecollegialcareofthisbelovedchild.Manyat O'Reillyhavecontributedsomuch,buttwoinparticularhavestoodbymysidefromthebeginningwith soothingvoicesofconfidenceandcalm.Myeditor,ColleenWheeler,knewwhentolisteninsilence,when toteasemeoutofmyopia,andwhentogentlyremindmethatIwasinherconsiderateandconsiderable care.Myacquisitionseditor,SteveWeiss,soughtmeoutandwooedmethroughmonthsofthoughtful discussionintotheO'Reillyfold.Hegaveassurancesandhasmadesurethattheywerefulfilled.

Sommario
Copyright.......................................................................................................................................................3 AbouttheAuthor ...........................................................................................................................................5 Introduction...................................................................................................................................................6 Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................................................7 Chapter1.ClarifyingtheVision....................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.AllThatGlittersIsNotGold.................................................................................................................. 12 1.2.EvenDashboardsHaveaHistory.......................................................................................................... 14 1.3.DispellingtheConfusion....................................................................................................................... 15 1.3.1.WhatIsaDashboard?........................................................................................................................26 1.4.ATimelyOpportunity........................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter2.VariationsinDashboardUsesandData........................................................................................ 29 2.1.CategorizingDashboards...................................................................................................................... 30 2.1.1.ClassifyingDashboardsbyRole..................................................................................................... 31 2.2.TypicalDashboardData........................................................................................................................ 33 2.2.1.TheCommonThreadinDashboardDiversity................................................................................ 33 Chapter3.ThirteenCommonMistakesinDashboardDesign........................................................................ 38 3.1.ExceedingtheBoundariesofaSingleScreen....................................................................................... 39 3.1.1.FragmentingDataintoSeparateScreens...................................................................................... 40 3.1.2.RequiringScrolling......................................................................................................................... 42 3.2.SupplyingInadequateContextfortheData......................................................................................... 43 3.3.DisplayingExcessiveDetailorPrecision............................................................................................... 45 3.4.ChoosingaDeficientMeasure.............................................................................................................. 46 3.5.ChoosingInappropriateDisplayMedia................................................................................................ 47 3.6.IntroducingMeaninglessVariety.......................................................................................................... 51 3.7.UsingPoorlyDesignedDisplayMedia.................................................................................................. 52 3.8.EncodingQuantitativeDataInaccurately............................................................................................. 56 3.9.ArrangingtheDataPoorly.................................................................................................................... 56 3.10.HighlightingImportantDataIneffectivelyorNotatAll..................................................................... 57 3.11.ClutteringtheDisplaywithUselessDecoration................................................................................. 58 3.12.MisusingorOverusingColor.............................................................................................................. 61 3.13.DesigninganUnattractiveVisualDisplay........................................................................................... 62 Chapter4.TappingintothePowerofVisualPerception................................................................................ 64 4.1.UnderstandingtheLimitsofShortTermMemory............................................................................... 65 4.2.VisuallyEncodingDataforRapidPerception....................................................................................... 67

4.2.1.AttributesofColor......................................................................................................................... 69 4.2.2.AttributesofForm......................................................................................................................... 70 4.2.3.AttributesofPosition.................................................................................................................... 71 4.2.4.AttributesofMotion ...................................................................................................................... 71 4.2.5.EncodingQuantitativeVersusCategoricalData............................................................................ 71 4.2.6.LimitstoPerceptualDistinctness.................................................................................................. 73 4.2.7.UsingVividandSubtleColorsAppropriately................................................................................. 74 4.3.GestaltPrinciplesofVisualPerception................................................................................................. 74 4.3.1.ThePrincipleofProximity............................................................................................................. 75 4.3.2.ThePrincipleofSimilarity.............................................................................................................. 75 4.3.3.ThePrincipleofEnclosure............................................................................................................. 76 4.3.4.ThePrincipleofClosure................................................................................................................. 77 4.3.5.ThePrincipleofContinuity............................................................................................................ 78 4.3.6.ThePrincipleofConnection.......................................................................................................... 78 4.4.ApplyingthePrinciplesofVisualPerceptiontoDashboardDesign.....................................................79 Chapter5.EloquenceThroughSimplicity....................................................................................................... 80 5.1.CharacteristicsofaWellDesignedDashboard.................................................................................... 81 5.1.1.CondensingInformationviaSummarizationandException.........................................................82 5.2.KeyGoalsintheVisualDesignProcess................................................................................................ 83 5.2.1.ReducetheNonDataPixels.......................................................................................................... 86 5.2.2.EnhancetheDataPixels................................................................................................................ 94 Chapter6.EffectiveDashboardDisplayMedia............................................................................................. 101 6.1.SelecttheBestDisplayMedium......................................................................................................... 102 6.2.AnIdealLibraryofDashboardDisplayMedia.................................................................................... 106 6.2.1.Graphs.........................................................................................................................................107 6.2.2.Icons .............................................................................................................................................131 6.2.3.Text..............................................................................................................................................133 6.2.4.Images.........................................................................................................................................133 6.2.5.DrawingObjects.......................................................................................................................... 134 6.2.6.Organizers....................................................................................................................................135 6.3.Summary.............................................................................................................................................137 Chapter7.DesigningDashboardsforUsability............................................................................................. 138 7.1.OrganizetheInformationtoSupportItsMeaningandUse...............................................................139 7.1.1.OrganizeGroupsAccordingtoBusinessFunctions,Entities,andUse........................................139 7.1.2.ColocateItemsThatBelongtotheSameGroup........................................................................ 139

7.1.3.DelineateGroupsUsingtheLeastVisibleMeans........................................................................ 140 7.1.4.SupportMeaningfulComparisons............................................................................................... 141 7.1.5.DiscourageMeaninglessComparisons........................................................................................ 142 7.2.MaintainConsistencyforQuickandAccurateInterpretation...........................................................143 7.3.MaketheViewingExperienceAestheticallyPleasing........................................................................ 143 7.3.1.ChooseColorsAppropriately....................................................................................................... 144 7.3.2.ChooseHighResolutionforClarity.............................................................................................. 145 7.3.3.ChoosetheRightText .................................................................................................................. 145 7.4.DesignforUseasaLaunchPad.......................................................................................................... 145 7.5.TestYourDesignforUsability............................................................................................................. 146 Chapter8.PuttingItAllTogether.................................................................................................................. 147 8.1.SampleSalesDashboard..................................................................................................................... 148 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample1................................................................................................. 151 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample2................................................................................................. 152 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample3................................................................................................. 153 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample4................................................................................................. 154 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample5................................................................................................. 155 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample6................................................................................................. 156 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample7................................................................................................. 157 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample8................................................................................................. 158 8.2.SampleCIODashboard....................................................................................................................... 159 8.3.SampleTelesalesDashboard.............................................................................................................. 161 8.4.SampleMarketingAnalysisDashboard.............................................................................................. 162 8.5.AFinalWord.......................................................................................................................................164 AppendixA.RecommendedReading............................................................................................................ 165 Colophon.......................................................................................................................................................166

Chapter1.ClarifyingtheVision
Dashboardsofferauniqueandpowerfulsolutiontoanorganization'sneedforinformation,buttheyusually fallfarshortoftheirpotential.Dashboardsmustbeseeninhistoricalcontexttounderstandandappreciate howandwhythey'vecomeabout,whythey'vebecomesopopular,andwhydespitemanyproblemsthat underminetheirvaluetodaytheyofferbenfitsworthpursuing.Todate,littleseriousattentionhasbeen giventotheirvisualdesign.Thisbookstrivestofillthisgap.However,confusionabounds,demandinga cleardefinitionofdashboardsbeforewecanexplorethevisualdesignprinciplesandpracticesthatmustbe appliediftheyaretoliveuptotheiruniquepromise.

 Problemswithdashboardstoday Dashboardsinhistoricalcontext Currentconfusionaboutwhatdashboardsare Aworkingdefinitionof"dashboard" Atimelyopportunityfordashboards Aboveallelse,thisisabookaboutcommunication.Itfocusesexclusivelyonaparticularmediumof communicationcalledadashboard.Inthefastpacedworldofinformationtechnology(IT),termsare constantlychanging.Justwhenyouthinkyou'vewrappedyourmindaroundthelatestinnovation,the technologylandscapeshiftsbeneathyouandyoumuststruggletoremainupright.Thisiscertainlytrueof dashboards. Liveyourlifeonthesurfaceoftheseshiftingsands,andyou'llnevergetyourbalance.Lookalittledeeper, however,andyou'lldiscovermorestableground:abedrockofobjectives,principles,andpracticesfor informationhandlingthatremainsrelativelyconstant.Dashboardsareuniqueinseveralexcitinganduseful ways,butdespitethehypesurroundingthem,whattheyareandhowtheyworkasameansofdelivering informationarecloselyrelatedtosomelongfamiliarconceptsandtechnologies.It'stimetocutthrough thehypeandlearnthepracticalskillsthatcanhelpyoutransformdashboardsfromyetanotherfadriding thewavesofthetechnologybuzzintotheeffectivemeanstoenlightenthattheyreallycanbe. Today,everybodywantsadashboard.Likemanynewcomerstothetechnologyscene,dashboardsaresexy. Softwarevendorsworkhardtomaketheirdashboardsshimmywithsexappeal.Theytaunt,"Youdon't wanttobetheonlycompanyinyourneighborhoodwithoutone,doyou?" Theywarn,"Youcannolongerlivewithoutone."Theywhispersweetly,"Stillhaven'tachievedthe expectedreturnoninvestment(ROI)fromyourexpensivedatawarehouse?Juststickadashboardinfront ofitandwatchthemoneypourin."Bestillmyheart. Thosegauges,meters,andtrafficlightsaresodamnflashy!Youcanimaginethatyou'resittingbehindthe wheelofaGermanengineeredsportscar,feelingthewindwhipthroughyourhairasyouteararound curvesontheautobahnathighspeeds,allwithoutleavingyourdesk. Everyonewantsadashboardtoday,butoftenforthewrongreasons.Restassured,however,that somewherebeyondthehypeandsizzlelivesauniqueandeffectivesolutiontofamiliarbusinessproblems thatarerootedinaveryrealneedforinformation.That'sthedashboardthatdeservestoliveonyour screen.

1.1.AllThatGlittersIsNotGold
Dashboardscanprovideauniqueandpowerfulmeanstopresentinformation,buttheyrarelyliveupto theirpotential.Mostdashboardsfailtocommunicateefficientlyandeffectively,notbecauseofinadequate technology(atleastnotprimarily),butbecauseofpoorlydesignedimplementations.Nomatterhowgreat thetechnology,adashboard'ssuccessasamediumofcommunicationisaproductofdesign,aresultofa displaythatspeaksclearlyandimmediately.Dashboardscantapintothetremendouspowerofvisual perceptiontocommunicate,butonlyifthosewhoimplementthemunderstandvisualperceptionandapply

thatunderstandingthroughdesignprinciplesandpracticesthatarealignedwiththewaypeopleseeand think.Softwarewon'tdothisforyou.It'suptoyou. Unfortunately,mostvendorsthatprovidedashboardsoftwarehavedonelittletoencouragetheeffective useofthismedium.Theyfocustheirmarketingeffortsonflashanddazzlethatsubvertthegoalsofclear communication.Theyfighttowinourinterestbymaximizingsizzle,highlightingflashydisplaymechanisms thatappealtoourdesiretobeentertained.Onceimplemented,however,thesecutedisplayslosetheir sparkinamatterofdaysandbecomejustplainannoying.Aneffectivedashboardistheproductnotofcute gauges,meters,andtrafficlights(Figure11),butratherofinformeddesign:moresciencethanart,more simplicitythandazzle.Itis,aboveallelse,aboutcommunication.

Figure11.Atypicalflashydashboard.Can'tyoujustfeeltheenginerevving?

Thisfailurebysoftwarevendorstofocusonwhatweactuallyneedishardlyuniquetodashboards.Most softwaresuffersfromthesameshortcomingdespiteallthehypeaboutuserfriendliness,itisdifficultto use.Thissadstateissocommon,andhasbeenthecaseforsolong,we'vegrownaccustomedtothepain. Onthoseoccasionswhenthisuglytruthbreechesthesurfaceofourconsciousness,weusuallyblamethe problemonourselvesratherthanthesoftware,framingitintermsof"computerilliteracy."Ifwecouldonly adaptmoretothecomputerandhowitworks,therewouldn'tbeaproblemorsowereason.Inhis insightfulbookentitledTheInmatesAreRunningtheAsylum,masterdesignerAlanCooperwrites: Thesadthingaboutdancingbearware[Cooper'stermforpoorlydesignedsoftware thatisdifficulttouse]isthatmostpeoplearequitesatisfiedwiththelumbering beast.Onlywhentheyseesomerealdancingdotheybegintosuspectthatthereisa worldbeyondursineshuffling.Sofewsoftwarebasedproductshaveexhibitedany

realdancingabilitythatmostpeoplearehonestlyunawarethatthingscouldbe betteralotbetter.1 Cooperarguesthatthisfailureisrootedinanapproachtosoftwaredevelopmentthatsimplydoesn'twork. Inagenuineattempttopleasetheircustomers,softwareengineersfocusoncheckingalltheitems,oneby one,offoflistsofrequestedfeatures.Thisapproachmakessensetotechnologyorientedsoftware engineers,butitresultsinlumberingbeasts.Customersareexpertinknowingwhattheyneedto accomplish,butnotinknowinghowsoftwareoughttobedesignedtosupporttheirneeds.Allowing customerstodesignsoftwarethroughfeaturerequestsistheworstformofdisasterbycommittee. Softwarevendorsshouldbringdesignvisionandexpertisetothedevelopmentprocess.Theyoughtto knowthedifferencebetweensuperficialglitzandwhatreallyworks.Butthey'resoexhaustedfromworking ungodlyhourstryingtosqueezemorefeaturesintothenextreleasethatthey'releftwithnotimetodothe researchneededtodiscoverwhatactuallyworks,oreventostepbackandobservehowtheirproductsare reallybeingused(andfailingintheprocess). Thepartofinformationtechnologythatfocusesonreportingandanalysiscurrentlygoesbythename businessintelligence(BI).Todate,BIvendorshaveconcentratedondevelopingtheunderlyingtechnologies thatareusedtogatherdatafromsourcesystems,transformdataintoamoreusableform,storedatain highperformancedatabases,accessdataforuse,andpresentdataintheformofreports.Tremendous progresshasbeenmadeintheseareas,resultinginrobusttechnologiesthatcanhandlehugerepositories ofdata.However,whilewehavemanagedtowarehouseagreatdealofinformation,wehavemadelittle progressinusingthatinformationeffectively.Relativelylittleefforthasbeendedicatedtoengaginghuman intelligence,whichiswhatthisindustry,bydefinition,issupposedtobeabout. AglossaryontheGartnerGroup'swebsitedefinesbusinessintelligenceas"Aninteractiveprocessfor exploringandanalyzingstructured,domainspecificinformationtodiscernbusinesstrendsorpatterns, therebyderivinginsightsanddrawingconclusions" (http://www.gartner.com/6_help/glossary/GlossaryB.jsp).Toprogressinthisworthwhileventure,theBI industrymustshiftitsfocusnowtoanengaginginteractionwithhumanperceptionandintelligence.Todo this,vendorsmustbasetheireffortsonafirmunderstandingofhowpeopleperceiveandthink,building interfaces,visualdisplays,andmethodsofinteractionthatfitseamlesslywithhumanability.

1.2.EvenDashboardsHaveaHistory
Inmanyrespects,"dashboard"issimplyanewnamefortheExecutiveInformationSystems(EISs)first developedinthe1980s.Theseimplementationsremainedexclusivelyintheofficesofexecutivesandnever numberedmorethanafew,soitisunlikelythatyou'veeveractuallyseenone.Isatthroughafewvendor demosbackinthe1980sbutneverdidseeanactualsysteminuse.TheusualpurposeofanEISwasto displayahandfulofkeyfinancialmeasuresthroughasimpleinterfacethat"evenanexecutivecould understand."Thoughlimitedinscope,thegoalwasvisionaryandworthwhile,butaheadofitstime.Back then,beforedatawarehousingandbusinessintelligencehadevolvedthenecessarydatahandling methodologiesandgivenshapetothenecessarytechnologies,thevisionsimplywasn'tpractical;itcouldn't berealizedbecausetherequiredinformationwasincomplete,unreliable,andspreadacrosstoomany disparatesources.Thus,inthesamedecadethattheEISarose,italsowentintohibernation,preservingits visionintheshadowsuntilthetimewasripeThatis,untilnow.
1

TheInmatesAreRunningtheAsylum(Indianapolis,IN:SAMSPublishing,1999),59.

Duringthe1990s,datawarehousing,onlineanalyticalprocessing(OLAP),andeventuallybusiness intelligenceworkedaspartnerstotamethewildonslaughtoftheinformationage.Theemphasisduring thoseyearswasoncollecting,correcting,integrating,storing,andaccessinginformationinwaysthat soughttoguaranteeitsaccuracy,timeliness,andusefulness.Fromtheearlydaysofdatawarehousingon intotheearlyyearsofthisnewmillennium,theefforthaslargelyfocusedonthetechnologies,andtoa lesserdegreethemethodologies,neededtomakeinformationavailableanduseful.Thedirectbeneficiaries sofarhavemostlybeenfolkswhoarehighlyproficientintheuseofcomputersandabletousethe availabletoolstonavigatethroughlarge,oftencomplexdatabases. Whatalsoemergedintheearly1990s,butdidn'tbecomepopularuntillateinthatdecade,wasanew approachtomanagementthatinvolvedtheidentificationanduseofkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs), introducedbyRobertS.KaplanandDavidP.NortonastheBalancedScorecard.Theadvancesindata warehousinganditstechnologypartnerssetthestageforthisnewinterestinmanagementthroughtheuse ofmetricsandnotjustfinancialmetricsthatstilldominatesthebusinesslandscapetoday.Business PerformanceManagement(BPM),asitisnowcommonlyknown,hasbecomeaninternational preoccupation.Theinfrastructurebuiltbydatawarehousingandthelike,aswellastheinterestofBPMin metricsthatcanbemonitoredeasily,togethertilledandfertilizedthesoilinwhichthehibernatingseedsof EIStypedisplayswereonceagainabletogrow. Whatreallycausedheadstoturninrecognitionofdashboardsasmuchmorethanyoureverydayfledgling technology,however,wastheEnronscandalin2001.Theaftermathputnewpressureoncorporationsto demonstratetheirabilitytocloselymonitorwhatwasgoingonintheirmidstandtotherebyassure shareholdersthattheywereincontrol.Thisincreasedaccountability,combinedwiththeconcurrent economicdownturn,sentChiefInformationOfficers(CIOs)onamissiontofindanythingthatcouldhelp managersatalllevelsmoreeasilyandefficientlykeepaneyeonperformance.MostBIvendorsthathadn't alreadystartedofferingadashboardproductsoonbegantodoso,sometimesbycleverlychangingthe nameofanexistingproduct,sometimesbyquicklypurchasingtherightstoanexistingproductfroma smallervendor,andsometimesbycobblingtogetherpiecesofproductsthatalreadyexisted.The marketplacesoonofferedavastarrayofdashboardsoftwarefromwhichtochoose.

1.3.DispellingtheConfusion
Likemanyproductsthathitthehightechscenewithasplash,dashboardsareveiledinmarketinghype. VirtuallyeveryvendorintheBIspaceclaimstoselldashboardsoftware,butfewclarifywhatdashboards actuallyare.I'mremindedoftheearlyyearsofdatawarehousing,wheneagertolearnaboutthisnew approachtodatamanagementIaskedmyIBMaccountmanagerhowIBMdefinedtheterm.Hisresponse wasclassicandrefreshinglycandid:"BydatawarehousingweatIBMmeanwhateverthecustomerthinksit means."Irealizethatthiswasn'tIBM'sofficialdefinition,whichI'msureexistedsomewhereintheir literature,butitwasmybluesuitedfriend'swayofsayingthatasasalesperson,itwasusefultoleavethe termvagueandflexible.Aslongasaproductorserviceremainsundefinedorlooselydefined,itiseasyto claimthatyourcompanysellsit. Thoseraresoftwarevendorsthathavetakenthetimetodefinethetermintheirmarketingliteraturestart withthespecificfeaturesoftheirproductsasthecoreofthedefinition,ratherthanagenericdescription. Asaresult,vendordefinitionstendtobeselfvalidatinglistsoftechnologiesandfeatures.Forexample,Dr. GregoryL.Hovis,DirectorofProductDeploymentforSnippetsSoftware,Inc.,asserts:

AbletouniversallyconnecttoanyXMLorHTMLdatasource,robustdashboard productsintelligentlygatheranddisplaydata,providingbusinessintelligence withoutinterruptingworkflowAnenterprisedashboardischaracterizedbya collectionofintelligentagents(orgauges),eachperformingfrequentbidirectional communicationwithdatasources.Likeavirtualstaffof24x7analysts,eachagentin thedashboardintelligentlygathers,processesandpresentsdata,generatingalerts andrevisingactionsasconditionschange.1 AnarticleintheJune16,2003editionofComputerworldcitesstatisticsfromastudydonebyAMR Research,Inc.,whichdeclaresthat"morethanhalfofthe135companiesrecentlysurveyedare implementingdashboards."2 Unfortunately,theauthornevertellsuswhatdashboardsare.Heteasesuswithhints,statingthat dashboardsandscorecardsareBItoolsthat"havefoundanewhomeinthecubicles,"havingmovedfrom wheretheyonceresided(exclusivelyinexecutivesuites)underthenameExecutiveInformationSystems. Hegivesexamplesofhowdashboardsarebeingusedandspeaksoftheirbenefits,butleavesittousto piecetogetherasenseofwhattheyare.TheclosesthecomestoadefinitioniswhenhequotesJohn HagertyofAMRResearch,Inc.:"Dashboardsandscorecardsareaboutmeasuring." Whileconductinganextensiveliteraturereviewin2003insearchofagoodworkingdefinition,Ivisited DataWarehousingOnline.comandclickedonthelinkto"ExecutiveDashboard"articles.Inresponse,I receivedthesame18webpagesoflinksthatIfoundwhenIseparatelyclickedonlinksfor"Balanced Scorecard,""DataQualityandIntegration,"and"DataMining."Eitherthelinksweren'tworkingproperly,or thiswebportalforthedatawarehousingindustryatthetimebelievedthatthesetermsallmeantthesame thing.3 Ifinallydecidedtobeginthetaskofdevisingaworkingdefinitionofmyownbyexaminingeveryexampleof adashboardIcouldfindontheWeb,insearchoftheircommoncharacteristics.Youmightfindit interestingtotakeasimilarjourney.Inthenextfewpages,you'llseescreenshotsofanassortmentof dashboards,whichweremostlyfoundonthewebsitesofvendorsthatselldashboardsoftware.Takethe timenowtobrowsethroughtheseexamplesandseeifyoucandiscerncommonthreadsthatmightbe wovenintoausefuldefinition.

GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwithDashboardTechnology,"DMDirect,February2002. MarkLeon,"DashboardDemocracy,"Computerworld,June16,2003 3 Byincludingtheseexamplesfromthewebsitesofsoftwarevendorsandafewothersources,Idonotmeanto endorseanyofthesedashboardsorthesoftwareproductsusedtocreatethemasexamplesofgooddesign,noras extraordinaryexamplesofpoordesign.TovaryingdegreestheyallexhibitvisualdesignproblemsthatI'lladdressin laterchapters.

2 1


Figure12.ThisdashboardfromBusinessObjectsreliesprimarilyongraphicalmeanstodisplayaseriesofperformance measures.alongwithalistofalerts,Noticethatthetitleofthisdashboardis"MyKPIs."Keyperformanceindicatorsand dashboardsappeartobesynonymousinthemindsofmostvendors.Noticethegaugesaswell.We'llseequiteafewofthem.

Figure13.ThisdashboardfromOracleCorporationdisplaysacollectionofsalesmeasuresforanalyzingproductperformanceby category.Allofthemeasuresaredisplayedgraphically.We'llfindthatthisemphasisongraphicaldisplaymediaisfairly common.

Figure14.ThisdashboardfromInformaticaCorporationdisplaysmeasuresofrevenuebysaleschannelalongwithalistof reportsthatcanbeviewedseparately.Thepredominanceofgraphicaldisplaymediathatweobservedontheprevious dashboardsappearsonthisoneaswell,notablyintheformofmetersdesignedtolooklikespeedometers.Thelistofreports addsportalfunctionality,enablingthisdashboardtooperateasalaunchpadtocomplementaryinformation.


Figure15.ThisdashboardfromPrincipaprovidesanoverviewofacompany'sfinancialperformancecomparedtotargetsforthe monthofMarch,bothintabularformandasaseriesofgauges.Theinformationcanbetailoredbyselectingdifferentmonths andamountsofhistory.Onceagain,weseeastrongexpressionofthedashboardmetaphor,thistimeintheformofgraphical devicesthatweredesignedtolooklikefuelgauges.


Figure16.ThisdashboardfromCognos,Inc.displaysatableandfivegraphsoneintheformofaworldmaptocommunicate salesinformation.Despitetheonetable,there'sacontinuedemphasisongraphicalmedia.Noticealsothatathemeregarding thevisualnatureandneedforvisualappealofdashboardsisemergingintheseexamples.


Figure17.ThisdashboardfromHyperionSolutionsCorporationdisplaysregionalsalesrevenueinthreeforms:onamap,ina bargraph,andinatable.Datacanbefilteredbymeansofthreesetsofradiobuttonsontheleft.Thesefilteringmechanisms buildrudimentaryanalyticalfunctionalityintothisdashboard.Visualdecorationreinforcesthethemethatdashboards intentionallystriveforvisualappeal.


Figure18.ThisdashboardfromCordaTechnologies,Inc.featuresflightloadingmeasuresforanairlineusingfourpanelsof graphs.Hereagainweseeanattentiontothevisualappealofthedisplay.Noticealsointheinstructionsatthetopthatan abilitytointeractwiththegraphshasbeenbuiltintothedashboard,sothatuserscanaccessadditionalinformationinpopups anddrillintogreaterlevelsofdetail.


Figure19.ThisdashboardfromVisualMining,Inc.displaysvariousmeasuresofacity'stransitsystemtogivetheexecutivesin chargeaquickoverviewofthesystem'scurrentandhistoricalperformance.Useofthecolorsgreen,yellow,andredtoindicate good,satisfactory,andbadperformance,asyoucanseeonthethreegraphicaldisplaysarrangedhorizontallyacrossthemiddle, iscommonondashboards.

Figure110.ThisdashboardfromInfommersion,Inc.givesexecutivesofahotelchainthemeanstoviewmultiplemeasuresof performance,onehotelatatime.Itisnotunusualfordashboardstodividethefullsetofdataintoindividualviews,asthisone doesbyusingthelistboxintheupperleftcornertoenableviewerstoselectanindividualhotelbylocation.Thegreatcarethat weseeinthisexampletorealisticallyreproducethedashboardmetaphor,evendowntothesheenonpolishedmetal,isan effortthatmanyvendorstakequiteseriously.

Figure111.ThisdashboardfromCelequestCorporationintegratesaseriesofrelatedtablesandgraphsthatallowexecutivesto viewseveralaspectsofsalessimultaneously.Itexhibitsanefforttocombinearichsetofrelateddataonthescreentoprovidea comprehensiveoverviewofacompany'ssalesperformance.


Figure112.ThisdashboardfromGeneralElectric,calleda"digitalcockpit,"providesatabularsummaryofperformance, complementedbyacolorcodedindicatorlightforeachmeasure'sstatus.Ratherthanadashboarddesignedbyasoftware vendortoexhibititsproduct,thisisanactualworkingdashboardthatwasdesignedbyacompanytoserveitsownbusiness needs.Inthisexample,noeffortwasmadetoliterallyrepresentthedashboard(orcockpit)metaphor.

Figure113.ThisdashboardisusedbytheTreasuryBoardofCanadatomonitortheperformanceofaproject.Hereagainwe haveadashboardthatwasdesignedbyanorganizationforitsownuse.Thistime,thedashboardmetaphormakesatoken appearanceintheformofgauges.Thetrafficlightcolorsgreen,yellow,andredherewiththeadditionofblueforthe exceptionallygoodstatusof"aheadofschedule"arealsoused.Unlikesomeoftheexamplesthatwe'veseenthatdisplayed relativelylittleinformation,thisonemakestheattempttoprovidethecomprehensiveoverviewthatwouldbeneededto effectivelymonitorprogressandperformance.

1.3.1.WhatIsaDashboard?
Asyouhavenodoubtdeterminedbyexaminingtheseexamples,there'safairdegreeofdiversityinthe productsthatgobythename"dashboard."Oneofthefewcharacteristicsthatmostvendorsseemtoagree onisthatforsomethingtobecalledadashboarditmustincludegraphicaldisplaymechanismssuchas trafficlightsandavarietyofgaugesandmeters,manysimilartothefuelgaugesandspeedometersfound inautomobiles.ThisclearlyassociatesBIdashboardswiththefamiliarversionsfoundincars,thereby leveragingausefulmetaphorbutthemetaphoralonedoesn'tprovideanadequatedefinition.Aboutthe onlyotherthreadthatiscommontothesedashboardexamplesisthattheyusuallyattempttoprovidean overviewofsomethingthat'scurrentlygoingoninthebusiness. Afteragreatdealofresearchandthought,Icomposedadefinitionofmyownthatcapturestheessenceof whatIbelieveadashboardis(clearlybiasedtowardthecharacteristicsofthismediumthatIfindmost usefulandunique).Toserveuswell,thisdefinitionmustclearlydifferentiatedashboardsfromotherforms ofdatapresentation,anditmustemphasizethosecharacteristicsthateffectivelysupportthegoalof communication.Here'smydefinition,whichoriginallyappearedinIntelligentEnterprisemagazine: Adashboardisavisualdisplayofthemostimportantinformationneededtoachieve oneormoreobjectives;consolidatedandarrangedonasinglescreensothe informationcanbemonitoredataglance.1 Justasthedashboardofacarprovidescriticalinformationneededtooperatethevehicleataglance,aBI dashboardservesasimilarpurpose,whetheryou'reusingittomakestrategicdecisionsforahuge corporation,runthedailyoperationsofateam,orperformtasksthatinvolvenoonebutyourself.The meansisasinglescreendisplay,andthepurposeistoefficientlymonitortheinformationneededto achieveone'sobjectives. Visualdisplayofthemostinformationneededtoachieveoneormoreobjectives whichfitsentirelyonasinglecomputerscreensoitcanbemonitoredataglance Let'sgooverthesalientpoints: Dashboardsarevisualdisplays.Theinformationonadashboardispresentedvisually,usuallyasa combinationoftextandgraphics,butwithanemphasisongraphics.Dashboardsarehighlygraphical,not becauseitiscute,butbecausegraphicalpresentation,handledexpertly,canoftencommunicatewith greaterefficiencyandrichermeaningthantextalone.Howcanyoubestpresenttheinformationsothat humaneyescantakeitinquicklyandhumanbrainscaneasilyextractthecorrectandmostimportant meaningsfromit?Todesigndashboardseffectively,youmustunderstandsomethingaboutvisual perceptionwhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy. Dashboardsdisplaytheinformationneededtoachievespecificobjectives.Toachieveevena singleobjectiveoftenrequiresaccesstoacollectionofinformationthatisnototherwiserelated,
1

StephenFew,"DashboardConfusion,"IntelligentEnterprise,March20,2004.

oftencomingfromdiversesourcesrelatedtovariousbusinessfunctions.Itisn'taspecifictypeof information,butinformationofwhatevertypethatisneededtodoajob.Itisn'tjustinformation thatisneededbyexecutivesorevenbymanagers;itcanbeinformationthatisneededbyanyone whohasobjectivestomeet.TherequiredinformationcanbeandoftenisasetofKPIs,butnot necessarily,forothertypesofinformationmightalsobeneededtodoone'sjob. Adashboardfitsonasinglecomputerscreen.Theinformationmustfitonasinglescreen,entirely availablewithintheviewer'seyespansoitcanallbeseenatonce,ataglance.Ifyoumustscroll aroundtoseealltheinformation,ithastransgressedtheboundariesofadashboard.Ifyoumust shiftfromscreentoscreentoseeitall,you'vemadeuseofmultipledashboards.Theobjectisto havethemostimportantinformationreadilyandeffortlesslyavailablesoyoucanquicklyabsorb whatyouneedtoknow. Musttheinformationbedisplayedinawebbrowser?Thatmightbethebestmediumformost dashboardstoday,butitisn'ttheonlyacceptablemedium,anditmightnotbethebestmedium10 yearsfromnow.Musttheinformationbeconstantlyrefreshedinrealtime?Onlyiftheobjectives thatitservesrequirerealtimeinformation.Ifyouaremonitoringairtrafficusingadashboard,you mustimmediatelybeinformedwhensomethingiswrong.Ontheotherhand,ifyouaremaking strategicdecisionsabouthowtoboostsales,asnapshotofinformationasoflastnight,orperhaps eventheendoflastmonth,shouldworkfine. Dashboardsareusedtomonitorinformationataglance.Despitethefactthatinformationabout almostanythingcanbeappropriatelydisplayedinadashboard,thereisatleastonecharacteristic thatdescribesalmostalltheinformationfoundindashboards:itisabbreviatedintheformof summariesorexceptions.Thisisbecauseyoucannotmonitorataglanceallthedetailsneededto achieveyourobjectives.Adashboardmustbeabletoquicklypointoutthatsomethingdeserves yourattentionandmightrequireaction.Itneedn'tprovideallthedetailsnecessarytotakeaction, butifitdoesn't,itoughttomakeitaseasyandseamlessaspossibletogettothatinformation. Gettingtheremightinvolveshiftingtoadifferentdisplaybeyondthedashboard,usingnavigational methodssuchasdrillingdown.Thedashboarddoesitsprimaryjobifittellsyouwithnomorethan aglancethatyoushouldact.Itservesyousuperblyifitdirectlyopensthedoortoanyadditional informationthatyouneedtotakethataction.

That'stheessenceofthedashboard.Nowlet'saddtothisdefinitionacouplemoresupportingattributes thathelpdashboardsdotheirjobeffectively: Dashboardshavesmall,concise,clear,andintuitivedisplaymechanisms.Displaymechanismsthat clearlystatetheirmessagewithouttakingupmuchspacearerequired,sothattheentirecollection ofinformationwillfitintothelimitedrealestateofasinglescreen.Ifsomethingthatlookslikea fuelgauge,trafficsignal,orthermometerfitsthisrequirementbestforaparticularpieceof information,that'swhatyoushoulduse,butifsomethingelseworksbetter,youshouldusethat instead.Insistingonsexydisplayssimilartothosefoundinacarwhenothermechanismswould workbetteriscounterproductive. Dashboardsarecustomized.Theinformationonadashboardmustbetailoredspecificallytothe requirementsofagivenperson,group,orfunction;otherwise,itwon'tserveitspurpose.

Adashboardisatypeofdisplay,aformofpresentation,notaspecifictypeofinformationortechnology. Keepthisdistinctionclear,andyouwillbefreedtofocusonwhatreallymatters:designingdashboardsto communicate.

1.4.ATimelyOpportunity
Severalcircumstanceshaverecentlycombinedtocreateatimelyopportunityfordashboardstoaddvalue totheworkplace,includingtechnologiessuchashighresolutiongraphics,emphasisonperformance managementandmetrics,andagrowingrecognitionofvisualperceptionasapowerfulchannelfor informationacquisitionandcomprehension.Dashboardsofferauniquesolutiontotheproblemof informationoverloadnotacompletesolutionbyanymeans,butonethathelpsalot.AsDr.Hoviswrotein thatsamearticleinDMDirect: Therealvalueofdashboardproductsliesintheirabilitytoreplacehuntandpeck datagatheringtechniqueswithatireless,adaptable,informationflowmechanism. Dashboardstransformdatarepositoriesintoconsumableinformation.1 Dashboardsaren'tallthatdifferentfromsomeoftheothermeansofpresentinginformation,butwhen properlydesignedthesinglescreendisplayofintegratedandfinelytuneddatacandeliverinsightinan especiallypowerfulway. Dashboardsandvisualizationarecognitivetoolsthatimproveyour"spanofcontrol" overalotofbusinessdata.Thesetoolshelppeoplevisuallyidentifytrends,patterns andanomalies,reasonaboutwhattheyseeandhelpguidethemtowardeffective decisions.Assuch,thesetoolsneedtoleveragepeople'svisualcapabilities.Withthe prevalenceofscorecards,dashboardsandothervisualizationtoolsnowwidely availableforbusinessuserstoreviewtheirdata,theissueofvisualinformation designismoreimportantthanever.2 ThefinalsentimentthatBrathandPetersexpressedinthisexcerptfromtheirarticleunderscoresthe purposeofthisbook.Asdatavisualizationbecomesincreasinglycommonasameansofbusiness communication,itisimperativethatexpertiseindatavisualizationbeacquired.Thisexpertisemustbe groundedinanunderstandingofvisualperception,andofhowthisunderstandingcanbeeffectively appliedtothevisualdisplayofdatawhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy.Theseskillsarerarelyfoundinthe businessworld,notbecausetheyaredifficulttolearn,butbecausetheneedtolearnthemisseldom recognized.Thisistrueingeneral,andespeciallywithregardtodashboards.Thechallengeofpresentinga largeassortmentofdataonasinglescreeninawaythatproducesimmediateinsightisbynomeanstrivial. Buckleup;you'reinforafunride.

1 2

GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwithDashboardTechnology,"DMDirect,February2002 RichardBrathandMichaelPeters,"DashboardDesign:WhyDesignisImportant,"DMDirect,October2004

Chapter2.VariationsinDashboardUsesandData
Dashboardscanbeusedtomonitormanytypesofdataandtosupportalmostanysetofobjectivesbusiness deemsimportant.Therearemanywaystocategorizedashboardsintovarioustypes.Thewaythatrelates mostdirectlytoadashboard'svisualdesigninvolvestheroleitplays,whetherstrategic,analytical,or operational.Thedesigncharacteristicsofthedashboardcanbetailoredtoeffectivelysupporttheneedsof eachoftheseroles.Whilecertaindifferencessuchasthesewillaffectdesign,therearealsomany commonalitiesthatspanalldashboardsandinviteastandardsetofdesignpractices.

 Categorizingdashboards Commonthreadsindashboarddata Nonquantitativedashboarddata Dashboardsareusedtosupportabroadspectrumofinformationneeds,spanningtheentirerangeof businesseffortsthatmightbenefitfromanimmediateoverviewofwhat'sgoingon.Dashboardscanbe tailoredtospecificpurposes,andasingleindividualmightbenefitfrommultipledashboards,each supportingadifferentaspectofthatperson'swork.Thevariousdataandpurposesthatdashboardscanbe usedtosupportareworthdistinguishing,fortheysometimesdemanddifferencesinvisualdesignand functionality.

2.1.CategorizingDashboards
Dashboardscanbecategorizedinseveralways.Nomatterhowlimitedandflawedtheeffort,doingsois usefulbecauseithelpsustoexaminethebenefitsandmanyusesofthemedium.I'moneofthosepeople whoenjoystheprocessofclassifyingthings,breakingthemupintogroups.It'sanintellectualexercisethat forcesmetodigbeneaththesurface.Idon't,however,assignundueworthtoanyonewayofcategorizing something,andIcertainlydon'teverwanttogiveintothearroganceofclaimingthatmineistheonlyway. Taxonomiesascientifictermforsystemsofclassificationarealwaysbasedononeormorevariables(thatis, categoriesconsistingofmultiplepotentialvalues).Forinstance,basedonthevariable"platform,"a dashboardtaxonomycouldconsistofthosethatruninclient/servermodeandthosethatruninweb browsers.Thefollowingtablelistsseveralvariablesthatcanbeusedtostructuredashboardtaxonomies, alongwithpotentialvaluesforeach.Thislistcertainlyisn'tcomprehensive;thesearesimplymyattempts toexpressthevarietyandexplorethepotentialofthedashboardmedium. Table21. Variable Role Values Strategic Analytical Operational Typeofdata Quantitative Nonquantitative Datadomain Sales Finance Marketing Manufacturing

HumanResources Typeofmeasures BalancedScorecard(forexample,KPIs) SixSigma Nonperformance Spanofdata Enterprisewide Departmental Individual Updatefrequency Monthly Weekly Daily Hourly Realtimeornearrealtime Interactivity Staticdisplay Interactivedisplay(drilldown,filters,etc.) Mechanismsofdisplay Primarilygraphical Primarilytext Integrationofgraphicsandtext Portalfunctionality Conduittoadditionaldata Noportalfunctionality 2.1.1.ClassifyingDashboardsbyRole Perhapsoneofthemostusefulwaystocategorizeadashboard,andtheonethatI'llfocuson,isbyits rolethetypeofbusinessactivitythatitsupports.Mybreakdownofdashboardsintothreeroles(strategic, analytical,andoperational)iscertainlynottheonlywaytoexpressthetypesofbusinessactivitiesa dashboardcansupport.However,thisistheonlyclassificationthatsignificantlyrelatestodifferencesin visualdesign. 2.1.1.1.Dashboardsforstrategicpurposes Theprimaryuseofdashboardstodayisforstrategicpurposes.Thepopular"executivedashboard,"and mostofthedashboardsthatsupportmanagersatanylevelinanorganization,arestrategicinnature.They providethequickoverviewthatdecisionmakersneedtomonitorthehealthandopportunitiesofthe business.Dashboardsofthistypefocusonhighlevelmeasuresofperformance,includingforecaststolight thepathintothefuture.Althoughthesemeasurescanbenefitfromcontextualinformationtoclarifythe

meaning,suchascomparisonstotargetsandbriefhistories,alongwithsimpleevaluatorsofperformance (forexample,goodandbad),toomuchinformationofthistypeortoomanysubtlegradationscandistract fromtheprimaryandimmediategoalsofthestrategicdecisionmaker. Extremelysimpledisplaymechanismsworkbestforthistypeofdashboard.Giventhegoaloflongterm strategicdirection,ratherthanimmediatereactionstofastpacedchanges,thesedashboardsdon'trequire realtimedata;rather,theybenefitfromstaticsnapshotstakenmonthly,weekly,ordaily.Lastly,theyare usuallyunidirectionaldisplaysthatsimplypresentwhatisgoingon.Theyarenotdesignedforthe interactionthatmightbeneededtosupportfurtheranalysis,becausethisisrarelythedirectresponsibility ofthestrategicmanager.You'llbeluckyifyoucangetanexecutivetoviewtheinformationonacomputer screenratherthanapieceofpaper,letalonedealwiththenavigationaldemandsofinteractiveonline analysis. 2.1.1.2.Dashboardsforanalyticalpurposes Dashboardsthatsupportdataanalysisrequireadifferentdesignapproach.Inthesecasestheinformation oftendemandsgreatercontext,suchasrichcomparisons,moreextensivehistory,andsubtlerperformance evaluators.Likestrategicdashboards,analyticaldashboardsalsobenefitfromstaticsnapshotsofdatathat arenotconstantlychangingfromonemomenttothenext.However,moresophisticateddisplaymediaare oftenusefulfortheanalystwhomustexaminecomplexdataandrelationshipsandiswillingtoinvestthe timeneededtolearnhowtheywork.Analyticaldashboardsshouldsupportinteractionswiththedata,such asdrillingdownintotheunderlyingdetails,toenabletheexplorationneededtomakesenseofitthatis,not justtoseewhatisgoingonbuttoexaminethecauses.Forexample,itisn'tenoughtoseethatsalesare decreasing;whenyourpurposeisanalysis,youmustbemadeawareofsuchpatternssothatyoucanthen explorethemtodiscoverwhatiscausingthedecreaseandhowitmightbecorrected.Thedashboarditself, asamonitoringdevicethattellstheanalystwhattoinvestigate,neednotsupportallthesubsequent interactionsdirectly,butitshouldlinkasseamlesslyaspossibletothemeanstoanalyzethedata. 2.1.1.3.Dashboardsforoperationalpurposes Whendashboardsareusedtomonitoroperations,theymustbedesigneddifferentlyfromthosethat supportstrategicdecisionmakingordataanalysis.Thecharacteristicofoperationsthatuniquelyinfluences thedesignofdashboardsmostistheirdynamicandimmediatenature.Whenyoumonitoroperations,you mustmaintainawarenessofactivitiesandeventsthatareconstantlychangingandmightrequireattention andresponseatamoment'snotice.Iftheroboticarmonthemanufacturingassemblylinethatattaches thecardoortothechassisrunsoutofbolts,youcan'twaituntilthenextdaytobecomeawareofthe problemandtakeaction.Likewise,iftrafficonyourwebsitesuddenlydropstohalfitsnormallevel,you wanttobenotifiedimmediately. Aswithstrategicdashboards,thedisplaymediaonoperationaldashboardsmustbeverysimple.Inthe stressfuleventofanemergencythatrequiresanimmediateresponse,themeaningofthesituationandthe appropriateresponsesmustbeextremelyclearandsimple,ormistakeswillbemade.Incontrastto strategicdashboards,operationaldashboardsmusthavethemeanstograbyourattentionimmediatelyif anoperationfallsoutsidetheacceptablethresholdofperformance.Also,theinformationthatappearson operationaldashboardsisoftenmorespecific,providingadeeperlevelofdetail.Ifacriticalshipmentisat riskofmissingitsdeadline,ahighlevelstatisticwon'tdo;youneedtoknowtheordernumber,who's handlingit,andwhereitisinthewarehouse.Detailslikethesemightappearautomaticallyonan operationaldashboard,ortheymightbeaccessedbydrillingdownonorhoveringthemouseoverhigher leveldata,sointeractivityisoftenuseful.

Thewaysthatdashboarddesignmusttakedifferentformsinresponsetodifferentrolesareclearlyworth yourattention.We'llexaminesomeofthesedifferencesinmoredetailinChapter8,PuttingItAllTogether, whenwereviewseveralexamplesofwhatworksandwhatdoesn'tforvariouspurposes.

2.2.TypicalDashboardData
Dashboardsareusefulforallkindsofwork.Whetheryou'reameteorologistmonitoringtheweather,an intelligenceanalystmonitoringpotentialterroristchatter,aCEOmonitoringthehealthandopportunitiesof amultibilliondollarcorporation,orafinancialanalystmonitoringthestockmarket,awelldesigned dashboardcouldserveyouwell. 2.2.1.TheCommonThreadinDashboardDiversity Despitethesediverseapplications,inalmostallcasesdashboardsprimarilydisplayquantitativemeasures ofwhat'scurrentlygoingon.Thistypeofdataiscommonacrossalmostalldashboardsbecausetheyare usedtomonitorthecriticalinformationneededtodoajobormeetoneormoreparticularobjectives,and most(butnotall,aswe'llseelater)oftheinformationthatdoesthisbestisquantitative. Thefollowingtablelistsseveralmeasuresof"what'scurrentlygoingon"thataretypicalinbusiness. Table22. Category Sales Measures Bookings Billings Salespipeline(anticipatedsales) Numberoforders Orderamounts Sellingprices Marketing Marketshare Campaignsuccess Customerdemographics Finance Revenues Expenses Profits TechnicalSupport Numberofsupportcalls Resolvedcases Customersatisfaction

Calldurations Fulfillment Numberofdaystoship Backlog Inventorylevels Manufacturing Numberofunitsmanufactured Manufacturingtimes Numberofdefects HumanResources Employeesatisfaction Employeeturnover Countofopenpositions Countoflateperformancereviews InformationTechnology Networkdowntime Systemusage Fixedapplicationbugs WebServices Numberofvisitors Numberofpagehits Visitdurations Thesemeasuresareoftenexpressedinsummaryform,mostoftenastotals,slightlylessoftenasaverages (suchasaveragesellingprice),occasionallyasmeasuresofdistribution(suchasastandarddeviation),and rarerstillasmeasuresofcorrelation(suchasalinearcorrelationcoefficient).Summaryexpressionsof quantitativedataareparticularlyusefulindashboards,whereitisnecessarytomonitoranarrayof businessphenomenaataglance.Obviously,thelimitedrealestateofasinglescreenrequiresconcise communication. 2.2.1.1.Variationsintiming Measuresofwhat'scurrentlygoingoncanbeexpressedinavarietyoftimeframes.Afewtypicalexamples include:

Thisyeartodate Thisweektodate Thisquartertodate Yesterday

Thismonthtodate Todaysofar

Theappropriatetimeframeisdeterminedbythenatureoftheobjectivesthatthedashboardsupports. 2.2.1.2.Enrichmentthroughcomparison Thesemeasurescanbedisplayedbythemselves,butitisusuallyhelpfultocomparethemtooneormore relatedmeasurestoprovidecontextandtherebyenrichtheirmeaning.Hereareperhapsthemosttypical comparativemeasures,andanexampleofeach. Table23. Comparativemeasure Thesamemeasureatthesamepointintimeinthepast Example Thesamedaylastyear

Thesamemeasureatsomeotherpointintimeinthepast Theendoflastyear Thecurrenttargetforthemeasure Relationshiptoafuturetarget Apriorpredictionofthemeasure Relationshiptoafuturepredictionofthemeasure Somemeasureofthenormforthismeasure Abudgetedamountforthecurrentperiod Percentageofthisyear'sbudgetsofar Forecastofwhereweexpectedtobetoday Percentageofthisquarter'sforecast Average,normalrange,orabenchmark,such asthenumberofdaysitnormallytakesto shipanorder

Anextrapolationofthecurrenttomeasureintheformof Projectionoutintothefuture,suchasthe aprobablefuture,eitherataspecificpointinthefuture comingyearend orasatimeseries Someoneelse'sversionsofthesamemeasure Aseparatebutrelatedmeasure Thesecomparisonsareoftenexpressedgraphicallytoclearlycommunicatethedifferencesbetweenthe values,whichmightnotleapoutasdramaticallythroughtheuseoftextalone.However,textaloneisoften adequate.Forexample,whenonlythecomparisonitselfisrequiredandtheindividualmeasures(aprimary measureandacomparativemeasure)aren'tnecessary,asinglenumberexpressedasapercentagecanbe used(suchas119%ofbudgetor7%ofwherewewerethistimelastyear). Measuresofwhat'scurrentlygoingonmaybedisplayedeitherasasinglemeasure,asasinglemeasure combinedwithoneormoreindividualcomparativemeasures,orasoneofthefollowing: Acompetitor'smeasure,suchasrevenues Ordercountcomparedtoorderrevenue

Multipleinstancesofameasure,eachrepresentingacategoricalsubdivisionofthemeasure(for example,salessubdividedintoregionsoracountoforderssubdividedintonumericrangesinthe formofafrequencydistribution) Temporalinstancesofameasure(thatis,atimeseries,suchasmonthlyinstancesofthemeasure)

Timeseriesinparticularproviderichcontextforunderstandingwhat'sreallygoingonandhowwellit's going. 2.2.1.3.Enrichmentthroughevaluation Becausewithadashboardagreatdealofdatamustbeevaluatedquickly,italsoisquiteusefultoexplicitly declarewhethersomethingisgoodorbad.Suchevaluativeinformationisoftenencodedasspecialvisual objects(forexample,atrafficlight)orasvisualattributes(forexample,bydisplayingthemeasureinbright redtoindicateaseriouscondition).Whendesignedproperly,simplevisualindicatorscanclearlyalertusers tothestateofparticularmeasureswithoutalteringtheoveralldesignofthedashboard.Evaluative indicatorsneednotbelimitedtobinarydistinctionsbetweengoodandbad,butiftheyexceedthelimitof morethanafewdistinctstates(forexample,verybad,bad,acceptable,good,andverygood),theyrunthe riskofbecomingtoocomplexforefficientperception. 2.2.2.NonQuantitativeDashboardData ManypeoplethinkofdashboardsandKPIsasnearlysynonymous.Itiscertainlytruethatdashboardsarea powerfulmediumforpresentingKPIs,butnotallquantitativeinformationthatmightbeusefulona dashboardbelongstothelistofdefinedKPIs.Infact,notallinformationthatisusefulondashboardsis evenquantitativethecriticalinformationneededtodoajobcannotalwaysbeexpressednumerically. Althoughmostinformationthattypicallyfindsitswayontoadashboardisquantitative,sometypesofnon quantitativedata,suchassimplelists,arefairlycommonaswell.Hereareafewexamples:

Top10customers Issuesthatneedtobeinvestigated Tasksthatneedtobecompleted Peoplewhoneedtobecontacted

Anothertypeofnonquantitativedataoccasionallyfoundondashboardsrelatestoschedules,including tasks,duedates,thepeopleresponsible,andsoon.Thisiscommonwhenthejobthatthedashboard supportsinvolvesthemanagementofprojectsorprocesses. Ararertypeinvolvesthedisplayofentitiesandtheirrelationships.Entitiescanbestepsorstagesina process,peopleororganizationsthatinteractwithoneanother,oreventsthataffectoneanother,toname afewcommonexamples.Thistypeofdisplayusuallyencodesentitiesascirclesorrectanglesand relationshipsaslines,oftenwitharrowsatoneorbothendstoindicatedirectionorinfluence.Itisoften usefultointegratequantitativeinformationthatisassociatedwiththeentitiesandrelationships,suchas theamountoftimethatpassedbetweeneventsinaprocess(forexample,byassociatinganumberwith thelinethatlinkstheeventsorbyhavingthelengthofthelineitselfencodetheduration)orthesizesof businessentities(perhapsexpressedinrevenuesornumberofemployees).

Nowthatyouknowabitabouthowandwhydashboardsareused,it'stimetotakeacloserlookatsome designprinciples.Inthenextchapter,we'lldelveintosomeofthemistakesthatarecommonlymadein dashboarddesign.

Chapter3.ThirteenCommonMistakesinDashboardDesign
Preoccupationwithsuperficialandfunctionallydistractingvisualcharacteristicsofdashboardshasledtoa rashofvisualdesignproblemsthatunderminetheirusefulness.Thirteenvisualdesignproblemsare frequentlyfoundindashboards,includingintheexamplesfeaturedasexemplarybysoftwarevendors.

Exceedingtheboundariesofasinglescreen Supplyinginadequatecontextforthedata Displayingexcessivedetailorprecision Choosingadeficientmeasure Choosinginappropriatedisplaymedia Introducingmeaninglessvariety Usingpoorlydesigneddisplaymedia Encodingquantitativedatainaccurately Arrangingthedatapoorly Highlightingimportantdataineffectivelyornotatall Clutteringthedisplaywithuselessdecoration Misusingoroverusingcolor Designinganunattractivevisualdisplay Thefundamentalchallengeofdashboarddesignistheneedtosqueezeagreatdealofinformationintoa smallamountofspace,resultinginadisplaythatiseasilyandimmediatelyunderstandable.Ifthisdoesn't soundchallenging,eitheryouareanexpertdesignerwithextensivedashboardexperience,oryouare baskingintheglowofnaivet.Attemptthetask,andyouwillfindthatdashboardsposeauniquedata visualizationchallenge.Anddon'tassumethatyoucanlooktoyoursoftwarevendorforhelpiftheyhave thenecessarydesigntalent,they'redoingagreatjobofhidingit. Sadly,itiseasytofindmanyexamplesofthemistakesyoushouldavoidbylookingnofurtherthantheweb sitesofthesoftwarevendorsthemselves.Let'susesomeoftheseexamplestoexaminedesignthatdoesn't workandlearnwhyitdoesn't. Note:Inalmosteverycase,I'vechosentouseactualexamplesfromvendorwebsitestoillustrate dashboarddesignmistakes.Indoingso,Iamnotsayingthatthesoftwarethatproducedtheexampleis badI'mnotcommentingonthequalityofthesoftwareonewayoranother.WhatIamsayingisthatthe designpracticeisbad.Thisresultsprimarilyfromvendors'lackofexpertiseinorinattentiontovisual design.Thesevendorsshouldknowbetter,butthey'vechosentofocustheirenergiesonotheraspectsof theirproducts,oftenhighlightingglitzyvisualfeaturesthatactuallyundermineeffectivecommunication.I hopethatseeingtheirworkusedtoillustratepoordashboarddesignwillserveasawakeupcalltostart payingattentiontothefeaturesthatreallymatter.

3.1.ExceedingtheBoundariesofaSingleScreen
Myinsistencethatadashboardshouldconfineitsdisplaytoasinglescreen,withnoneedforscrollingor switchingbetweenmultiplescreens,mightseemarbitraryandabitfinicky,butitisbasedonsolidand practicalrationale.Afterstudyingdatavisualizationforawhile,includingvisualperception,onediscovers thatsomethingpowerfulhappenswhenthingsareseentogether,allwithineyespan.Likewise,something

criticalislostwhenyoulosesightofsomedatabyscrollingorswitchingtoanotherscreentoseeother data.Partoftheproblemisthatwecanholdonlyafewchunksofinformationatatimeinshortterm memory.Relyingonthemind'seyetorememberinformationthatisnolongervisibleisarockyventure. Oneofthegreatbenefitsofadashboardasamediumofcommunicationisthesimultaneityofvisionthatit offers:theabilitytoseeeverythingthatyouneedatonce.Thisenablescomparisonsthatleadto insightsthose"Aha!"experiencesthatmightnotoccurinanyotherway.Clearly,exceedingtheboundaries ofasinglescreennegatesthisbenefit.Let'sexaminethetwoversionsofthisproblemfragmentingdatainto separatescreensandrequiringscrollingindependently. 3.1.1.FragmentingDataintoSeparateScreens Informationthatappearsondashboardsisoftenfragmentedinoneoftwoways:

Separatedintodiscretescreenstowhichonemustnavigate Separatedintodifferentinstancesofasinglescreenthatareaccessedthroughsomeformof interaction

Enablinguserstonavigatetodiscretescreensordifferentinstancesofasinglescreentoaccessadditional informationisnot,ingeneral,abadpractice.Allowingnavigationtofurtherdetailortoadifferentsetof informationthatachievesitspurposebestbystandingalonecanbeapowerfuldashboardfeature. However,whenalltheinformationshouldbeseenatthesametimetogainthedesiredinsights,that fragmentationunderminestheuniqueadvantagesofadashboard.Fragmentingdatathatshouldbeseen togetherisamistake. Let'slookatanexample.ThedashboardinFigure31fragmentsthedatathatexecutivesneedinto10 separatedashboards.Thiswouldbefineiftheexecutiveswouldn'tbenefitfromseeingthesevarious measurestogether,butthatishardlythecase.

Figure31.Thisdashboardfragmentsthedatainawaythatunderminestheviewer'sabilitytoseemeaningfulrelationships.

Inthisexample,abankingexecutiveisforcedtoexaminetheperformanceofthefollowingaspectsofthe businessseparately: Highlights Deposits Pastdueloans Profitability Growth Loans Risk Depositmix Channels Marketshare

Eachofthesescreenspresentsaseparate,highlevelsnapshotofasinglesetofmeasuresthatoughttobe integratedintoasinglescreen.Despitewhatyoumightassumeabouttheavailablescreenlabeled "Highlights,"itdoesnotprovideaconsolidatedvisualoverviewofthedatabutconsistsprimarilyofatext tablethatcontainsseveralofthemeasures.Abankingexecutiveneedstoseethesemeasurestogetherina waythatenablescomparisonstounderstandhowtheyrelatetoandinfluenceoneanother. Splittingthebigpictureintoaseriesofseparatesmallpicturesisamistakewheneverseeingthebigpicture isworthwhile. Asimilarexample,fromthesamesoftwarevendor,isshowninFigure32.Thistimethepictureofdaily saleshasbeensplitintoaseparatedashboardforeachof20products.Iftheintentionistoservetheneeds ofproductmanagerswhoareeachexclusivelyinterestedinasingleproductandneverwanttocompare salesofthatproducttoothers,thisdesigndoesn'tfragmentthedatainaharmfulway.If,however,any benefitcanbegainedbyviewingthesalesofmultipleproductstogether,whichisalmostsurelythecase, thisdesignfails.

Figure32.Thisdashboardrequiresviewerstoclickonadesiredproductandviewinformationforonlyoneproductatatime.

3.1.2.RequiringScrolling ThedashboardinFigure33illustratestheproblemthat'screatedwhenscrollingisrequiredtoseeallthe data.Notonlyareweleftwonderingwhatliesbelowthebottomofthescreeninthedashboardasa whole,butwe'realsogivenimmediatevisualaccessonlytothefirstofmanymetricsthatappearinthe scrollableboxatthetopright,beginningwith"No.Transactions."We'dbebetteroffreadingaprinted reportextendingacrossmultiplepages,becauseatleastthenwecouldlayoutallofthepagesatoncefor simultaneousviewing.Peoplecommonlyassumethatanythingthatliesbeyondtheirimmediatefieldof visionandrequiresscrollingtoseeisoflessimportancethanwhat'simmediatelyvisible.Manyviewers won'tbothertolookatwhatliesoffthescreen,andthosewhotakethetimewilllikelyresenttheeffort.

Figure33.Thisdashboarddemonstratestheeffectivenessthatissacrificedwhenscrollingisrequiredtoseealltheinformation.

3.2.SupplyingInadequateContextfortheData
Measuresofwhat'scurrentlygoingoninthebusinessrarelydowellasasoloact;theyneedagood supportingcasttosucceed.Forexample,tostatethatquartertodatesalestotal$736,502withoutany contextmeanslittle.Comparedtowhat?Isthisgoodorbad?Howgoodorbad?Areweontrack?Arewe doingbetterthanwehaveinthepast,orworsethanwe'veforecasted?Supplyingtherightcontextforkey measuresmakesthedifferencebetweennumbersthatjustsitthereonthescreenandthosethatenlighten andinspireaction. ThegaugesinFigure34couldeasilyhaveincorporatedusefulcontext,buttheyfallshortoftheirpotential. Forinstance,thecentergaugetellsusonlythat7,822unitshavesoldthisyeartodate,andthatthis numberisgood(indicatedbythegreenarrow).Aquantitativescaleonagraph,suchastheradialscalesof tickmarksonthesegauges,ismeanttoprovideanapproximationofthemeasure,butitcanonlydosoif thescaleislabeledwithnumbers,whichthesegaugeslack.Ifthenumbershadbeenpresent,thepositions ofthearrowsmighthavebeenmeaningful,butherethepresenceofthetickmarksalongaradialaxis suggestsusefulinformationthathasn'tactuallybeenincluded.

Figure34.Thesedashboardgaugesfailtoprovideadequatecontexttomakethemeasuresmeaningful.

Thesegaugesuseupagreatdealofspacetotellusnothingwhatsoever.Thesameinformationcouldhave beencommunicatedsimplyastextinmuchlessspace,withoutanylossofmeaning: Table31. YTDUnits OctoberUnits ReturnsRate Anotherfailureofthesegaugesisthattheyteaseusbycoloringthearrowstoindicategoodorbad performance,withouttellingushowgoodorbaditis.Theycouldeasilyhavedonethisbylabelingthe quantitativescalesandvisuallyencodingsectionsalongthescalesasgoodorbad,ratherthanjustencoding thearrowsinthismanner.Hadthisbeendone,wewouldbeabletoseeataglancehowgoodorbada measureisbyhowfarthearrowpointsintothegoodorbadranges. ThegaugethatappearsinFigure35doesabetterjobofincorporatingcontextintheformofmeaningful comparisons.Here,thepotentialofthegraphicaldisplayismorefullyrealized.Thegaugemeasuresthe averagedurationofphonecallsandispartofalargerdashboardofcallcenterdata. Supplyingcontextformeasuresneednotalwaysinvolveachoiceofthesinglebestcomparisonrather, severalcontextsmaybegiven.Forinstance,quartertodatesalesof$736,502mightbenefitfrom comparisonstothebudgettargetof$1,000,000;salesonthisdaylastyearof$856,923;andatimeseries ofsalesfiguresforthelastsixquarters.Suchadisplaywouldprovidemuchricherinsightthanasimple displayofthecurrentsalesfigure,withorwithoutanindicationofwhetherit's"good"or"bad."Youmust becareful,however,whenincorporatingrichcontextsuchasthistodosoinawaythatdoesn'tforcethe viewertogetboggeddowninreadingthedetailstogetthebasicmessage.Itisusefultoprovideavisually prominentdisplayoftheprimaryinformationandtosubduethesupportingcontextsomewhat,sothatit doesn'tgetinthewaywhenthedashboardisbeingquicklyscannedforkeypoints. 7,822 869 0.26%

Figure35.Thisdashboardgauge(foundinapaperentitled"MakingDashboardsActionable,"writtenbyLaurieM.Orlovand publishedinDecember2003byForresterResearch,Inc.)doesabetterjobthanthoseinFigure34ofusingagaugeeffectively.

Theamountofcontextthatoughttobeincorporatedtoenrichthemeasuresonadashboarddependson itspurposeandtheneedsofitsviewers.Moreisnotalwaysbetter,butwhenmoreprovidesrealvalue,it oughttobeincludedinawaythatsupportsbothaquickoverviewwithoutdistractionaswellascontextual informationforricherunderstanding.1

3.3.DisplayingExcessiveDetailorPrecision
Dashboardsalmostalwaysrequirefairlyhighlevelinformationtosupporttheviewer'sneedforaquick overview.Toomuchdetail,ormeasuresthatareexpressedtooprecisely(forexample,$3,848,305.93 ratherthan$3,848,305,orperhapseven$3.8M),justslowviewersdownwithoutprovidingthemany benefit.Inaway,thisproblemistheoppositeextremeoftheoneweexaminedintheprevioussectiontoo muchinformationratherthantoolittle. ThedashboardinFigure36illustratesthistypeofexcess.ExaminethetwosectionsthatI'veenclosedin redrectangles.Thelowerrightsectiondisplaysfrom4to10decimaldigitsforeachmeasure,whichmight beusefulinsomecontexts,butdoubtfullyinadashboard.Thehighlightedsectionabovedisplaystime downtothelevelofseconds,whichalsoseemslikeoverkillinthiscontext.Withadashboard,every unnecessarypieceofinformationresultsintimewastedtryingtofilteroutwhat'simportant,whichis intolerablewhentimeisoftheessence.

Figure36.Thisdashboardshowsunnecessarydetail,suchastimesexpressedtothesecondandmeasuresexpressedto10 decimalplaces.

Ibelievethatthecircularshapeusedbygaugeslikethisonewastesvaluablespaceonadashboard,asI'llexplainin Chapter6,EffectiveDashboardDisplayMedia.Nevertheless,Icommendthisgaugefordisplayingricherinformation thanmost.

1

3.4.ChoosingaDeficientMeasure
Forameasuretobemeaningful,wemustknowwhatisbeingmeasuredandtheunitsinwhichthemeasure isbeingexpressed.Ameasureisdeficientifitisn'ttheonethatmostclearlyandefficientlycommunicates themeaningthatthedashboardviewershoulddiscern.Itcanbeaccurate,yetnotthebestchoiceforthe intendedmessage.Forexample,ifthedashboardvieweronlyneedstoknowtowhatdegreeactual revenuediffersfrombudgetedrevenue,itwouldbemoredirecttosimplyexpressthevarianceas9%(and perhapsdisplaythevarianceof$8,066aswell)ratherthandisplayingtheactualrevenueamountof$76,934 andthebudgetedrevenueamountof$85,000andleavingittotheviewertocalculatethedifference.In thiscase,apercentageclearlyfocusesattentiononthevarianceinamannerthatisdirectlyintelligible. Figure37illustratesthispoint.Whilethisgraphdisplaysactualandbudgetedrevenuesseparately,its purposeistocommunicatethevarianceofactualrevenuesfromthebudget.

Figure37.Thisgraphillustratestheuseofmeasuresthatfailtodirectlyexpresstheintendedmessage.

Thevariance,however,couldhavebeendisplayedmorevividlybyencodingbudgetedrevenueasa referencelineof0%andthevarianceasalinethatmeandersaboveandbelowbudget(expressedinunits ofpositiveandnegativepercentages,asshownonthenextpageinFigure38).Thepointhereistoalways thinkcarefullyaboutthemessagethatmostdirectlysupportstheviewer'sneeds,andthenselectthe measurethatmostdirectlysupportsthatmessage.

 Figure38.Thisgraphisdesignedtoemphasizedeviationfromatarget,whichitaccomplishesinpartbyexpressingthe differencebetweenbudgetedandactualrevenuesusingpercentages.

3.5.ChoosingInappropriateDisplayMedia
Choosinginappropriatedisplaymediaisoneofthemostcommondesignmistakesmade,notjustin dashboards,butinallformsofquantitativedatapresentation.Forinstance,usingagraphwhenatableof numberswouldworkbetter,andviceversa,isafrequentmistake.Allowmetoillustrateusingseveral examplesbeginningwiththepiechartinFigure39.

Figure39.Thischartillustratesacommonproblemwithpiecharts.

Thispiechartispartofadashboardthatdisplaysbreastcancerstatistics.Lookatitforamomentandseeif anythingseemsodd. Piechartsaredesignedspecificallytopresentpartsofawhole,andthewholeshouldalwaysaddupto 100%.Here,theslicelabeled"Breast13.30%"lookslikeitrepresentsaround40%ofthepieafarcryfrom 13.3%.Despitethemeaningthatapiechartsuggests,theseslicesarenotpartsofawhole;theyrepresent theprobabilitythatawomanwilldevelopaparticularformofcancer(breast,lung,colon,andsixtypesthat aren'tlabeled).Thismisuseofapiechartinvitesconfusion. Thetruthis,Ineverrecommendtheuseofpiecharts.Theonlythingtheyhavegoingforthemisthefact thateverybodyimmediatelyknowswhentheyseeapiechartthattheyareseeingpartsofawhole(or

oughttobe).Beyondthat,piechartsdon'tdisplayquantitativedataveryeffectively.Asyou'llseein Chapter4,TappingintothePowerofVisualPerception,humanscan'tcomparetwodimensionalareasor anglesveryaccuratelyandthesearethetwomeansthatpiechartsusetoencodequantitativedata.Bar graphsareamuchbetterwaytodisplaythisinformation.1 ThepiechartinFigure310showsthatevenwhencorrectlyusedtopresentpartsofawhole,thesegraphs don'tworkverywell.Withoutthevaluelabels,youwouldonlybeabletodiscernthatopportunitiesrated as"Fair"representthelargestgroup,thoseratedas"FieldSales:2VeryHigh"representaminisculegroup, andtheotherratingsgroupsareroughlyequalinsize.

Figure310.Thisexampleshowsthatevenwhentheyareusedcorrectlytopresentpartsofawhole,piechartsaredifficultto interpretaccurately.

Figure311displaysthesamedataasFigure310,thistimeusingahorizontalbargraphthatcanbe interpretedmuchmoreefficientlyandaccurately.

Figure311.Thishorizontalbargraphdoesamuchbetterjobofdisplayingparttowholedatathantheprecedingpiecharts.

RefertomybookShowMetheNumbers:DesigningTablesandGraphstoEnlighten(Oakland,CA:AnalyticsPress, 2004)forathoroughtreatmentofthetypesofgraphsthatworkbestforthemostcommonquantitativemessages communicatedinbusiness.

1

Othertypesofgraphscanbeequallyineffective.Forexample,thegraphinFigure312showslittleregard fortheviewer'stimeandnounderstandingofvisualperception.Thisgraphcomparesrevenuetooperating costsacrossfivemonths,usingthesizeofoverlappingcircles(sometimescalledbubbles)toencodethe quantities.Justaswiththeslicesofapie,usingcirclestoencodequantityreliesontheviewer'sabilityto comparetwodimensionalareas,whichwesimplycannotaccuratelydo.Takethevaluesforthemonthof Februaryasanexample.Assumingthatoperatingcostsequal$10,000,whatistherevenuevalue?

Figure312.Thisgraphusesthetwodimensionalareaofcirclestoencodetheirvalues,whichneedlesslyobscuresthedata.

Ournaturaltendencyistocomparethesizesofthetwocirclesusingasingledimensionlengthor widthequaltothediameterofeach,whichsuggeststhatrevenueisaboutthreetimesthatofoperating costs,orabout$30,000.Thisconclusioniswrong,however,toahugedegree.Thetwodimensionalareaof therevenuecircleisactuallyaboutninetimesbiggerthanthatoftheoperatingcostscircle,resultingina valueof$90,000.Oops!Notevenclose. NowcompareoperatingcostsforthemonthsofFebruaryandMay.ItappearsthatcostsinMayaregreater thanthoseinFebruary,right?Infact,theinteriorcirclesarethesamesizemeasurethemandsee.The revenuebubbleinMayissmallerthantheoneinFebruary,whichmakestheenclosedoperatingcosts bubbleinMayseembigger,butthisisanopticalillusion.Asyoucansee,theuseofabubblechartforthis financialdatawasapoorchoice.AsimplebargraphliketheoneinFigure313worksmuchbetter.

Figure313.Thisbargraphdoesagoodjobofdisplayingatimeseriesofactualversusbudgetedrevenuevalues.

ActualversusbudgetedrevenueisalsothesubjectofFigure314,butthistimeit'ssubdividedinto geographicalregionsratherthantimeslicesanddisplayedasaradargraph.Thequantitativescaleona radargraphislaidalongeachoftheaxislinesthatextendfromthecentertotheperimeter,likeradiuslines

ofacircle.Thesmallestvaluesarethosewiththeshortestdistancebetweenthecenterpointandthe perimeter.

Figure314.Thisradargraphobscuresthestraightforwarddatathatit'stryingtoconvey.

Thelackoflabeledaxesinthisgraphlimitsitsmeaning,butthechoiceofaradargraphtodisplaythis informationinthefirstplaceisanevenmorefundamentalerror.Onceagain,asimplebargraphlikethe oneinFigure315wouldcommunicatethisdatamuchmoreeffectively.Radargraphsarerarely appropriatemediafordisplayingbusinessdata.Theircircularshapeobscuresdatathatwouldbequiteclear inalineardisplaysuchasabargraph.

Figure315.Thisbargrapheffectivelycomparesactualtobudgetedrevenuedata.

ThelastexamplethatI'llusetoillustratemypointaboutchoosinginappropriatemeansofdisplayappears inFigure316.

 Figure316.ThisdisplayuselesslyencodesquantitativevaluesonamapoftheUnitedStates.

Therearetimeswhenitisveryusefultoarrangedataspatially,suchasintheformofamaporthefloor planofabuilding,butthisisn'toneofthem.Wedon'tderiveanyinsightbylayingoutrevenue informationinthiscase,whetherrevenuesaregood(greenlight),mediocre(yellowlight),orpoor(red light),inthegeographicalregionsSouth(brown),Central(orange),West(tan),andEast(blue)onamap. Ifthegraphicaldisplaywerepresentingmeaningfulgeographicalrelationshipssay,forshipmentsofwine fromCalifornia,toindicatewherespecialtaxesmustbepaidwheneverdeliveriescrossstatelinesperhapsa geographicaldisplaywouldprovidesomeinsight.Withthissimplesetoffourregionswithnoparticular factorsattachedtogeographicallocation,however,theuseofamapsimplytakesupalotofspacetosay nomorethanwefindinthetablethatappearsonthissamedashboard,whichisshowninFigure317.

Figure317.Thistable,fromthesamedashboard,providesamoreappropriatedisplayoftheregionalrevenuedatathatappears inFigure316.

3.6.IntroducingMeaninglessVariety
Themistakeofintroducingmeaninglessvarietyintoadashboarddesigniscloselytiedtotheonewejust examined.I'vefoundthatpeopleoftenhesitatetousethesametypeofdisplaymediummultipletimeson adashboard,outofwhatIassumeisasensethatviewerswillbeboredbythesameness.Varietymightbe thespiceoflife,butifitisintroducedonadashboardforitsownsake,thedisplaysuffers.Youshould alwaysselectthemeansofdisplaythatworksbest,evenifthatresultsinadashboardthatisfilledwith nothingbutmultipleinstancesofthesametypeofgraph.Ifyouaregivingviewerstheinformationthat theydesperatelyneedtodotheirjobs,thedatawon'tborethemjustbecauseit'salldisplayedinthesame way.Theywilldefinitelygetaggravated,however,ifforcedtoworkharderthannecessarytogetthe informationtheyneedduetoarbitraryvarietyinthedisplaymedia.Infact,whereverappropriate,

consistencyinthemeansofdisplayallowsviewerstousethesameperceptualstrategyforinterpretingthe data,whichsavestimeandenergy. Figure318illustratesvarietygoneamok.Thisvisualjumblerequiresashiftinperceptualstrategyforeach displayitemonthedashboard,whichmeansextratimeandeffortontheuser'spart.

Figure318.Thisdashboardexhibitsanunnecessaryvarietyofdisplaymedia.

3.7.UsingPoorlyDesignedDisplayMedia
Itisn'tenoughtochoosetherightmediumtodisplaythedataanditsmessageyoualsomustdesignthe componentsofthatmediumtocommunicateclearlyandefficiently,withoutdistraction.Mostgraphsused inbusinesstodayarepoorlydesigned.Thereasonissimple:almostnoonehasbeentrainedinthe fundamentalprinciplesandpracticesofeffectivegraphdesign.Thiscontentisthoroughlycoveredinmy bookShowMetheNumbers:DesigningTablesandGraphstoEnlighten,soIwon'trepeatmyselfhere. Instead,I'llsimplyillustratetheproblemwithafewexamples. Inadditiontothefactthatabargraphwouldhavebeenabetterchoicetodisplaythisdata(thedivisionof revenuebetweensixsales),Figure319exhibitsseveraldesignproblems.Lookatitforamomentandseeif youcanidentifyaspectsofitsdesignthatinhibitquickandeasyinterpretation.

 Figure319.Thispiechartillustratesseveraldesignproblems.

HerearetheprimaryproblemsthatIsee: Alegendwasusedtolabelandassignvaluestotheslicesofthepie.Thisforcesoureyestobounceback andforthbetweenthegraphandthelegendtogleanmeaning,whichisawasteoftimeandeffortwhen theslicescouldhavebeenlabeleddirectly. Theorderoftheslicesandthecorrespondinglabelsappearsrandom.Orderingthembysizewouldhave providedusefulinformationthatcouldhavebeenassimilatedinstantly. Thebrightcolorsofthepieslicesproducesensoryoverkill.Brightcolorsoughttobereservedforspecific datathatshouldstandoutfromtherest. ThepiechartinFigure320alsoillustratesaproblemwithcolorchoice.

Figure320.Thispiechartusesofcolorsfortheslicesthataretoomuchaliketobeclearlydistinguished.

Inthiscase,the11colorsthatwerechosenaretoosimilar.Itisdifficulttodeterminewhichofthehues alongtheyellowthroughorangetoredspectruminthelegendcorrespondstoeachsliceofthepie.This kindofeyestrainingexerciseisdeadly,especiallyonadashboard. AnotherexampleofanineffectivedisplaymediumisshowninFigure321.Thesemetersareanattemptto betruetothemetaphorofacardashboard.Noticethatthenumberslookjustliketheywouldonan odometer:theylackthecommasnormallyusedtodelineateeverysetofthreedigitstohelpusdistinguish thousandsfrommillions,andsoon.Inamisguidedefforttomakethesemeterslookrealistic,their developersmadethenumbershardertoreadengineersdesignedthesemeters,notbusinesspeople.Notice alsothatnumbersalongthequantitativescalearepositionedinsideratherthanoutsidetheaxis,whichwill causethemtobeobscuredbytheneedlewhenitpointsdirectlytothem,andthatthepositioningofthe

textatthebottomofeachmeter(forexample,"4382934AmountSold"onthe"InternetRevenue"meter) obstructstheneedleformeasuresnearthebottomortopofthescale.

Figure321.Thesedashboardmetershavedefinitelytakenthedashboardmetaphortoofar.

Inthelastsection,Ispokeofbargraphsasapreferablealternativetocertainotherdisplaymedia. However,whilebargraphscandoanexcellentjobofdisplayingquantitativedata,theycanbemisusedas well.ExaminethegraphinFigure322,andtakeamomenttolistanyproblemswithitsdesignthatyousee. Writedownyourobservationsbelowbeforereadingon,ifyou'dlike.

Figure322.Thisbargraph,foundonadashboard,exhibitsseveraldesignproblems.

Youmighthavenoticedthatthegridlinesonthegraph(nottomentionthebackgroundpatternofcolored rectangles)donothingbutdistractfromthedata.Gridlinessuchasthese,especiallywhenvisually prominent,makeitmoredifficulttoseetheshapeofthedata.Perhapsyoualsonoticedthatthe3Deffect ofthegraphnotonlyaddednovalue,butalsomadethevaluesencodedbythebarshardertointerpret. Anythingelse?Well,thisgraphillustratesacommonproblemwithcolor.Whyiseachofthebarsadifferent color?Thecolorsaren'tbeingusedtoidentifythebars,aseachonehasalabeltoitsleft.Differencesinthe colorofdataencodingobjectsshouldalwaysbemeaningful;otherwise,theyneedlesslygrabourattention andcauseustosearchformeaningthatisn'tthere. ThedistinctcolorsofthebarsinFigure323do,thankfully,carrymeaning,butherethecolorsare distractinglybrightandthe3Deffectmakesthemhardtoread.

 Figure323.Thisbargraph,foundonadashboard,waspoorlydesignedinanumberofways.

However,thisisn'ttheproblemthatImostwantyoutonotice.Thepurposeofthegraphistocompare actualtobudgetedrevenuesforeachofthefourregions,butsomethingaboutitsdesignmakesthis difficult.Canyouseetheproblem?Givenitspurpose,thebarsforactualandbudgetedrevenuesforeach regionshouldhavebeenplacednexttooneanother.Astheyare,itisunnecessarilydifficulttocompare them.Simpledesignmistakeslikethiscansignificantlyunderminethesuccessofadashboard. Severaloftheexamplesthatwe'veexaminedhavebeenrenderedin3D,eventhoughthethirddimension ofdepthdoesn'tencodeanymeaning.Evenwhenthethirddimensionisusedtoencodeaseparate variable,however,itstillposesaproblem.ThegraphinFigure324usesthethirddimensionofdepthto representtime(thefourquartersoftheyear2001).Theprobleminthiscaseisn'tthatthethirddimension ismeaningless,butratherthatyoucan'treadeverythingonthechart.Thisiscausedbyocclusion.Adding thedimensionofdepthcausessomeofthebarstobehiddenbehindoroccludedbyothers.Forinstance, whatwerefaxrevenuesforQuarter3?Youcan'ttellbecausethebariscompletelyhidden.Whetherthe thirddimensionisusedtoencodedataornot,youshouldalmostalwaysavoid3Dgraphs.Exceptionsto thisrulearerarewhendisplayingtypicalbusinessdata.

Figure324.This3Dbargraphillustratestheproblemofocclusion.

3.8.EncodingQuantitativeDataInaccurately
Sometimesgraphicalrepresentationsofquantitativedataaremistakenlydesignedinwaysthatdisplay inaccuratevalues.InFigure325,forinstance,thequantitativescalealongtheverticalaxiswasimproperly setforagraphthatencodesdataintheformofbars.Thelengthofabarrepresentsitsquantitativevalue. ThebarsinthisgraphthatrepresentrevenueandcostsforthemonthofJanuarysuggestthatrevenuewas aboutfourtimescosts.Anexaminationofthescale,however,revealstheerrorofthisnaturalassumption: therevenueisactuallylessthandoublethecosts.Theproblemisthatthevaluesbeginat$500,000rather than$0,astheyalwaysshouldinabargraph.

Figure325.Thisbargraphencodesthequantitativevaluesasbarsinaccurately,byfailingtobeginthescaleatzero.

3.9.ArrangingtheDataPoorly
Dashboardsoftenneedtopresentalargeamountofinformationinalimitedamountofspace.Ifthe informationisn'torganizedwell,withappropriateplacementofinformationbasedonimportanceand desiredviewingsequence,alongwithavisualdesignthatsegregatesdataintomeaningfulgroupswithout fragmentingitintoaconfusinglabyrinth,theresultisaclutteredmess.Mostexamplesofdashboards foundontheWebarecomposedofasmallamountofdatatoavoidtheneedforskilledvisualdesign,but theystilloftenmanagetolookclutteredandthrowntogether.Thegoalisnotsimplytomakethe dashboardlookgood,buttoarrangethedatainamannerthatfitsthewayit'sused.Themostimportant dataoughttobeprominent.Datathatrequireimmediateattentionoughttostandout.Datathatshouldbe comparedoughttobearrangedandvisuallydesignedtoencouragecomparisons. ThedashboardinFigure326illustratessomeoftheproblemsoftenassociatedwithpoorarrangementof data.Noticefirstofallthatthemostprominentpositiononthisdashboardthetopleftisusedtodisplaythe vendor'slogoandnavigationalcontrols.Whatawasteofprimerealestate!Asyouscandownthescreen, thenextinformationthatyouseeisagaugethatpresentstheaverageordersize.It'spossiblethataverage ordersizemightbesomeone'sprimaryinterest,butit'sunlikelythat,ofalltheinformationthatappearson thisdashboard,thisisthemostimportant.AsI'lldiscussinChapter5,EloquenceThroughSimplicity,the leastprominentrealestateonthescreenisthelowerrightcorner.However,inthisexamplethelarge amountofspacetakenupbythegraphsthatpresent"ComputersReturnsAcrossModels,"aswellasthe largerfontsizesusedinthissection,tendstodrawattentiontodatathatseemstangentialtotherest.This dashboardlacksanappropriatevisualsequenceandbalancebasedonthenatureandimportanceofthe

data.Noticealsothatthebrightredbandsofcoloraboveeachsectionofthedisplay,wherethetitles appearinwhite,arefarmoreeyecatchingthanisnecessarytodeclarethemeaningsoftheindividual displays.Thisvisuallysegmentsthespacetoanunnecessarydegree.Lastly,notethatthesimilarityofthe linegraphsthatdisplayordersizeandprofittrendsinvitesoureyestocomparethem.Thisisprobablya usefulcomparison,butthepositionalseparationandsidebysideratherthanoverunderarrangementof thetwographsmakesclosecomparisondifficult.Asthisexampleillustrates,youcan'tjustthrow informationontothescreenwhereveryoucanmakeitfitandexpectthedashboardtodoitsjob effectively.

Figure326.Thisdashboardexemplifiespoorlyarrangeddata.

3.10.HighlightingImportantDataIneffectivelyorNotatAll
Whenyoulookatadashboard,youreyesshouldimmediatelybedrawntotheinformationthatismost important,evenwhenitdoesnotresideinthemostvisuallyprominentareasofthescreen.InChapter5, EloquenceThroughSimplicity,we'llexamineseveralvisualtechniquesthatcanbeusedtoachievethisend. Fornow,we'lllookatwhathappenswhenthisisn'tdoneatall,orisn'tdonewell. TheproblemwiththedashboardinFigure327isthateverythingisvisuallyprominent,andconsequently nothingstandsout.Thelogoandnavigationcontrols(thebuttonsontheleft)areprominentbothasa resultoftheirplacementonthescreenandtheuseofstrongborders,butthesearen'tdataandtherefore shouldn'tbeemphasized.Thentherearethegraphswherethedatareside:allthedataareequallybold andcolorful,leavinguswithawashofsamenessandnocluewheretofocus.Everythingthatdeserves spaceonadashboardisimportant,butnotequallysotheviewer'seyesshouldalwaysbedirectedtothe mostcrucialinformationfirst.

 Figure327.Thisdashboardfailstodifferentiatedatabyitsimportance,givingrelativelyequalprominencetoeverythingonthe screen.

3.11.ClutteringtheDisplaywithUselessDecoration
AnothercommonproblemonthedashboardsthatIfindonvendorwebsitesistheabundanceofuseless decoration.Theyeitherhopethatwewillbedrawninbytheartistryorassumethatthedecorative flourishesarenecessarytoentertainus.Iassureyou,however,thatevenpeoplewhoenjoythedecoration uponfirstsightwillgrowwearyofitinafewdays. ThemakersofthedashboardinFigure328didanexceptionaljobofmakingitlooklikeanelectronic controlpanel.Ifthepurposeweretotrainpeopleintheuseofsomerealequipmentbymeansofa simulation,thiswouldbegreat,butthatisn'tthepurposeofadashboard.Thegraphicsdedicatedtothis endarepuredecoration,visualcontentthattheviewermustprocesstogettothedata.

 Figure328.Thisdashboardistryingtolooklikesomethingthatitisnot,resultinginuselessanddistractingdecoration.

IsuspectthatthedashboardinFigure329lookedtooplaintoitsdesigner,soshedecidedtomakeitlook likeapageinaspiralboundbookcute,butadistractingwasteofspace.

Figure329.Thisdashboardisanotherexampleofuselessdecorationthedesignertriedtomakethedashboardlooklikeapage inaspiralboundnotebook.

Likewise,I'dguessthatthedesignerofthedashboardinFigure330aftercreatingamap,abargraph,and atablethatalldisplaythesamedatadecidedthathehadtofilluptheremainingspace,sohewentwild withanexplosionofblueandgraycircles.Blankspaceisbetterthanmeaninglessdecoration.Canyou imagineyourselflookingatthiseveryday?

Figure330.Thisdashboardisavividexampleofdistractingornamentation.

Thelastexample,Figure331,includesseveralelementsofdecorationthatoughttobeeliminated.To beginwith,avisuallyornatelogoandtitleuseupthemostvaluablerealestateacrosstheentiretopofthe dashboard.Ifalogomustbeincludedforbrandingpurposes,makeitsmallandvisuallysubtle,andplaceit somewhereoutoftheway.Thebackgroundcolorsofgoldandbluecertainlydrawoureyestothedata,but theydosoinanunnecessarilyheavyhandedmanner.Also,thecolorgradientsfromdarktolightprovide visualinterestthatsupportsnorealpurposeandisthereforedistracting.Lastly,themapsinthe backgroundofthethreeuppergraphs,thoughvisuallymuted,stilldistractfromthedataitself.

 Figure331.Thisdashboardexhibitsseveralexamplesofdysfunctionaldecoration.

AsdatavisualizationexpertEdwardTufteobserves: Ineptgraphicsalsoflourishbecausemanygraphicartistsbelievethatstatisticsare boringandtedious.Itthenfollowsthatdecoratedgraphicsmustpepup,animate, andalltoooftenexaggeratewhatevidencethereisinthedataIfthestatisticsare boring,thenyou'vegotthewrongnumbers.1

3.12.MisusingorOverusingColor
We'vealreadyseenseveralexamplesofmisusedoroverusedcolor.TheremainingpointthatIwantto emphasizehereisthatcolorshouldnotbeusedhaphazardly.

EdwardR.Tufte,TheVisualDisplayofQuantitativeInformation(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,1983),80.

Colorchoicesshouldbemadethoughtfully,withanunderstandingofhowweperceivecolorandthe significanceofcolordifferences.Somecolorsarehotanddemandourattention,whileothersarecooler andlessvisible.Whenanycolorappearsasacontrastrelativetothenorm,oureyespayattentionandour brainsattempttoassignmeaningtothatcontrast.Whencolorsintwodifferentsectionsofadashboardare thesame,wearetemptedtorelatethemtooneanother.Wemerrilyassumethatwecanusecolorssuch asred,yellow,andgreentoassignimportantmeaningstodata,butindoingsoweexcludethe10%of malesand1%offemaleswhoarecolorblind.InChapter4,TappingintothePowerofVisualPerception, we'lllearnabitaboutcolorandhowitcanbeusedmeaningfullyandpowerfully.

3.13.DesigninganUnattractiveVisualDisplay
Notbeingonetomincewordsforthesakeofpropriety,I'llstatequitedirectlythatsomedashboardsare justplainugly.Whenweseethem,we'reinclinedtoavertoureyeshardlythedesiredreactiontoascreen that'ssupposedtobesupplyinguswithimportantinformation.Youmighthaveassumedfrommyearlier warningagainstunnecessarydecorationthatIhavenoconcernfordashboardaesthetics,butthat'snotthe case.Whenadashboardisunattractiveunpleasanttolookattheviewerisputinaframeofmindthatis notconducivetoitsuse.I'mnotadvocatingthatweaddtouchestomakedashboardspretty,butrather thatweattractivelydisplaythedataitself,withoutaddinganythingthatdistractsfromorobscuresit.(We'll examinetheaestheticsofdashboarddesignabitinChapter7,DesigningDashboardsforUsability.) Figure332onthenextpageisastellarexampleofunattractivedashboarddesign.Itappearsthatthe personwhocreatedthisdashboardattemptedtomakeitlooknice,buthejustdidn'thavethevisualdesign skillsneededtosucceed.Forinstance,inanefforttofillupthespace,somesections(suchasthegraphat thebottomright)weresimplystretched.Also,althoughshadesofgraycanbeusedeffectivelyasthe backgroundcolorofgraphs,thisparticularshadeistoodark.Theimagethatappearsunderthetitle "Manufacturing"isclearlyanattempttoredeemthisdrearydashboardwithasplashofdecoration,butit onlyservestodistractfromthedataandisn'tevenparticularlynicetolookat.Theguidingdesignprinciple ofsimplicityalonewouldhavesavedthisdashboardfromitscurrentagony.

 Figure332.Thisisanexampleofaratherunattractivedashboard.

Youdon'tneedtobeagraphicartisttodesignanattractivedashboard,butyoudoneedtounderstanda fewbasicprinciplesaboutvisualperception.We'llexaminetheseinthenextchapter.

Chapter4.TappingintothePowerofVisualPerception
Visionisbyfarourmostpowerfulsense.Seeingandthinkingareintimatelyconnected.Todisplaydata effectively,wemustunderstandabitaboutvisualperception,gleaningfromtheavailablebodyofscientific researchthosefindingsthatcanbeapplieddirectlytodashboarddesign:whatworks,whatdoesn't,and why.

Understandingthelimitsofshorttermmemory Visuallyencodingdataforrapidperception Gestaltprinciplesofvisualperception Itisn'taccidentalthatwhenwebegintounderstandsomethingwesay,"Isee."Not"Ihear"or"Ismell,"but "Isee."Visiondominatesoursensorylandscape.Asasensophile,Icherishtherichabundanceofsounds, smells,tastes,andtexturesthatinhabitourworld,butnoneoftheseprovidestherichvolume,bandwidth, andnuanceofinformationthatIperceivethroughvision.Approximately70%ofthesensereceptorsinour bodiesarededicatedtovision,andIsuspectthatthereisastrongcorrelationbetweentheextensive brainpoweranddominanceofvisualperceptionthathavecoevolvedinourspecies.Howweseeisclosely tiedtohowwethink. I'velearnedaboutvisualperceptionfrommanysources,butonestandsoutabovetheothersinits applicationtoinformationdesign:thebookInformationVisualization:PerceptionforDesignbyColinWare. Dr.Wareexpressestheimportanceofstudyingvisualperceptionbeautifully: Whyshouldwebeinterestedinvisualization?Becausethehumanvisualsystemisa patternseekerofenormouspowerandsubtlety.Theeyeandthevisualcortexofthe brainformamassivelyparallelprocessorthatprovidesthehighestbandwidth channelintohumancognitivecenters.Athigherlevelsofprocessing,perceptionand cognitionarecloselyinterrelatedHowever,thevisualsystemhasitsownrules.We caneasilyseepatternspresentedincertainways,butiftheyarepresentedinother ways,theybecomeinvisibleThemoregeneralpointisthatwhendataispresented incertainways,thepatternscanbereadilyperceived.Ifwecanunderstandhow perceptionworks,ourknowledgecanbetranslatedintorulesfordisplaying information.Followingperceptionbasedrules,wecanpresentourdatainsucha waythattheimportantandinformativepatternsstandout.Ifwedisobeytherules, ourdatawillbeincomprehensibleormisleading.1 We'llconcentrateourlookatvisualperceptiononthefollowingareas: Thelimitsofshorttermvisualmemory Visualencodingforrapidperception Gestaltprinciplesofvisualperception

Eachofthesetopicscanbeapplieddirectlytothedesignofdashboards.

4.1.UnderstandingtheLimitsofShortTermMemory
Intruth,wedon'tseewithoureyes;weseewithourbrains.Oureyesarethesensorymechanismsthrough whichlightentersandistranslatedbyneuronsintoelectricalimpulsesthatarepassedontoandaroundin ourbrains,butourbrainsarewhereperceptiontheprocessofmakingsenseofwhatoureyes registeractuallyoccurs.

ColinWare,InformationVisualization:PerceptionforDesign,SecondEdition(SanFrancisco:MorganKauffman, 2004),xxi.
1

Oureyesdonotregistereverythingthatisvisibleintheworldaroundus,butonlywhatlieswithintheir spanofperception.Onlyaportionofwhatoureyessensebecomesanobjectoffocus.Onlythroughfocus doeswhatweseebecomemorethanavaguesense.Onlyafractionofwhatwefocusonbecomesthe objectofattentionorconsciousthought.Finally,onlyalittlebitofwhatweattendtogetsstoredawayfor futureuse.Withouttheselimitsandfilters,perceptionwouldoverwhelmourbrains. Ourmemoriesstoreinformationstartingthemomentweseesomething,continuingasweconsciously processtheinformation,andfinallyaccumulatingoveryearsinapermanent(ornearlyso)storagearea whereinformationremainsreadyforuseifeverneededagainthatis,untilaccesstothatinformation eventuallybeginstoatrophy. Memorycomesinthreefundamentaltypes: Iconicmemory(a.k.a.thevisualsensoryregister) Shorttermmemory(a.k.a.workingmemory) Longtermmemory

Iconicmemoryisalotlikethevisualmemorybufferofacomputer:aplacewhereimagesarebrieflyheld untiltheycanbemovedtorandomaccessmemory(RAM),wheretheyresidewhilebeingprocessedbythe CPU.Eventhoughwhatgoesoniniconicmemoryispreconscious,acertaintypeofprocessingknownas preattentiveprocessingoccursnonetheless.Certainattributesofwhatweseearerecognizedduring preattentiveprocessingatanextraordinarilyhighspeed,whichresultsincertainthingsstandingoutand particularsetsofobjectsbeinggroupedtogether,allwithoutconsciousthought.Preattentiveprocessing playsapowerfulroleinvisualperception,andwecanintentionallydesignourdashboardstotake advantageofthisifweunderstandabitaboutit. Shorttermmemoryiswhereinformationresidesduringconsciousprocessing.Themostimportantthings toknowaboutshorttermmemoryare: Itistemporary.1 Aportionofitisdedicatedtovisualinformation. Ithasalimitedstoragecapacity.

Wecanstoreonlythreetoninechunksofvisualinformationatatimeinshorttermmemory.Whenits capacityisfull,forsomethingnewtobebroughtintoshorttermmemory,somethingthat'salreadythere musteitherbemovedintolongtermmemoryorsimplyremovedaltogether(thatis,forgotten).What constitutesa"chunk"ofvisualinformationvariesdependingonthenatureoftheobjectsweareseeing, aspectsoftheirdesign,andourfamiliaritywiththem.Forinstance,individualnumbersonadashboardare storedasdiscretechunks,butawelldesignedgraphicalpattern,suchasthepatternformedbyoneor morelinesinalinegraph,canrepresentagreatdealofinformationasasinglechunk.Thisisoneofthe greatadvantagesofgraphs(whenusedappropriatelyandskillfullydesigned)overtext.Dashboardsshould bedesignedinawaythatsupportsoptimalchunkingtogetherofinformationsothatitcanbeperceived andunderstoodmostefficiently,inbigvisualgulps.
Informationremainsinshorttermmemoryfromafewsecondstoaslongasafewhoursifperiodicallyrehearsed; thenitisflushed.Ifrehearsedinaparticularway,informationismovedfromshorttermmemorytolongterm memory,whereitisstoredmorepermanentlyforlaterrecall.Wheninformationisrecalledfromlongtermmemory, itistemporarilymovedonceagainintoshorttermmemory,whereitisprocessed.
1

Thelimitedcapacityofshorttermmemoryisalsothereasonwhyinformationthatbelongstogethershould neverbefragmentedintomultipledashboards,andscrollingshouldn'tberequiredtoseeitall.Oncethe informationisnolongervisible,unlessitisoneofthefewchunksofinformationstoredinshortterm memory,itisnolongeravailable.Ifyouscrollorpagebacktoseeitagain,youthenloseaccesstowhatyou weremostrecentlyviewing.Aslongaseverythingyouneedremainswithineyespanonasingledashboard, however,youcanrapidlyexchangeinformationinandoutofshorttermmemoryatlightningspeed.

4.2.VisuallyEncodingDataforRapidPerception
Preattentiveprocessing,theearlystageofvisualperceptionthatrapidlyoccursbelowthelevelof consciousness,istunedtodetectaspecificsetofvisualattributes.Attentiveprocessingissequential,and thereforemuchslower.Thedifferenceiseasytodemonstrate.Takeamomenttoexaminethefourrowsof numbersinFigure41,andtrytodetermineasquicklyasyoucanthenumberoftimesthenumber5 appearsinthelist.

Figure41.Howmanyfivesareinthislist?Notetheslowspeedatwhichweprocessvisualstimulithatlackpreattentive attributes.

Howmanydidyoufind?Thecorrectanswerissix.Whetheryougottheanswerrightornot,theprocess tookyouawhilebecauseitinvolvedattentiveprocessing.Thelistofnumbersdidnotexhibitany preattentiveattributesthatyoucouldusetodistinguishthefivesfromtheothernumbers.Nowtryitagain, thistimeusingthelistofnumbersinFigure42.

Figure42.Howmanyfivesdoyouseenow?Notethefastspeedatwhichweprocessvisualstimulithatexhibitpreattentive attributes.

Mucheasierthistime,wasn'tit?Inthisfigurethefivescouldeasilybedistinguishedfromtheother numbers,duetotheirdifferingcolorintensity(oneofthepreattentiveattributeswe'lldiscussbelow):the fivesareblackwhilealltheothernumbersaregray,whichcausesthemtostandoutinclearcontrast.Why couldn'tweeasilydistinguishthefivesinthefirstsetofnumbers(Figure41)basedpurelyontheirunique shape?Becausethecomplexshapesofthenumbersarenotattributesthatweperceivepreattentively. Simpleshapessuchascirclesandsquaresarepreattentivelyperceived,buttheshapesofnumbersaretoo elaborate. InInformationVisualization:PerceptionforDesign,ColinWaresuggeststhatthepreattentiveattributesof visualperceptioncanbeorganizedintofourcategories:color,form,spatialposition,andmotion.Forour presentinterestrelatedtodashboarddesign,I'vereducedhislargerlistof17preattentiveattributestothe following11:

Table41.

Category Attribute Color Hue

Illustration

Intensity

Position

2Dlocation

Form

Orientation

Linelength

Linewidth

Size

Shape

Added marks

Enclosure

Motion

Flicker

Avisualattributeofanobject,suchascolor,continuouslychangesbackandforth betweentwovalues,ortheentireobjectitselfrepeatedlyappearsandthen disappears.

Eachofthesevisualattributescanbeconsciouslyappliedtodashboarddesigntogrouporhighlight information.Somecanbeusedtoencodequantitativeinformationaswell,aswe'lldiscussbelow. 4.2.1.AttributesofColor Acommonwaytodescribecolorcombinesthreeattributes:hue,saturation,andlightness/brightness.This issometimesreferredtoastheHSLorHSBsystemofdescribingcolor.Hueisamoreprecisetermforwhat wenormallythinkofascolor(red,green,blue,purple,etc.).Saturationmeasuresthedegreetowhicha particularhueexhibitsitsfull,pureessence.ThesaturationoftheredhueinFigure43rangesfrom0% saturationontheleftto100%saturationontheright.

Figure43.Thefullrangeofcolorsaturation,inthiscaseofthehuered,with0%saturationontheleftand100%saturationon theright.

Lightness(orbrightness)measuresthedegreetowhichanyhueappearsdarkorlight,rangingfromfully dark(black)tofullylight(white).ThefullrangeoflightnessisshownfortheredhueinFigure44.

Figure44.Thefullrangeofcolorlightness,inthiscaseofthehuered,with0%lightnessontheleft(pureblack)and100% lightnessontheright(purewhite).

Intensityreferstobothsaturationandlightness.TheillustrationofcolorintensityonSection4.2showsa circlethatvariesfromtheothersnotasadifferenthuebutasalighter(thatis,lessintense)versionofthe samehue.Botharedifferentpointsalongacolorscalethatrangesfromwhite(nobrown)toarichdark shadeofbrown(fullybrown).Itreallyisn'tnecessarytofullyunderstandthetechnicaldistinctionbetween saturationandlightness,whichiswhyIdescribethembothmoresimplyasintensity. Oneoftheinteresting(buthardlyintuitive)thingsaboutcoloristhatwedon'tperceivecolorinanabsolute way.Whatweseeisdramaticallyinfluencedbythecontextthatsurroundsit.Takealookatthegray squaresinFigure45.Theyappeartovaryinintensity,butinfacttheyareallexactlythesameasthelone squarethatappearsagainstawhitebackgroundatthebottom.

Figure45.Contextaffectsourperceptionofcolorintensity.Thesmallsquareisactuallytheexactsameshadeofgray everywhereitappears.

Allfivesquareshaveacolorvalueof50%black,yetthesurroundinggrayscalegradient,rangingfromlight onthelefttodarkontheright,altersourperceptionofthem.Thisperceptualillusionappliesnotonlyto intensity,buttohue.InFigure46,theword"Text"appearsagainsttwobackgrounds:redandblue.Inboth cases,thecoloroftheword"Text"isthesame.However,itnotonlylooksdifferent,butit'smuchless visibleagainsttheredbackground.

Figure46.Contextalsoaffectsourperceptionofhue.Theword"Text"isexactlythesamehueinbothboxes.

Colormustbeusedwithafullawarenessofcontext.Wenotonlywantdatatobefullylegible,butalsoto appearthesamewhenwewishittoappearthesameanddifferentwhenwewishittoappeardifferent. 4.2.2.AttributesofForm Someofthevisualattributesofformhavenoobviousconnectiontodashboarddesign,buttheirrelevance shouldbecomeclearwithalittleexplanation.Themostcommonapplicationoforientationisintheformof

italicizedtext,whichistextthathasbeenreorientedfromstraightupanddowntoslightlyslantedtothe right.Iusuallydiscouragetheuseofitalicizedtextasameansofmakingsomewordsstandoutfromthe rest,becauseitalicsarehardertoreadthannormalverticallyorientedtext.However,itissometimesuseful inapinch. Indashboarddesign,theattributeoflinelengthismostusefulforencodingquantitativevaluesasbarsina bargraph.Linewidth,ontheotherhand,canbeusefulforhighlightingpurposes.Youcanthinkofline widthasthethicknessorstrokeweightofaline.Whenlinesareusedtounderlinecontentor,intheform ofboxes,toformbordersaroundcontent,youcandrawmoreattentiontothatcontentbyincreasingthe thicknessofthelines. Therelativesizesofobjectsthatappearonadashboardcanbeusedtovisuallyranktheirimportance.For instance,largertitlesforsectionsofcontent,orlargertables,graphs,oricons,canbeusedtodeclarethe greaterimportanceoftheassociateddata.Simpleshapescanbeusedingraphstodifferentiatedatasets and,intheformoficons,toassigndistinctmeanings,suchasdifferenttypesofalerts.Addedmarksare mostusefulondashboardsintheformofsimpleiconsthatappearnexttodatathatneedattention.Any simplemark(suchasacircle,asquare,anasterisk,oranX),whenplacednexttoinformationonlywhenit mustbehighlighted,worksasasimplemeansofdrawingattention.Lastonthelistofformattributesis enclosure,whichisapowerfulmeansofgroupingsectionsofdataor,whenusedsparingly,highlighting contentasimportant.Tocreatethevisualeffectofenclosure,youcanuseeitheraborderorafillcolor behindthecontent. 4.2.3.AttributesofPosition Thepreattentiveattribute2Dpositionistheprimarymeansthatweusetoencodequantitativedatain graphs(forexample,thepositionofdatapointsinrelationtoaquantitativescale).Thisisn'tarbitrary.Ofall thepreattentiveattributes,differencesin2Dpositionaretheeasiestandmostaccuratetoperceive.1 4.2.4.AttributesofMotion AsItypethesewords,Iamawareofmycursorflickeringonandoffonthescreen.Flickerwaschosenas themeanstohelpuslocatethecursorbecauseitisapowerfulattentiongetter.Evolutionhasequippedus withaheightenedsensitivitytosomethingthatsuddenlyappearswithinourfieldofvision.Ourancient ancestorsfounditveryvaluabletobecomeinstantlyalertwhenasabertoothedtigersuddenlyspranginto theirperipheralvision.AsI'msureyou'reaware,flickeringobjectsonascreencanbequiteannoyingand thusshouldusuallybeavoided.Still,thereareoccasionswhenflickerisuseful.Thisisespeciallytruefor dashboardsthatareconstantlyupdatedwithrealtimedataandareusedtomonitoroperationsthat requireimmediateresponses. 4.2.5.EncodingQuantitativeVersusCategoricalData Someofthepreattentiveattributesthatwe'veexaminedcanbeusedtocommunicatequantitativedata, whileotherscanbeusedonlytocommunicatecategoricaldata.Thatis,whilesomeattributesallowusto perceiveonethingasgreaterthanothersinsomeway(bigger,taller,moreimportant),othersmerely indicatethatitemsaredistinctfromoneanother,withoutanysenseofsomebeinggreaterthanorless thanothers.Forexample,differentshapescanbeperceivedasdistinct,butonlycategorically.Squaresare
Perhapsyou'venoticedthatI'vespecified"2D"positionanobject'slocationrelativetotheverticalandhorizontal dimensionsonlyandhaveignored3Dposition,alsoknownasstereoscopicposition.3Dpositionisalsoapreattentive attribute,butthepseudo3Deffectthatcanbeproducedontheflatsurfaceofacomputerscreencomeswithabevy ofperceptualproblemsthatcomplicateitsuse.3Delementsaresorarelynecessarytocommunicatebusiness informationandsodifficulttodesigneffectivelythatIrecommendthatyouavoidusingthemaltogether.
1

notgreaterthantrianglesorcirclesthey'rejustdifferent.Thefollowingtableagainlistseachofthe preattentiveattributesandindicateswhicharequantitativelyperceived: Table42. Category Color Position Form

Motion

Attribute Hue Intensity 2Dposition Orientation Linelength Linewidth Size Shape Addedmarks Enclosure Flicker

Quantitative No Yes,butlimited Yes No Yes Yes,butlimited Yes,butlimited No No No Yes,basedonspeed,butlimited

Note:Youmightarguethatwecanperceiveorientationandcurvaturequantitatively,butthereisno naturalassociationofgreaterorlesservaluewithdifferentorientationsordegreesofcurvature(for example,whichisgreater,averticalorhorizontalline?). Wecanusethoseattributeswithquantitativeperceptiondescribedas"Yes,butlimited"toencourage perceptionofonethingasgreaterthan,equalto,orlessthananother,butnotwithanydegreeof precision.Forexample,inFigure47,itisobviousthatthecircleontherightisbiggerthanthecircleonthe left,buthowmuchbigger?Ifthesmallcirclehasasizeofone,whatisthesizeofthebiggercircle?

Figure47.Thisillustratesourinabilitytoassignprecisequantitativevaluestoobjectsofdifferentsizes.

Thecorrectansweris16,butit'slikelythatyouguessedalowernumber.Humanstendtounderestimate differencesin2Dareas,andhenceyoumustbewaryofusing2Dareasofdifferentsizestoencode quantitativevaluesespeciallyonadashboard,wherespeedofinterpretationisessential.

Itisimportanttounderstandthedifferentwaysthatthepreattentiveattributescanbeusedtogroupand encodedata,butbysplittingthemalongtheselinesquantitativeandcategoricaldonotmeantoimplythat onlythoseattributesthatenableviewerstomakequantitativecomparisonsareofusetodashboard designers.Ourinabilitytoperceivecertainpreattentiveattributesquantitativelydoesnotrenderthem uselesstous.Eachofthemcanbeusedtodividedataintodistinctcategories,tovisuallylinkdatatogether evenwhenitisseparatedspatially,andtohighlightdata. 4.2.6.LimitstoPerceptualDistinctness Whendesigningdashboards,bearinmindthatthereisalimittothenumberofdistinctexpressionsofa singlepreattentiveattributethatwecanquicklyandeasilydistinguish.Forexample,whenusingvarying intensitiesofthecolorgraytodistinguishdatasetsinalinegraph,youmustmakesurethatthecolorof eachlineisdifferentenoughfromthoseclosestincolortoittoclearlystandoutasdistinct.Whenyou placeenoughperceptualdistancebetweenthecolorintensitiesoftheseparatelinestomakethem sufficientlydistinct,there'sapracticallimitofaboutfivetothenumberofdistinctexpressionsthatare availableacrossthegrayscale.InFigure48,itiseasytoseethatitwouldbedifficulttoincludemoregray linesthatwouldstandoutasdistinctwithoutrequiringcareful,conscious,andthusslowexaminationon thepartoftheviewer.

Figure48.Thereisapracticallimitofaboutfivedistinctcolorintensitiesonthegrayscalecontinuumthatcanbeusedto encodeseparatelinesinagraph.

Similarlimitsapplytoeveryoneofthepreattentiveattributes,exceptlinelength(suchasthelengthofa baronagraph)and2Dlocation(suchasthelocationofadatapointonagraph).Whenorganizingdata intodistinctgroupsusingdifferentexpressionsofanypreattentiveattribute,youshouldbecarefulnotto exceedfivedistinctexpressions.Whenusingtheshapeattribute,inadditiontothislimityoumustalsobe carefultochooseshapesthataresimple,suchascircles,squares,triangles,dashes,andcrosses(orXs). Rememberthatcomplexshapes,includingmosticons,arenotperceivedpreattentively.Whenusinghue, keepinmindthateventhoughwecaneasilydistinguishmorethanfivehues,shorttermmemorycan't simultaneouslyretainthemeaningofmorethanaboutnineintotal.Also,theuseoftoomanyhuesresults inadashboardthatlookscluttered,withtoomanydistinctionstosortthroughquickly.Whendesigning dashboards,ithelpstopreparestandardsetsofhues,colorintensities,shapes,andsoonfromwhichto

choose,andthensticktothem.Thiswillkeepthedisplayperceptuallysimpleandwilleliminatetheneedto selectvisualattributesfromscratcheachtimeyoumustchooseone. 4.2.7.UsingVividandSubtleColorsAppropriately ColorissooftenmisusedindashboarddesignthatI'mcompelledtoemphasizeonemoreprincipleofits use.Somecolorsaresoothing,andsometakeholdofusandshakeusaround.Knowingthedifferenceis quiteimportant.Therearetimeswhenparticularinformationneedstograbtheviewer'sattentioninan unavoidableway,butusingcolorforthispurposeworksonlyifit'sdonesparingly.Reservetheuseof bright,fullysaturatedcolorforthesespecialcases.Colorsthatarecommoninnature,suchassoftgrays, browns,oranges,greens,andblues,workverywellasastandardcolorpalettefordashboards.Theyallow theviewertoperusethedashboardcalmlywithanopenmind,ratherthanstressfully,withpinpoint attentioninresponsetoassaultingcolors.Figure49displaysexamplesofstandardandboldcolorpalettes.

Figure49.Examplesoftwocolorpalettes:oneforstandarduseandoneforemphasis.

4.3.GestaltPrinciplesofVisualPerception
Backin1912,theGestaltSchoolofPsychologybeganitsfruitfuleffortstounderstandhowweperceive pattern,form,andorganizationinwhatwesee.TheGermanterm"gestalt"simplymeans"pattern."These researchersrecognizedthatweorganizewhatweseeinparticularwaysinanefforttomakesenseofit. TheirworkresultedinacollectionofGestaltprinciplesofperceptionthatrevealthosevisualcharacteristics thatinclineustogroupobjectstogether.Theseprinciplesstillstandtodayasaccurateanduseful descriptionsofvisualperception,andtheyofferseveralusefulinsightsthatwecanapplydirectlyinour dashboarddesignstointentionallytiedatatogether,separatedata,ormakesomedatastandoutas distinctfromtherest. We'llexaminethefollowingsixprinciples: Proximity Closure Similarity Continuity Enclosure Connection

4.3.1.ThePrincipleofProximity Weperceiveobjectsthatarelocatednearoneanotherasbelongingtothesamegroup.Figure410clearly illustratesthisprinciple.Basedontheirrelativelocations,weautomaticallyseethedotsasbelongingto threeseparategroups.Thisisthesimplestwaytolinkdatathatyouwanttobeseentogether.Whitespace aloneisusuallyallyouneedtoseparatethesegroupsfromtheotherdatathatsurroundsthem.

Figure410.TheGestaltprincipleofproximityexplainswhywesee3groupsinsteadofjust10dotsinthisimage.

Theprincipleofproximitycanalsobeusedtodirectviewerstoscandataonadashboardpredominantlyin aparticulardirection:eitherlefttorightortoptobottom.Placingsectionsofdataclosertogether horizontallyencouragesviewers'eyestogroupthesectionshorizontally,andthustoscanfromlefttoright. Placingsectionsofdataclosertogetherverticallyachievestheoppositeeffect. NoticehowsubtlythisworksinFigure411.Youarenaturallyinclinedtoscanthesmallsquaresthatappear onthelefthorizontallyasrowsandtheonesontherightverticallyascolumns,allbecauseofhowtheyare positionedinrelationtoeachother.

Figure411.TheGestaltprincipleofproximitycanbeusedtoencourageeitherhorizontalorverticalscanning.

4.3.2.ThePrincipleofSimilarity Wetendtogrouptogetherobjectsthataresimilarincolor,size,shape,andorientation.Figure412 illustratesthistendency.

 Figure412.Whenobjectssharesomevisualattributeincommon,wetendtoseethemasbelongingtothesamegroup.

Thisprinciplereinforceswhatwe'vealreadylearnedabouttheusefulnessofcolor(bothhueandintensity), size,shape,andorientationtoencodecategoricalvariables.Theprincipleofsimilarityappliesvery effectivelytogroupsofvisualobjectsthatvaryasdifferentexpressionsofpreattentiveattributessuchas these.Itworksespeciallywellasameansofidentifyingdifferentdatasetsinagraph(forexample,income, expenses,andprofits).Evenwhendatathatwewishtolinkresidesinseparatelocationsonadashboard, theprincipleofsimilaritycanbeappliedtoestablishthatlink. Forinstance,ifyouwishtotietogetherrevenueinformationthatappearsinvariousgraphs,youcandoso byusingthesamecolortoencodeitwhereveritappears.Thistechniquecanbeusefulforencouraging comparisonsofanydatathatappearinvariousplaces,suchasordercount,ordersize,andorderrevenue. 4.3.3.ThePrincipleofEnclosure Weperceiveobjectsasbelongingtogetherwhentheyareenclosedbyanythingthatformsavisualborder aroundthem(forexample,alineoracommonfieldofcolor).Thisenclosurecausestheobjectstoappear tobesetapartinaregionthatisdistinctfromtherestofwhatwesee.Noticehowstronglyyoureyesare inducedtogrouptheenclosedobjectsinFigure413.

Figure413.TheGestaltprincipleofenclosurepointsoutthatanyformofvisualenclosurecausesustoseetheenclosedobjects asagroup.

Thearrangementofthetwosetsofcirclesinthisfigureisexactlythesame,yetthedifferingenclosures directustogroupthecirclesinverydifferentways.Thisprincipleisexhibitedfrequentlyintheuseof bordersandfillcolorsorshadingintablesandgraphstogroupinformationandsetitapart.Asyoucansee, itdoesnottakeastrongenclosure(e.g.,bright,thicklinesordominantcolors)tocreateastrong perceptionofgrouping.

4.3.4.ThePrincipleofClosure Humanshaveakeendislikeforlooseends.Whenfacedwithambiguousvisualstimuliobjectsthatcouldbe perceivedeitherasopen,incomplete,andunusualformsorasclosed,whole,andregularformswe naturallyperceivethemasthelatter.Theprincipleofclosureassertsthatweperceiveopenstructuresas closed,complete,andregularwheneverthereisawaythatwecanreasonablydoso.Figure414illustrates thisprinciple.

Figure414.TheGestaltprincipleofclosureexplainswhyweseetheseasclosedshapes,despitethefactthattheyarenot finished.

ItisnaturalforustoperceivewhatappearsontheleftinFigure414asarectangleratherthantwosetsof threeconnectedlinesconnectedatrightanglesandtoperceivetheobjectontherightasacompleteoval ratherthansimplyacurvedline. Wecanapplythistendencytoperceivewholestructuresindashboards,especiallyinthedesignofgraphs. Forexample,wecangroupobjects(points,lines,orbarsinagraph,etc.)intovisualregionswithouttheuse ofcompletebordersorbackgroundcolorstodefinethespace.Thisispreferable,becausetheneedto displayalargecollectionofdatainasmallamountofspacerequiresthatweeliminateallvisualcontent thatisnotabsolutelynecessary,toavoidclutter.AsshowninFigure415,itissufficienttodefinethearea ofagraphthroughtheuseofasinglesetofXandYaxes,ratherthanbylinesthatformacomplete rectanglearoundthegraph,withorwithoutafillcolor.

Figure415.TheGestaltprincipleofclosurealsoexplainswhyonlytwoaxes,ratherthanfullenclosure,arerequiredonagraph todefinethespaceinwhichthedataappears.

4.3.5.ThePrincipleofContinuity Weperceiveobjectsasbelongingtogether,aspartofasinglewhole,iftheyarealignedwithoneanotheror appeartoformacontinuationofoneanother.InFigure416,forinstance,wetendtoseetheindividual linesasacontinuationofoneanother,moreasadashedlinethanseparatelines.

Figure416.TheGestaltprincipleofcontinuityexplainswhyweseethisasasinglewavyline.

Thingsthatarealignedwithoneanotherappeartobelongtothesamegroup.InthetableinFigure417,it isobviouswhichitemsaredivisionnamesandwhicharedepartmentnames,basedontheirdistinct alignment.Divisions,departments,andheadcountsareclearlygrouped,withoutanyneedforverticalgrid linestodelineatethem.Eventhoughthedivisionanddepartmentcolumnsoverlapwithnowhitespacein between,theirdistinctalignmentalonemakesthemeasytodistinguish.Thissametechniquecanbeused totietogetherseparatesectionsofdataonadashboard.

Figure417.TheGestaltprincipleofcontinuityalsoexplainshowtheindentationoftextworksasameanstogroupinformation.

4.3.6.ThePrincipleofConnection Weperceiveobjectsthatareconnectedinsomeway,suchasbyaline,aspartofthesamegroup.InFigure 418,eventhoughthecirclesarenearertooneanotherverticallythanhorizontally,thelinesthatconnect themcreateaclearperceptionoftwohorizontallyattachedpairs.

 Figure418.TheGestaltprincipleofconnectionexplainswhyweseethesedotsgroupedbyrowsratherthancolumns.

AsFigure419illustrates,theperceptionofgroupingproducedbyconnectionisstrongerthanthat producedbyproximityorsimilarity(color,size,andshape);itisweakeronlythanthatproducedby enclosure.Theprincipleofconnectionisespeciallyusefulfortyingtogethernonquantitativedatafor example,torepresentrelationshipsbetweenstepsinaprocessorbetweenemployeesinanorganization.

Figure419.Whenobjectsareconnected,suchasbythelinesintheseexamples,theyaregroupedtogethermorepowerfully thanbyjustaboutanyothervisualmeans.Onlytheenclosureintherightmostexamplemorestronglygroupsthetwosquares ontherightthantheconnectionsformedbythelines.

4.4.ApplyingthePrinciplesofVisualPerceptiontoDashboardDesign
Twoofthegreatestchallengesindashboarddesignaretomakethemostimportantdatastandoutfrom therest,andtoarrangewhatisoftenagreatdealofdisparateinformationinawaythatmakessense,gives itmeaning,andsupportsitsefficientperception.Anunderstandingofthepreattentiveattributesofvisual perceptionandtheGestaltprinciplesprovidesausefulconceptualfoundationforfacingthesechallenges.It ismuchmorehelpfultounderstandhowandwhysomethingworksthantosimplyunderstandthat somethingworks.Ifyouunderstandthehowandwhy,whenyou'refacedwithnewchallengesyou'llbe abletodeterminewhetherornottheprinciplesapplyandhowtoadaptthemtothenewcircumstances.If you'vesimplybeentoldthatsomethingworksinaspecificsituation,you'llbestuckwhenfacedwith conditionsthatareevenslightlydifferent. Asyouproceedintothecomingchapters,you'llhaveseveralopportunitiestoreinforceyourgraspofvisual perceptionbyapplyingwhatyou'velearnedtoseveralrealworlddashboarddesignproblems.

Chapter5.EloquenceThroughSimplicity
Nowthatyou'refamiliarwithsomeofthesciencebehinddashboarddesign,it'stimetotakealookatafew strategiesyoucanemploytocreateeffectivedisplays.Theguidingprincipleindashboarddesignshould alwaysbesimplicity:displaythedataasclearlyandsimplyaspossible,andavoidunnecessaryand distractingdecoration.

Characteristicsofawelldesigneddashboard Reducingthenondatapixels Enhancingthedatapixels Inearlierchapters,weconcentratedonwhatdoesn'twork.Nowit'stimetoshiftourfocustowhatdoes, beginningwiththedesignprocessitselfthegoalsandstepsnecessarytoproducedashboardsthatinform rapidlywithimpeccableclarity.

5.1.CharacteristicsofaWellDesignedDashboard
Thefundamentalchallengeofdashboarddesigninvolvessqueezingagreatdealofusefulandoften disparateinformationintoasmallamountofspace,allthewhilepreservingclarity.Thiscertainlyisn'tthe onlychallengeothersabound,suchasselectingtherightdatainthefirstplacebutitistheprimary challengethatisparticulartodashboards.Limitedtoasinglescreentokeepallthedatawithineyespan, dashboardrealestateisextremelyvaluable:youcan'taffordtowasteaninch.Fittingeverythinginwithout sacrificingmeaningdoesn'trequiremuscles,itrequiresfinesse.

Figure51.Thefundamentalchallengeofdashboarddesignistoeffectivelydisplayagreatdealofoftendisparatedatainasmall amountofspace.

Unlessyouknowwhatyou'redoing,you'llendupwithaclutteredmess.Thinkforamomentaboutthe cockpitofacommercialjet.Yearsofeffortwentintoitsdesigntoensurethatdespitethemanythings

pilotsmustmonitor,theycanseeeverythingthat'sgoingonataglance.EverytimeIboardaplane,I'm gratefulthatskilleddesignersworkedhardtopresentthisinformationeffectively.Similarcareisneededfor thedesignofdashboards,butunlikeaircraftcockpitdesign,fewofthosewhocreatedashboardshave actuallystudiedthescienceofdesign.Youcanbecomeanexceptiontothisunfortunateandcostlynorm.It isunlikelythatpeoplewilllosetheirlivesifyoufail,butbusinessesdooccasionallycrashandburnand frequentlylosemoneyduetofailedcommunicationofjustthissort. HenryDavidThoreauoncepennedthesamewordthreetimesinsuccessiontoemphasizeanimportant qualityoflifethatappliestodesignaswell:"Simplify,simplify,simplify!"1ThoughIoftenfail,Istrivetolive mylifeandtodesignallformsofcommunicationaccordingtoThoreau'ssageadvicetokeepthingssimple. Eloquenceincommunicationisoftenachievedthroughsimplification.Toooftenwesmearathicklayerof gaudymakeupoverdatainanefforttoimpressorentertain,ratherthanfocusingoncommunicatingthe truthofthematterintheclearestpossibleway. Whendesigningdashboards,youmustincludeonlytheinformationthatyouabsolutelyneed,youmust condenseitinwaysthatdon'tdecreaseitsmeaning,andyoumustdisplayitusingvisualdisplay mechanismsthat,evenwhenquitesmall,canbeeasilyreadandunderstood.Welldesigneddashboards deliverinformationthatis: Exceptionallywellorganized Condensed,primarilyintheformofsummariesandexceptions Specifictoandcustomizedforthedashboard'saudienceandobjectives Displayedusingconciseandoftensmallmediathatcommunicatethedataanditsmessagein theclearestandmostdirectwaypossible

Dashboardstellpeoplewhat'shappeningandshouldhelpthemimmediatelyrecognizewhatneedstheir attention.Justlikethedashboardofacar,whichprovideseasilymonitoredmeasuresofspeed,remaining fuel,oillevel,batterystrength,enginetrouble,andsoon,abusinessinformationdashboardprovidesan overviewthatcanbeassimilatedquickly,butdoesn'tnecessarilygiveyoualltheinformationyoumight needtothoroughlyrespondtoanyproblemsoropportunitiesthatarerevealed. Afulldiagnosistodeterminehowtorespondtothedatagleanedfromadashboardoftenrequires additionalinformation.Thisisasitshouldbe,becauseadashboardthattriedtogiveyoueverythingyou needtodoyourjob,includingallthedetails,wouldbeunreadable.Instead,dashboardsshouldprovidea broadandhighleveloverviewthatinformsyouinstantlyaboutthestateofthings.Iftheygofurtherby providingquickandeasyaccesstotheadditionalinformationthatyoumightneed,that'swonderfulbut thatjourneytakesyoubeyondthedashboarditself. 5.1.1.CondensingInformationviaSummarizationandException Thebestwaytocondenseabroadspectrumofinformationtofitontoadashboardisintheformof summariesandexceptions.Summarizationinvolvestheprocessofreduction.Summariesrepresentasetof numbers(oftenalargeset)asasinglenumber.Thetwomostcommonsummariesthatappearon dashboardsaresumsandaverages.Measuresofdistributionandcorrelationaresometimesappropriate, butthesearerelativelyrare. Giventhepurposeofadashboardtohelppeoplemonitorwhat'sgoingon,muchoftheinformationit presentsisnecessaryonlywhensomethingunusualishappening;somethingthatfallsoutsidetherealmof
1

HenryDavidThoreau,Walden(originallypublishedin1864).

normality,intotherealmofproblemsandopportunities.Whymakesomeonewadethroughhundredsof valueswhenonlyoneortworequireattention?Wecallthesecriticalvaluesexceptions. Thebestdashboardsaredesignedtospecificallyaddressinformationneedsrelatedtoaparticularobjective orsetofobjectives.Notonlyshouldtheinformationbenarrowedtowhatdirectlyapplies,butthe communicationofthatinformationshoulduseitsaudience'svocabulary.Youwouldn'texpressthe relationshipbetweenthecostsofmarketingandresultingrevenuesasalinearcorrelationcoefficientifthe audiencehadnoideawhatthatwasorhowtomakesenseofit.Afamiliargraphwoulddoabetterjob. Likewise,youwouldn'tbreakthedataintomonthsiftheaudiencewerecomposedofsalesmanagerswho thinkentirelyintermsofweeks.Customizationisvitaltothesuccessofadashboard. Anaspectofcustomizationthatisoftenoverlookedinvolvesexpressingquantitativedataatalevelof precisionthatisappropriatetothetaskathand.Thegreaterthenumericprecision,themoretimeitwill takeviewerstoabsorbthedata.Whenexaminingfinancials,mostexecutivesrarelyneedtoseenumbers downtothelevelofcentsorevenbeyondthenearestthousand,tenthousand,hundredthousand,oreven million,butthemanagerofaccountingmightneedtoseeeverypenny. Displaymediamustbedesignedtosayexactlywhattheyneedtosaynomoredirectly,clearly,andwithout anyformofdistraction,inawaythatcommunicatesthemaximummeaningintheminimumamountof space.Ifadisplaymechanismthatlookslikeafuelgauge,thermometer,ortrafficsignalcommunicatesthe necessaryinformationinthismanner,thenthat'swhatyououghttouse.If,however,itfailsanyofthese tests,itoughttobereplacedwithsomethingthatdoesthejobbetter.Insistingoncutedisplayswhenother meanswouldworkbetteriscounterproductive,evenifeveryoneseemstobeinlovewiththem.Thisloveis fickle.Theappealofcutenesswillfadequickly,andtheonlythingthatwillmatterthenishowwellthe displaydeviceworks:howefficientlyandeffectivelyitcommunicates. Twofundamentalprinciplesshouldguidetheselectionoftheidealdashboarddisplaymedia: Itmustbethebestwaytodisplayaparticulartypeofinformationthatiscommonlyfoundin dashboards. Itmustbeabletoserveitspurposeevenwhensizedtofitintoasmallspace.

Inthenextchapter,we'llexamineanideallibraryofdashboarddisplaymediathatfulfillthese requirements.Fornow,let'sexaminesomedesignprinciples.

5.2.KeyGoalsintheVisualDesignProcess
EdwardR.Tufteintroducedaconceptinhis1983classicTheVisualDisplayofQuantitativeInformationthat hecallsthe"datainkratio."Whenquantitativedataisdisplayedinprintedform,someoftheinkthat appearsonthepagepresentsdata,andsomepresentsvisualcontentthatisnotdata(a.k.a.nondata). Figure52showstwodisplaysofquantitativedata:oneintheformofatableandtheotherintheformofa graph.Takeaminutetoexaminethemandtrytodifferentiatethedatainkfromthenondataink.

 Figure52.Thistableandgraphconsistofbothdatainkandnondataink.

Thereisn'tmuchnondatainkineitherthetableorthegraph,becausetheywereintentionallydesignedto keepittoaminimum.Figure53showsthesametableandgraph,thistimewiththenondatainkencoded asred.

Figure53.Here,thenondatainkishighlightedinred.

Tuftedefinesthedatainkratiointhefollowingway: Alargeshareofinkonagraphicshouldpresentdatainformation,theinkchanging asthedatachange.Datainkisthenonerasablecoreofagraphic,thenon redundantinkarrangedinresponsetovariationinthenumbersrepresented.Then, Datainkratio =dataink/totalinkusedtoprintthegraphic =proportionofagraphic'sinkdevotedtothenonredundantdisplayofdata information =1.0proportionofagraphicthatcanbeerasedwithoutlossofdatainformation.1 Hethenappliesitasaprincipleofdesign:"Maximizethedatainkratio,withinreason.Everybitofinkona graphicrequiresareason.Andnearlyalwaysthatreasonshouldbethattheinkpresentsnewinformation."2 Thisprincipleappliesperfectlytothedesignofdashboards,withonesimplerevision:becausedashboards arealwaysdisplayedoncomputerscreens,I'vechangedtheword"ink"to"pixels."Acrosstheentire dashboard,nondatapixelsanypixelsthatarenotusedtodisplaydata,excludingablankbackground shouldbereducedtoareasonableminimum.TakeamomenttoexaminethedashboardinFigure54on thenextpageandtrytoidentifythenondatapixelsthatcanbeeliminatedwithoutsacrificinganything meaningful.
1 2

EdwardR.Tufte,TheVisualDisplayofQuantitativeInformation(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,1983),93. Ibid.,96.

 Figure54.Thisdashboarddisplaysanexcessiveamountofnondatapixels.

Thenondatapixelsthatyoucouldeasilyeliminatewithoutanylossofmeaninginclude: Thethirddimensionofdepthonallthepiechartsandonthebarsintheupperbargraph Thegridlinesinthebargraphs Thedecorationinthebackgroundoftheupperbargraph Thecolorgradientsinthebackgroundsofthegraphs,whichvaryfromwhiteatthetopthrough shadesofblueastheyextenddownward

Someofthedatapixelsonthisdashboardcouldalsoberemovedwithoutalossofusefulmeaningwe'll comebacktothatinamoment. Reducingthenondatapixelstoareasonableminimumisakeyobjectivethatplacesusonthepathto effectivedashboarddesign.Muchofvisualdashboarddesignrevolvesaroundtwofundamentalgoals: 1. Reducethenondatapixels. 2. Enhancethedatapixels.

Youstartbyreducingthenondatacontentasmuchaspossible,andthenproceedtoenhancethedata contentwithasmuchclarityandmeaningaspossible,workingtomakethemostimportantdatastandout abovetherest(Figure55).

Figure55.Keygoalsandstepsofvisualdashboarddesign.

5.2.1.ReducetheNonDataPixels Thegoalofreducingthenondatapixelscanbebrokendownintotwosequentialsteps: 1. Eliminateallunnecessarynondatapixels. 2. Deemphasizeandregularizethenondatapixelsthatremain. Let'stakealookathowtoaccomplishthesetwogoals. 5.2.1.1.Eliminateallunnecessarynondatapixels Dashboarddesignisusuallyaniterativeprocess.Youbeginbymockingupasampledashboard,andthen youimproveitthroughaseriesofredesigns,eachfollowedbyafreshevaluationleadingtoanother redesign,untilyouhaveitright.Asyougetbetterandbetteratthis,thenumberofiterationsthatwillbe requiredwilldecrease,partlybecauseyouwon'tbeincludingunnecessarynondatapixelsinthefirstplace. Nomatterhowfaryouadvance,however,thestepoflookingforunnecessarynondatapixelswillnever ceasetobeproductive. Thenextfewfiguresprovideexamplesofnondatapixelsthatoftenfindtheirwayontodashboardsbutcan usuallybeeliminatedwithoutloss. Graphicsthatservemerelyasdecoration(Figure56).

Figure56.Youshouldeliminategraphicsthatprovidenothingbutdecoration.

Variationsincolorthatdon'tencodeanymeaning(Figure57).

Figure57.Thesebarsvaryincolorfornomeaningfulreason.

Bordersthatareusedtodelineatesectionsofdatawhenthesimpleuseofwhite/blankspacealonewould workaswell(Figure58).

Figure58.Unnecessarybordersaroundsectionsofdatafragmentthedisplay.

Fillcolorsthatareusedtodelineatesectionsofcontentsuchasatitle,thedataregionorlegendofagraph, thebackgroundofatable,oranentiresectionofdata,whenaneutralbackgroundwouldworkaswell (Figure59).

Figure59.Fillcolorstoseparatesectionsofthedisplayareunnecessary.

Gradientsoffillcolorwhenasolidcolorwouldworkaswell(Figure510).

 Figure510.Gradientsofcolorbothonthebarsofthisgraphandacrosstheentirebackgroundadddistractingnondatapixels.

Gridlinesingraphs(Figure511).

Figure511.Gridlinesingraphsarerarelyuseful.Theyareoneofthemostprevalentformsofdistractingnondatapixelsfound indashboards.

Gridlinesintables,whichdividethedataintoindividualcellsordivideeithertherowsorthecolumns, whenwhitespacealonewoulddothejobaswell(Figure512).

Figure512.Gridlinesintablescanmakeotherwisesimpledisplaysdifficulttolookat.

Fillcolorsinthealternatingrowsofatabletodelineatethemwhenwhitespacealonewouldworkaswell (Figure513).

Figure513.Fillcolorsshouldbeusedtodelineaterowsinatableonlywhenthisisnecessarytohelpviewers'eyestrackacross therows.

Completebordersaroundthedataregionofagraphwhenonehorizontalandoneverticalaxiswould sufficientlydefinethespace(Figure514).

Figure514.Acompleteborderaroundthedataregionofagraphshouldbeavoidedwhenasinglesetofaxeswouldadequately definethespace.

3Dingraphswhenthethirddimensiondoesn'tcorrespondtoactualdata(Figure515).

Figure515.3Dshouldalwaysbeavoidedwhentheaddeddimensionofdepthdoesn'trepresentactualdata.

Visualcomponentsorattributesofadisplaymediumthatservenopurposebuttomakeitlookmorelikea realphysicalobjectormoreornate(Figure516).

 Figure516.Thisdashboardisfilledwithvisualcomponentsandattributesthatservethesolepurposeofsimulatingrealphysical objects.

Thisisbynomeansacomprehensivelist,butitdoescovermuchofthenondatacontentthatIroutinely runacrossondashboards.Whenyoufindthatyou'veincludeduselessnondatapixelssuchasthoseinany oftheaboveexamples,simplyremovethem. 5.2.1.2.Deemphasizeandregularizethenondatapixelsthatremain Notallnondatapixelscanbeeliminatedwithoutlosingsomethinguseful.Somesupportthestructure, organization,orlegibilityofthedashboard.Forinstance,whendataistightlypacked,sometimesitis necessarytouselinesorfillcolorstodelineateonesectionfromanother,ratherthanwhitespacealone.In thesecases,ratherthaneliminatingtheseusefulnondatapixels,youshouldsimplymutethemvisuallyso theydon'tattractattention.Focusshouldalwaysbeplacedontheinformationitself,notonthedesignof thedashboard,whichshouldbealmostinvisible.Thetrickistodeemphasizethesenondatapixelsby makingthemjustvisibleenoughtodotheirjob,butnomore. Beginningonthenextpageareafewexamplesofnondatapixelsthatareeitheralwaysoroccasionally useful.I'veshowneachoftheseexamplesintwoways:1)aversionthatistoovisuallyprominent,which illustrateswhatyoushouldavoid;and2)aversionthatisjustvisibleenoughtodothejob,whichisthe objective. Axislinesthatareusedtodefinethedataregionofagraph(Figure517).

Figure517.Axislinesusedtodefinethedataregionofagrapharealmostalwaysuseful,buttheycanbemuted,likethoseon theright.

Lines,borders,orfillcolorsthatareusedtodelineatesectionsofdatawhenwhitespaceisnotenough (Figure518).

Figure518.Linescanbeusedeffectivelytodelineateadjacentsectionsofthedisplayfromoneanother,buttheweightofthese linescanbekepttoaminimum.

Gridlinesingraphswhennecessarytoreadthegrapheffectively(Figure519).

Figure519.Gridlinesareusefulwhentheyhelpviewerscomparespecificsubsectionsofgraphs,suchastherangeofvaluesthat fallwithin65to75ontheverticalscaleand35,000to45,000onthehorizontalscale.

Gridlinesand/orfillcolorsintableswhenwhitespacealonecannotadequatelydelineatecolumnsand/or rows(Figure520).

 Figure520.Gridlinesandfillcolorscanbeusedintablestoclearlydistinguishsomecolumnsfromothers,butthisshouldbe doneinthemutedmannerseenbelowratherthantheheavyhandedmannerseenabove.

Fillcolorsinthealternatingrowsofatablewhenwhitespacealonecannotadequatelydelineatethem (Figure521).

Figure521.Fillcolorscanbeusedtodelineaterowsinatablewhennecessarytohelpviewers'eyesscanacrosstherows,but thisshouldalwaysbedoneinthemutedmannerseenbelowratherthanthevisuallyweightymannerseenabove.

Theseexamplesdemonstratehowthevisualprominenceofnondatapixelscanusuallybedeemphasized byusinglight,lowlysaturatedcolors,suchaslightgrays,andminimalstrokeweights(thatis,thinlines). Nondatapixelsalsocanbepushedfurtherfromnoticebyregularizingthem(thatis,bymakingthem consistent).Iftheaxislinesofallgraphslookthesamesay,ifyouusethesamelightgraylineswherever theyappearnoonegraphislikelytocatchaviewer'seyesmorethantheothers.Differencesseldomgo unnoticed,evenwhentheyareexpressedinmutedtones.Don'tvarythecolor,weight,orshapeofnon datapixelsthatservethesamepurposeinthedashboard. Anothercategoryofcontentoftenfoundondashboardsthatcanbeconsiderednondatapixelsisthat whichsupportsnavigationanddataselection.Buttonsandselectionboxesareoftenusedtoallowusersto navigatetoanotherscreenortochoosethedatathatappearsonthedashboard(forexample,byselecting adifferentsubset,suchashardwareratherthansoftware).Theseelementsmightserveanimportant function,buttheydon'tdisplaydata.Assuch,theyshouldnotbegivenprominence.Iftheymustexist,

placetheminanoutofthewaylocationsuchasthebottomrightcornerofthescreenandmutethem visually,sotheywon'tcompetewiththedataforattention.NoticehowmuchofthedashboardinFigure5 22isdedicatedtobuttonsanddataselectioncontrols,whichI'vehighlightedwithredborders.These elementstakeupfarmorevaluableandprominentrealestateonthedashboardthanisrequired.

Figure522.Thisdashboardgivesnavigationalanddataselectioncontrolsfarmoredominanceandspacethantheydeserve.

Similarly,whileitmaysometimesbenecessarytoincludeonthedashboardinstructionsthatprovide importantsupportinformation,anynonessentialtextjusttakesupspacethatcouldbeusedbydata, attractsattentionawayfromthedata,andcluttersthedashboard'sappearance.Itusuallyworksbestto placemostinstructionalordescriptivecontenteitheronaseparatescreenthatcaneasilybereachedwhen neededor,ifpossible,intheformofpopupsthatcanbeaccessedwhennecessarywithaclickofthe mouse.NoticehowmuchprimerealestateiswastedonthedashboardinFigure523toprovide instructionsthatviewerswillprobablyonlyneedthefirsttimetheyusethedashboard.

 Figure523.Asyoucanseeintheareahighlightedinred,thisdashboardusesupvaluablespacetodisplayinstructionsthat couldhavebeenprovidedonlywhenneededthroughaseparatescreenorapopupmenu.

5.2.2.EnhancetheDataPixels Justlikethereductionofnondatapixels,theprocessofenhancingthedatapixelscanbebrokendowninto twosequentialsteps: Eliminateallunnecessarydatapixels. Highlightthemostimportantdatapixelsthatremain.

Let'sexaminethesetwotasks. 5.2.2.1.Eliminateallunnecessarydatapixels Whenyou'redesigningadashboard,itistemptingtothroweverythingyouthinkanyonecouldever possiblywantontoit.Thoseofuswhohaveworkedinthefieldofbusinessintelligenceforawhilehave grownwearyofbeingaskedformore(alwaysmore!),sothethoughtofheadingoffthisdemandbygiving folkseverythingupfrontcanbeappealing.Onadashboard,however,whereimmediateinsightisthegoal, thisisacostlymistake.I'mnotsuggestingthatyouforcepeopletogetbywithlessthantheyreallyneed, butratherthatyouhonortheconsiderationofwhattheyreallyneedforthetaskathandasastrict

criterionfortheselectionofdata.Byremovinganyinformationthatisn'treallynecessary,you automaticallyincreasefocusontheinformationthatremains. Eliminationofunnecessarydatapixelsisachievednotonlythroughthecompleteremovaloflessrelevant databutalsobycondensingdatathroughtheuseofsummariesandexceptions,sothatthelevelofdetail thatisdisplayeddoesn'texceedwhat'snecessary.Formostapplications,itwouldbeabsurdtoinclude detailedinformationsuchastransactionlevelsalesdataonadashboardsomelevelofsummarizationis needed,anditisoftenuptoyoutodeterminewhatthatlevelis.Youmightchoosetodisplayasingle quartertodatevalue,avalueperregion,oravaluepermonth,justtonameafewpossibilities. Exceptionsareanespeciallyusefulmeanstoreducethedataonadashboardtowhatisessentialforthe taskathand.Often,thestateofsomethingneednotbepresentedunlessthereisaproblemoran opportunitythatrequiresaction.Ifyoucareaboutstaffexpensesonlywhensomeonehasexceededa definedthreshold,whyclutterthedashboardwithacompletelistofallstaffmembersandtheirexpenses? Bewareoftakingthisusefulpracticeofmanagingbyexceptiontoofar,however.Ireceivedanemail recentlyfromanexecutiveofasoftwarecompanythatspecializesindashboards.Wewerediscussingmy definitionofadashboard,andinthecourseofthisdiscussionhestatedthatacustomeronceassertedthat hisidealdashboardwoulddisplayasingletrafficsignaltoindicateifeverythingwasallrightorifanything neededattention.Theideawasthathedidn'twanttobebotheredwithunnecessaryinformationifallwas well,andwhensomethingwaswrong,hecoulddrilldownfromthatsinglealerttoadditional,more detaileddashboardsorreportstodetermineexactlywhatwaswrongbeforetakingaction.ForaninstantI foundmyselfenamoredwiththisidea,attractedtoitsSpartansimplicitybutonlyforamoment.Thenext momentmymindbecamehauntedbyvisionsofexecutivestryingtoruntheirbusinessesinignorantbliss, completelyoutoftouchunlessthresholdsbuiltintothesoftwaredeterminedthattheyoughttobe informed.Anyonewhohasajobtodoneedstokeepupwithabasicpictureofwhat'sgoingon,evenwhen alliswell.Toooftenleaderswhetherinbusiness,academia,religion,orpoliticsforgeaheadwiththeir agendas,relyingentirelyonotherstotellthemwhattheythinktheyshouldknow,onlytodiscoverafterthe dustofsomedestructiveeventsettlesthattheyknewfartoolittletoleadeffectively. Beforedepartingfromthetopicofsummariesandexceptions,Iwanttofocusinonaparticular summarizingtechniquethatIfindusefulonoccasion.ThistechniqueinvolveswhatIcallmultifocidisplays. Whenitisusefultodisplayhistoricalcontextforameasure,suchasthelast12monthsorthelast5years, ofteninformationthatismoredistantfromthepresentislessimportantthanrecenthistory.Insuchcases, thereisnoreasontodisplaythefullrangeofdataatthesamelevelofdetail.Forinstance,youmightwant todisplaythecurrentmonthasdailymeasures,thepreceding12monthsasmonthlymeasures,andthe preceding4yearsasannualmeasures.Thisdisplaywouldconsistofthreesections,eachexpressedin differentintervalsoftime,withlongerintervalsandmoresummarizationusedfortheperiodthemost distantfromthepresent.Graphicdisplayscanbedesignedtopresenttimeseriesinthismanner,as illustratedinFigure524.

 Figure524.Thesethreetimeseriesgraphsdisplayingpublictransportationriderstatisticscontainthreelevelsofdetail:dailyfor thecurrentmonth,monthlyforthecurrentyear,andyearlyforthelast10years.

Varyinginterestcancorrespondtodistancesinspaceaswellastime.Forinstance,aviewermightbemost interestedindatafromhisimmediategeographicalregion,andgraduallylessinterestedindatafrom increasinglydistantgeographicalareas.1 5.2.2.2.Highlightthemostimportantdatapixelsthatremain Alltheinformationthatfindsitswayontoadashboardshouldbeimportant,butnotalldataiscreated equal:somedataismoreimportantthanotherdata.Themostimportantinformationcanbedividedinto twocategories: Informationthatisalwaysimportant Informationthatisonlyimportantatthemoment

Whenyouconsidertheentirecollectionofinformationthatbelongsonadashboard,youshouldbeableto prioritizeitaccordingtowhatisusuallyofgreatestinteresttoviewers.Forinstance,adashboardthat servestheneedsofacorporation'sexecutivesmightdisplayseveralcategoriesoffinancial,sales,and personneldata.Onthewhole,however,theexecutivesusuallycareaboutsomekeymeasuresmorethan others. Theothercategoryofespeciallyimportantinformationisthatwhichisimportantonlywhenitreveals somethingoutoftheordinary.Ameasurethathasfallenfarbehinditstarget,anopportunitythathasjust arisenandwon'tlastforlong,oranoperationalconditionthatdemandsimmediateattentionallfallinto thiscategory. Thesetwocategoriesofimportantinformationrequiredifferentmeansofhighlightingonadashboard.The firstcategoryinformationthatisalwaysimportantcanbeemphasizedusingstaticmeans,butthesecond categoryinformationthatisimportantonlyatthemomentrequiresadynamicmeansofemphasis. Thelocationofdataonthescreenthelayoutisanaspectofadashboard'sappearancethatdoesn't,orat leastshouldn't,changedynamically.Thisistruenotonlybecauseitwouldbetechnicallydifficultto dynamicallyrearrangetheplacementofdataonthescreen,butalsobecauseaftersomeuseviewerswill cometoexpectspecificdatatoappearinspecificlocations,whichisgoodbecauseithelpsthemtoscanthe

Multifocidisplaysarenotexclusivelyrelevanttodashboards.Ihaveafondnessforbeautifullyrenderedmaps,andI enjoyexploringgeographyandtracingmytravelsacrossthesurfaceofmaps.Infact,Ikeepthreemapsmountedon thewallsofmyoffice:anextremelylargeoneofCalifornia,myhomestate;aslightlysmalleroneoftheentireUnited States;andanevensmalleroneoftheentireworld.Thismightseemcountertothelogicalarrangement,becausethe worldiscertainlylargerthanCalifornia,butitservesmyneedsprecisely.Iwanttoseegreatdetailinplacescloseto home,whereIspendmostofmytime,andgraduallylessandlessdetailasthedistancefromhomegrows.

1

dashboardquickly.Becauselocationisstatic,thisisavariablethatwecanleveragetohighlightinformation thatisalwaysimportant. Fewaspectsofvisualdesignemphasizesomedataabovetherestaseffectivelyasitslocation.Figure525 identifiestheemphasizingeffectthatdifferentregionsofadashboardprovide.Thetopleftandcenter sectionsofthedashboardaretheareasofgreatestemphasis.Thegreateremphasistiedtotheupperleftis primarilyduetotheconventionsofmostwesternlanguages,whichsequencewordsonapagefromleftto rightandtoptobottom.Contrarytotheinfluenceofreadingconventions,however,theverycenterofthe screenisalsoaregionofstrongemphasis,duetoamorefundamentalinclinationofvisualperception.I've found,however,thatplacinginformationinthecenterresultsinemphasisonlywhenitissetapart somewhatfromwhatsurroundsit,suchasthroughtheuseofwhitespace.

Figure525.Differentdegreesofvisualemphasisareassociatedwithdifferentregionsofadashboard.

Asmuchaspossible,placetheinformationthatisalwaysofgreatimportanceintheupperleftorcenter regionsofthedashboard.Neverwastethisvaluablerealestatebyplacingacompanylogoorcontrolsfor navigationordataselectionintheseareas.Figure526providesavividexampleofwhatyoushouldavoid whendesigningthelayoutofadashboard.

 Figure526.Themostvaluablerealestateonthisdashboardisdedicatedtoacompanylogoandmeaninglessdecoration.

Visualattributesotherthanlocationonthescreenareusuallyeasytomanipulateinadynamicmannerona dashboard.Assuch,dynamictechniquescanbeusedtohighlightinformationthatisofgreatimportance onlyatparticulartimes.Thesetechniquescanalsobeusedtohighlightinformationthatisalways important,onceyou'veuseduptheprimescreenlocationsforotherimportantdata. ManyofthevisualattributesthatweexaminedinChapter4,TappingintothePowerofVisualPerception, canbeusedeffectivelytohighlightdata,bothstaticallyanddynamically.Herearetwoapproachesthatyou cantake: Useexpressionsofvisualattributesthataregreaterthanthenorm(forexample,brighteror darkercolors). Useexpressionsofvisualattributesthatsimplycontrastwiththenorm(forexample,bluetext whenthenormisblackorgray).

Expressionsofvisualattributesdon'tneedtobegreaterthanotherstostandout;contrastfroma predominantpatternisallittakes.Visualperceptionishighlysensitivetodifferencesandevervigilantto assignmeaningtothemwhentheyaredetected. Someusefulexpressionsofvisualattributesthatareperceivedasgreaterthanothersincludethefollowing: Table51. Visual attribute Color Usefulexpressions Illustrations

Adarkerormorefullysaturatedversionofanyhueisnaturallyperceivedas

intensity Size Linewidth

greaterthanalighterorlesssaturatedversion. Biggerthingsclearlystandoutasmoreimportantthansmallerthings. Thickerlinesstandoutasmoreimportantthanthinnerlines.

Someusefulexpressionsofvisualattributesthatstandoutmerelythroughcontrasttothenormincludethe following: Table52. Visual attribute Hue Orientation Enclosure Usefulexpressions Illustrations

Anyhuethatisdistinctfromthenormwillstandout. 1 Anythingorienteddifferentlythanthenormwillstandout. Anythingenclosedbybordersorsurroundedbyafillcolorwillstandoutif differentfromthenorm. Anythingwithsomethingdistinctlyaddedtoitoradjacenttoitwillstand out.

Addedmarks

Anyofthesevisualattributescanbeusedtomakethemostimportantinformationstandoutfromtherest. Colorisespeciallyusefulbecausedistinctdifferencesincolorstandoutveryclearlyandbecauseitisa variablethatisnormallyeasytochangedynamicallyusingdashboardsoftwarebasedonpredefineddata conditions. I'vealsofoundthatoneofthebestwaystodrawattentiontoparticularitems,especiallythoseexpressed astext,involvestheuseofanaddedmarkwithadistinctcolor.Forexample,causingasimplesymbolsuch asacircle,checkmark,orasterisktoappearnexttoitemsthatneedattentiondoesthejobnicely.Choosing onecolorandvaryingitsintensitytoindicatevaryingdegreesofimportanceorurgencyworksbetterthan usingdifferentcolors,becauseeventhosewhoarecolorblindcandetectdistinctintensitiesofthesame color.Figure527illustratesthispractice.Differentsymbolscouldalsobeusedtoindicatedifferentlevels ofimportanceorurgencywithnoneedtovarytheircolors,butincreasingcolorintensitiescorresponding toincreasinglevelsofimportanceorurgencyareunderstoodmoreintuitively.

Reddoesnotsignifythatsomethingisimportant,urgent,oraprobleminallcultures.Forexample,inChina,red connoteshappiness.Bearinmindalsowhenchoosingsymboliccolorsthatasignificantchunkofthepopulationis colorblind.

1

 Figure527.Simplesymbolscanbeusedalongwithvaryingcolorintensitiestodynamicallyhighlightdata.

Whenhighlightingimportantinformation,youmustalwaysbecarefultorestrictthedefinitionofwhat's important.Ifyouhighlighttoomuchinformation,nothingwillstandoutandyourefforttocommunicate willfail.Whenusedwithdiscretion,however,visualhighlightingcanachievethegoalofimmediate recognitionandquickresponse.

Chapter6.EffectiveDashboardDisplayMedia
Dashboardsmustbeabletocondensealotofinformationontosinglescreenandpresentitataglance withoutsacrificinganythingimportantorcompromisingclarity.Consequently,theyrequiredisplaymedia thatcommunicateeffectively,despitetheseconditions.Everysectionofdataonadashboardshouldbe displayedusingtheclearestandrichestpossiblemeans,usuallyinsmallamountofspace.Thisrequiresan availablelibraryofdisplaymediathathavebeenselected,customized,andsometimescreatedespeciallyfor dashboards,andanunderstandingofthecircumstancesinwhicheachmediumofdisplayshouldbeapplied.

Selectthebestdisplaymedium Anideallibraryofdashboarddisplaymedia Adashboardmustbebuiltusingappropriatelychosenanddesigneddisplaymediatoreachitsunique potentialforclearandimmediatecommunication.We'llbeginthischapterwithsomebasicguidelinesfor matchingyourdataandmessagetotherightformofdisplay,andthenproceedtotheheartofthechapter: thedescriptionofafulllibraryofdisplaymediathatareidealfordashboards.

6.1.SelecttheBestDisplayMedium
Thebestmediumfordisplayingdatawillalwaysbebasedonthenatureoftheinformation,thenatureof themessage,andtheneedsandpreferencesoftheaudience.Asingledashboardgenerallydisplaysa varietyofdataandrequiresavarietyofdisplaymedia,eachmatchedtospecificdata.Inthenextsection we'llpairspecificdataandmessageswiththegraphicmediathatdisplaythembest,butlet'sbeginhere withamorefundamentalquestion:"Shouldtheinformationbeencodedastext,graphics,orboth?"The appropriatenessofeachmediumforagivensituation,eitherverballanguageinwrittenform(text)orvisual language(graphics),isn'tarbitrary. Verballanguageisprocessedserially,onewordatatime.Somepeoplearemuchfasterreadersthan othersanabilitythatIenvybuteveryoneprocesseslanguageserially.Especiallywhencommunicating quantitativeinformation,thestrengthofwrittenwordsandnumberscomparedtographicsistheir precision.Ifyoursolepurposeistopreciselycommunicatecurrentyeartodateexpensesof$487,321,for example,nothingworksbetteronadashboardthanasimpledisplaylikethis: Table61. YTDExpenses

$487,321

Displayingindividualvaluesdoesnotrequiregraphicsindeed,theirusewouldonlyretardcommunication. Let'scontinuetoenhancethisdatatoseeifthereisapointwhereswitchingfrompuretexttotheaddition ofgraphicsaddsclearvalue. Sometimesjustprovidinganindividualnumberandlabelisappropriate,butoftenyouwanttosaymore. Let'senhancethedatawithasimpleevaluativeremarkthatthisyeartodateexpensefigureishigherthan itshouldbe: Table62. YTDExpenses

$487,321

Thiscertainlyisn'ttheonlywaytocommunicatethisevaluativeinformation,butitissufficient.Aslongas onlymeasuresinthisconditionaredisplayedinthisfashion,eventhosewhoarecolorblindwillbeableto recognizethatwearecallingattentiontothisexpenseamount(becausewe'veboldfacedthenumber). Nowlet'saddtothegeneraldeclarationthatthisexpenseamountisbadthespecificcriterionthatwas usedtodeterminethis,whichinthiscaseisthetargetforyeartodateexpenses: Table63. YTDExpenses

Actual $487,321

Target $450,000

 Atthisstagewe'rebeginningtoventureintotheterritorywhereagraphicaldisplaymightbeuseful,butit certainlyisn'timperativeyet.Theviewermustdoalittlemathtointerprettheextentoftheexpense overage,butinthiscasethemathissimpleandfast.Youcouldevenremovetheneedfortheviewertodo thecalculationbyaddingtheamountofvariancefromthetarget,orperhapsbydisplayingthevariance alone,withouttheactualexpenseamount,ifthevarianceisallthat'sneeded.Herearesomeexamplesof howyoucouldchoosetopresentthisdata,usingtextalone: Table64. YTDExpenses Table65. YTDExpenses Table66. YTDExpenses Table67. YTDExpenses YTDExpensesVariance YTDExpensesVariance

Actual $487,321

Target $450,000

Varience +$37,321

Actual $487,321

Target $450,000

Varience% +$8%

Actual $487,321

VariancetoTarget +$37,321

Actual $487,321 +$37,321 +8%

VariancetoTarget% +8%

Anyoneoftheseapproachesmightbeappropriateforasinglemeasurethathasbeenenhancedwith contextualdatasuchasthetargetandsomeindicationofwhetheritisgoodorbad. Anentiredashboardfullofindividualmeasuresexpressedtextuallyinthismannerwouldworkfineifits purposeweretodrawattentiontoindividualmeasuresoneatatime,butwhatifyouwantabiggerpicture ofthewholeorcomparisonsofmultiplemeasurestoemerge?Textalonedoesn'tsupportthis. Text,especiallywhenorganizedintotables(thatis,asrowsandcolumnsofdata),isasuperbmediumfor lookingupinformation.Busschedules,taxratetables,andtheindexesofbooks,tonamebutafew examples,areallorganizedastablestosupportthisuse.IfyouneedtolookuptheConsumerPriceIndex (CPI)rateforSeptember1996usingthetableinFigure61,forexample,youcaneasilyfindtheprecise valueof157.8.Graphsdon'tsupportlookingupindividualvaluesasefficiently,andcertainlynotas precisely.

 Figure61.ThisCPItableillustratesthestrengthoftablesasameanstolookuppreciseindividualvalues.

NowlookattheCPItableagain,butthistimetrytodeterminetheshapeofthevaluesastheychange throughthecourseoftheyear1996.Textdoesn'tsupportthisviewofthedata,butlookathowclearlythe graphinFigure62onthenextpagepresentsit.

Figure62.ThisgraphoftheCPIfortheyear1996illustrateshowwellgraphsrevealtheshapeofdata,inthiscaseasitchanges throughtime.

Noticealso,however,thattheprevioustaskoflookinguptheindexvalueforSeptemberisnotsupported verywellbythegraph. When,inthelate18thcentury,theBritishsocialscientistWilliamPlayfairinventedmanyofthegraphsthat westillusetoday,hecreatedapowerfullanguageforcommunicatingquantitativeinformation.Giving valuesshapethroughtheuseofgridcoordinatesalongtwoaxesenabledustovisualizenumbers,which dramaticallyextendedourabilitytothinkquantitatively.Thisisthestrengthofgraphs:theygiveshapeto numbersand,indoingso,bringtolightpatternsthatwouldotherwiseremainundetected. Let'sseesomeoftheseconceptsatworkonadashboard.Lookatthepredominantlytextbaseddashboard inFigure63.

 Figure63.Apredominantlytextbaseddashboard.

Noticehowthetextualmediumprimarilysupportstheprocessoflookup.Eachmeasureisisolatedfromthe rest,andcomparisonsaredifficult. Theonlybigpictureinformationthatisprovidedisconveyedthroughthevisualattributeofhue.Assuming thatyouarenotcolorblindandcandistinguishthesehues,withaquickscanthemanyredandyellow boxesrevealthatmuchiswrong.Beyondthat,youareforcedtoconsidereachmeasureindividually.Ifno comparisonsorpatternsareusefulforthisdashboard,thepredominanceoftextisfine.Butevenifthis werethecase,whichisunlikely,thetextualdisplayofthisinformationcouldhavebeenpresentedinaless fragmentedway,suchastheredesignthatyouseeinFigure64.Here,themeasuresarearrangedintables tomakescanningeasier.Thered,yellow,andgreencolorcodinghasbeenreplacedwithboldface,black, andgraytext,respectively,toenableperceptionbypeoplewhoarecolorblind.Notethatthisredesignhas improvedthedashboard'suseforlookup,butnotforgleaningadditionalmeaning.

 Figure64.RedesignofthetextbaseddashboardinFigure63,arrangedintablestobettersupportlookup.

Effectivedashboardsneedtocombinetextandgraphicsinawaythatsupportsarichandmeaningful displayofdata,alongwiththedesiredlevelofquantitativeprecision,inawaythatcanbeperceived efficiently.Witheachmeasureorsetofrelatedmeasures,youmustaskwhattheviewerneeds,howthe datawillbeused,andwhatmessagethedatamustconvey,andthenblendtheuseoftextandgraphicsto achievethesecommunicationobjectives.

6.2.AnIdealLibraryofDashboardDisplayMedia
Sofarwe'veconsideredonlythefirst,mostfundamentalstepinselectingthebestmediumofdisplay.Once you'vechosenbetweentext,graphics,orsomecombinationofthetwo,youmustthendeterminehowto organizethetextand/orwhatkindsofgraphicstouse.Thesechoicesarevital.Apoorlychosengraph,for example,couldcompletelyobscureotherwisecleardata.Inthissection,we'llfocusspecificallyonthebest choiceofgraphicaldisplaytousewhenyoudeterminethatavisualratherthanatextualdisplayis appropriate. Mostdisplaymediathatworkwellondashboardsareprobablyfamiliartoyoualready.Quantitativegraphs andseveralothertypesofchartsthatarecommonlyusedinbusinessreporting(forexample,processflow andorganizationcharts)workwellondashboards,providedtheirdesigniskeptclearandsimple. Thisdiscussionfocusesondashboarddisplaymediathatareusedtopresentactualdata.Otherdisplay media,suchascommandbuttons,aresometimesneeded,buttheyfalloutsideourscopeofinterest.Two fundamentalprincipleshaveguidedtheselectionofeachdisplaymediuminthisproposedlibrary: Itmustbethebestmeanstodisplayaparticulartypeofinformationthatiscommonlyfound ondashboards. Itmustbeabletoserveitspurposeevenwhensizedtofitintoasmallspace.

Thelibraryisdividedintosixcategories: Graphs Images Icons

Drawingobjects Text Organizers

6.2.1.Graphs Mostdashboarddisplaymediafallintothegraphcategory.Giventhepredominanceofquantitativedataon mostdashboards,thisisn'tsurprising.Allbutoneoftheitems(treemaps)inthiscategorydisplay quantitativedataintheformofa2DgraphwithXandYaxes.Mostofthesearefamiliarbusinessgraphs, butoneortwowillprobablybenewtoyou,becausetheyweredesignedoradaptedspecificallyforusein dashboards.Here'sthelist: Bulletgraphs Bargraphs(horizontalandvertical) Stackedbargraphs(horizontalandvertical) Combinationbarandlinegraphs Linegraphs Sparklines Boxplots Scatterplots Treemaps

6.2.1.1.Bulletgraphs Thisistheonegraphonthelistthatisalmostcertainlynewtoyou.Iassumethisbecauseabulletgraphisa simpleinventionofmyown,createdspecificallyfordashboards.Itismyanswertotheproblemsexhibited bymostofthegaugesandmetersthathavebecomesynonymouswithdashboards.Gaugesandmeters typicallydisplayasinglekeymeasure,sometimescomparedtoarelatedmeasuresuchasatarget,and sometimesinthecontextofquantitativerangeswithqualitativelabelsthatdeclarethemeasure'sstate (suchasgoodorbad).Figure65providestwoexamplesofthegaugesandmetersthatarecommonly foundondashboards.Bothdisplayakeymeasureincomparisontoatarget,whichisrepresentedbyzero onthegaugeontherightand,Iassume,bythetopofthethermometerontheleft.

Figure65.Thesearetypicalexamplesofmetersandgaugeswithcontextualdata.1

Thequestionthatyoushouldaskwhenconsideringgaugesandmeterssuchastheseis:"Dotheyprovide theclearest,mostmeaningfulpresentationofthedataintheleastamountofspace?"Inmyopinion,they donot.RadialgaugessuchastheexampleontherightinFigure65wasteagreatdealofspace,dueto theircircularshape.Thisproblemismagnifiedwhenyouhavemanyradialdisplaymechanismsonasingle dashboard,fortheycannotbearrangedtogetherinacompactmanner.Thelinearnatureofthe thermometerstyleofdisplaypotentiallyavoidsthisproblem,butindisplayssuchasthis,spacetendstobe wastedonmeaninglessrealism.Ifdashboarddisplaymediaweredesignedbyexpertcommunicators, ratherthanbygraphicartistswhoclearlyhaven'tfocusedonthecommunicationneeds,theywouldlook muchdifferent. Thebulletgraphachievesthecommunicationobjectivewithouttheproblemsthatusuallyplaguegauges andmeters.Itisdesignedtodisplayakeymeasure,alongwithacomparativemeasureandqualitative rangestoinstantlydeclareifthemeasureisgood,bad,orinsomeotherstate.Figure66providesasimple example.

Figure66.Asimplehorizontallyorientedbulletgraph.

Now,Iamwellawarethatitsoundsabittoohighandmightyformetocallthebulletgraphmyinvention. It'snotmuchmorethanabargraphwithasinglebar,orathermometerwithoutthereservoirattheendto holdthemercurywhileatrest.Simpleasitis,whyhasn'tanyoneelsecomeupwiththisideabefore?Any softwarevendorwhowantstouseitcanbemyguest,freeofcharge.I'llevensupplythedesign specification.Figure67showsthesamebulletgraph,thistimewitheachofitscomponentsidentified.

Figure67.Asimplebulletgraphwitheachofitscomponentslabeled.

Thelineardesignofthebulletgraph,whichcanbeorientedeitherhorizontallyorvertically,allowsseveral tobeplacednexttooneanotherinarelativelysmallspace.Figures68and69showhowcloselytheycan bepackedtogetherimaginehowmuchroomwouldberequiredtodisplaythesamedatausingcircular gauges.

CanyoumakesenseofthethermometerontheleftinFigure65?Dosalesincreaseastheyriseorastheyfallonthe thermometer?Giventhefactthatactualsalesare75.93%oftargetandthemercuryinthethermometerextends about75%ofthewaytothetopofthethermometer,wemustassumethatsalesriseasthemercuryrises,butthen, asredonadashboardusuallymeansbad,whyistheredrangeatthetop?

1

AsyouscanacollectionofbulletgraphssuchasthoseinFigures68and69,noticehoweasyitistodetect thosemeasuresthathavemetorexceededthecomparativemeasuresrepresentedbytheshortlinethat intersectseachbar.Whenameasureexceedsthisbar,acrossshapeisformed.Thisformiseasytosee becauseitisperceivedpreattentively.Youcanscanthebulletgraphsonadashboardandimmediately knowwhichmeasuresaredoingwellandwhicharenotsimplybythepresenceorabsenceofthesecross shapes.

Figure68.Acollectionofhorizontallyorientedbulletgraphs.

Figure69.Acollectionofverticallyorientedbulletgraphs.

Noticealsothatthebackgroundfillcolorsthatencodethequalitativecategories(suchasbad,satisfactory, andgood)arevariablesofcolorintensityratherthanofhue.Thisassuresthatviewerswhoarecolorblind

canstillseethedistinctions.Eventhoughvariousshadesofgrayhavebeenusedintheexamplessofar,any huewillwork.Figure610usesvariousintensitiesofbeige.

Figure610.Thisbulletgraphusesvariousintensitiesofbeigetoencodequalitativestates.

Youcanencodemorethanthreequalitativestateswithbackgroundfillcolors,buttoavoidcomplexitythat cannotbeperceivedefficientlyandtomaintainacleardistinctionbetweenthecolors,youshouldn't exceedfive.Figure611illustratesthispracticallimit.

Figure611.Thisbulletgraphusesfivedistinctcolorintensitiestoencodequalitativestates.

Itissometimesusefultocompareakeymeasuretomorethanoneothermeasure.Forinstance,youmight wanttocomparerevenuetotherevenuetargetandtotherevenueamountatthistimelastyear.The bulletgrapheasilyhandlesmultiplecomparisonsbyusingadistinctmarkerforeach.Thesedistinctionscan bedisplayedusingvariablesofcolorintensity,linewidth(a.k.a.strokeweight),orevensymbolshapesina pinch.Figure612illustrateshowtwocomparisonscanbeincludedusingmarkerswithdifferentstoke weights.

Figure612.Thisbulletgraphincludestwocomparisons,whichhavebeenmadevisuallydistinctthroughtheuseofdifferent strokeweights.

WhenIoriginallydevelopedthedesignspecificationforthebulletgraph,Icalleditbyadifferentname:a performancebar.Thisoriginalnamepossessedchutzpahandevokedasenseofgoodhealth,duetoits similaritytothosepopularultraperformancenutritionsnackslikethePowerBar.Ihadtochangethename, however,becauseIeventuallyrealizedthatthereweretimeswhenthekeymeasureshouldbeencoded usingsomethingotherthanabar. Wheneveryouuseabartoencodeaquantitativevalue,asyou'veseenineachoftheexamplesofbullet graphssofar,thequantitativescaleshouldstartatzero.Thelengthofthebarrepresentsthevalue,notjust thelocationofitsendpoint,soascalethatstartsanywherebutzerowillproduceabarwithalengththat doesn'tcorrespondtoitsvalue.Thismakesaccuratecomparisonsbetweenbarsverydifficult. Itissometimesusefulwithbulletgraphs,however,toavoidstartingthequantitativescaleatzerosothat thescalecanbenarrowedtodisplaymorequantitativedetail.Forinstance,supposethatallofthevalues thatneedtobeincludedinthebulletgraphfallbetweentherangeof$150,000and$300,000,andyou wanttofocusexclusivelyonthisrangeofvaluestoshowmoresubtletyinthedifferencesbetweenthekey measureanditscomparisons(forexample,atarget).Inthiscase,youshouldusesomemeansotherthana bartoaccuratelyencodethekeymeasure.Forexample,youcanuseamarker(asimplesymbolshape)to

encodethekeymeasureanddifferentlyshapedmarkersforanycomparativemeasures.Figure613 illustratesthisapproach.

Figure613.Becausethequantitativescaleofthisbulletgraphdoesnotbeginatzero,itusesasymbolmarkerratherthanabar toencodethekeymeasure.Inthiscase,thekeymeasureisencodedasacircleandthetargetmeasureisencodedasashort line.

Usingabartoencodethekeymeasurehastheadvantageofsuperiorvisualweighttohighlightthekey value,butasymbolmarkerallowsyoutonarrowthequantitativescaletodisplaygreatersubtletyinthe valuesandtheirdifferences(usingthesymbolmarkerservesasavisualalerttotheviewerthatthescale doesnotstartatzero).Bothworkwellonadashboard. Let'slookatonemorewayyoucanusebulletgraphs.Wheneveryoucompareacurrentmeasuretoa futuretarget,suchasrevenueasofJanuary15comparedtoaQuarter1target,youcaneasilyseehowfar youarefromthetarget,butit'snotalwayssoeasytotellifyouareontracktomeetorsurpassthatfuture target,whichcouldstillbeweeksorevenmonthsaway.Thisistruewhetheryouareusingabulletgraphor anyothergraphicalmeanstodisplaythisinformation.Thisshortcomingintheusefulnessofthe comparisoncanbeamelioratedbyaddingaprojectionofwhereyou'llbeattheendoftheperiodoftime thatisrelevanttothetarget.ThebulletgraphinFigure614onthenextpagesplitstherevenuemeasure intotwosegments:theactualmeasureasoftodayandtheprojectedmeasureofrevenuebasedoncurrent performance.Thisprovidesarichdisplaythattellsyounotonlyhowfaralongyouareonthepathtothe futuretarget,butalsohowwellyou'redoingtodayinrelationtothattarget.

Figure614.Thisbulletgraphdisplaysboththeactualquartertodaterevenueandaprojectionofexpectedquarterendrevenue basedoncurrentperformance.

Icanstatewithsomeconfidencethatbulletgraphsworkwell,becauseI'vetestedthemincontrolled experimentstocomparethemtosimpleradialgauges.Inmytests,bulletgraphsoutperformedradial gaugesbothinefficiencyandaccuracyofperception.Thenumberoftestsubjectswasfartoosmallto satisfyscientificstandards,soI'llrefrainfromclaimingspecificmeasuresofsuperiorperformance.These testsweresufficient,however,toenablemetostatewithoutreservationthatbulletgraphsworkeverybit aswellondashboardsasradialgaugesandareabletoconveythesameinformationinmuchlessspace.I believethatmakesthemsuperior. 6.2.1.2.Bargraphs Unlikebulletgraphs,bargraphsaredesignedtodisplaymultipleinstances,ratherthanasingleinstance,of oneormorekeymeasures.Infact,everygraphinthisproposedlibraryotherthanthebulletgraphis designedtodisplaymorethanoneinstanceofoneormoremeasures.Bargraphsaregreatfordisplaying measuresthatareassociatedwithitemsinacategory,suchasregionsordepartments.ThegraphinFigure 615isatypicalexamplethatcouldbefoundonadashboard:itdisplaystwokeymeasuresbookingsand billingsrevenuesubdividedintosalesregions.

 Figure615.Atypicalbargraph.

Iusetheterm"bargraph"inreferencetoallgraphsthatusebarstoencodedata,whethertheyare orientedverticallyorhorizontally. Figure616showsanotherexampleofatypicalbargraph,thistimewiththebarsrunninghorizontally.

Figure616.Abargraphwithhorizontallyorientedbars.

Tofullyunderstandwhenitisappropriatetoencodedatainagraphasbarsratherthanaslines(asinaline graph),youmustunderstandalittleaboutthethreetypesofcategoricalscalesthatappearcommonlyin graphs: Nominalscalesconsistofdiscreteitemsthatbelongtoacommoncategorybutreallydon'trelatetoone anotherinanyparticularway.Theydifferinnameonly(thatis,nominally).Theitemsinanominalscale,in andofthemselves,havenoparticularorderanddon'trepresentquantitativevaluesinanyway.Typical examplesindashboardsincluderegions(forexample,TheAmericas,Asia,andEurope)anddepartments (forexample,Sales,Marketing,andFinance).

Ordinalscalesconsistofitemsthat,unliketheitemsinanominalscale,dohaveanintrinsicorder,butin andofthemselvesstilldonotcorrespondtoquantitativevalues.Typicalexamplesinvolverankings,suchas "A,B,andC,""small,medium,andlarge,"and"poor,belowaverage,average,aboveaverage,and excellent." Intervalscales,likeordinalscales,alsoconsistofitemsthathaveanintrinsicorder,butinthiscasethey representquantitativevaluesaswell.Anintervalscalestartsoutasaquantitativescalethatisthen convertedintoacategoricalscalebysubdividingtherangeofvaluesintheentirescaleintoasequential seriesofsmallerrangesofequalsizeandgivingeachrangealabel.Considerthequantitativerangemade upofvaluesextendingfrom55to80. Thisrangecouldbeconvertedintoacategoricalscaleoftheintervaltypeconsistingofthefollowing sequenceofsmallerranges: Greaterthan55andlessthanorequalto60 Greaterthan60andlessthanorequalto65 Greaterthan65andlessthanorequalto70 Greaterthan70andlessthanorequalto75 Greaterthan75andlessthanorequalto80

Figure617showsanexampleofeachtypeofscale.

Figure617.Thethreetypesofcategoricalscalesfoundingraphs.

Here'saquick(andsomewhatsneaky)testtoseehowwellyou'vegraspedtheseconcepts.Canyouidentify thetypeofcategoricalscalethatappearsinFigure618?
Figure618.Thisisacategoricalscalethatiscommonlyusedingraphs.Canyoudeterminewhichofthethreetypesitis?

Monthsoftheyearobviouslyhaveanintrinsicorder,whichbegsthequestion:"Dotheitemsinatime seriescorrespondtoquantitativevalues?"Infact,theydo.Unitsoftimesuchasyears,quarters,months, weeks,days,hours,andsoonaremeasuresofquantity,andtheindividualitemsinanygivenunitof measureforexample,yearsrepresentequalintervals.(Actually,monthsaren'texactlyequal,andevenyears varyinsizeoccasionallyduetoleapyears,buttheyarecloseenoughinsizetoconstituteanintervalscale forreportingpurposes.) Bargraphsneverlinegraphsarethebestmeanstodisplaymeasuressubdividedintodiscreteinstances alonganominalorordinalscale.Thevisualweightofbarsplacesemphasisontheindividualvaluesinthe

graphandmakesiteasytocompareindividualvaluestooneanotherbysimplycomparingtheheightofthe bars.Lines,ontheotherhand,emphasizetheoverallshapeofthevalues,andbyconnectingtheindividual valuestheygiveasenseofcontinuityfromonevaluetothenextthroughouttheentireseries.Thissenseof connectionbetweenthevaluesisappropriateonlyalonganintervalscale,whichsubdividesacontinuous rangeofquantitativevaluesintoequal,sequentialintervals;it'snotappropriatealonganominalorordinal scale,wherethevaluesarediscreteandnotintimatelyconnected.Figure619showssomeexamplesof inappropriateandappropriateusageoflinestoencodedataingraphs.

Figure619.Examplesofinappropriate(toptwo)andappropriate(bottomtwo)usesoflinestoencodedataingraphs.

Linegraphsareusefulforencodingvaluesalonganintervalscale,butthereareoccasionswhenitis preferabletouseabargraphtodisplaysuchmeasures.Forexample,whenyouwishtoemphasizethe individualvaluesratherthantheoveralltrendsorotherpatternsofthevalues,orwhenyouwishtoenable closecomparisonsofvaluesthatarelocatednexttooneanother,abargraphisabetterchoice.Figure620 onthenextpagedisplaysthesameintervaldataintwoways:asabargraphandasalinegraph.Noticethe differencesinwhatthetwoimagesemphasize,despitethefactthatthedataarepreciselythesame.The bargraphemphasizestheindividualvaluesineachintervalandmakesiteasytocomparethosevaluesto oneanother,whilethelinegraphdoesamuchbetterjobofrevealingtheoverallshapeofthedistribution.

 Figure620.Thesetwographsoneabargraphandonealinegraphdisplayexactlythesamedatabuthighlightdifferentaspects ofit.

Becausebargraphsemphasizeindividualvalues,theyalsoenableeasycomparisonsbetweenadjacent values.Figure621illustratestheeasewithwhichyoucancomparemeasuresinthiscasetheproductivity ofthedaytimeandthenighttimecrewsinanygivenmonthusingthistypeofgraph.

Figure621.Barsarepreferabletolinesforencodingdataalonganintervalscaleinthiscase,atimeseriesdividedinto monthswhenthegraphisintendedtosupportcomparisonsofindividualmeasures.

Evenwhenyouwishtodisplayvaluesthatrepresentpartsofawhole,youshoulduseabargraphrather thantheeverpopularpiechart.Thiswillpresentthedatamuchmoreclearlyjustbesuretoindicate somewhereintext(forexample,inthegraph'stitle)thatthebarsrepresentpartsofawhole.Figure622 providesanexampleofbothapiechartandabargraphusedtopresentthesameparttowholedata. Noticehowmucheasieritistomakeaccuratevisualjudgmentsoftherelativesizesofeachpartinthebar graph.

 Figure622.Youcanuseabargraphtomoreclearlydisplaythesameparttowholedatathatiscommonlydisplayedwithapie chart.

6.2.1.3.Stackedbargraphs Avariationofthebargraphthatissometimesusedtodisplaybusinessdataisthestackedbargraph.This typeofgraphisusefulforcertainpurposes,butitcaneasilybemisused.Irecommendagainsteverusinga stackedbargraphtodisplayasingleseriesofparttowholedata.Aregularbargraphworksmuchbetter. Asyoucansee,itismuchharderandmoretimeconsumingtoreadthestackedbargraphinFigure623 thanthebargraphshowingthesamedatainFigure622.

Figure623.Astackedbargraphisnotthebestwaytodisplayasingleseriesofparttowholedata.

Stackedbargraphsaretherightchoiceonlywhenyoumustdisplaymultipleinstancesofawholeandits parts,withemphasisprimarilyonthewhole.Figure624providesanexamplewithaseparateinstanceof salesrevenueperquarter,eachsubdividedbysaleschannel.

Figure624.Theonlycircumstancewhenastackedbargraphisusefuliswhenyoumustdisplaymultipleinstances(forexample, oneforeachquarter)ofawhole(totalsales)anditsparts(inthiscase,persaleschannel),withagreateremphasisonthewhole thantheparts.

Thechangesinthedistributiontendtobesomewhatdifficulttodetectforallthesegmentsexcepttheone thatappearsatthebottomofeachbar(inthiscase,"Direct"sales),whichiswhyastackedbargraph shouldnotbeusedifthesechangesmustbeshownmoreprecisely.Noticethedetailregardingthechanges indistributionofsalesthatcaneasilybeseeninthebargraphsinFigure625(especiallytheoneonthe right).Ifyouwanttoclearlydisplayboththewholeanditsparts,youcanuseeithertwographsnexttoone anotheroneforthewholeandoneforitspartsoracombinationbarandlinegraphwithtwoquantitative scalesonefortheparts,encodedasindividualbars,andoneforthewhole,encodedasaline.

Figure625.Thesebargraphsrevealtheshiftsinthedistributionofsalesbetweenthefourchannelsmuchmoreclearlythanthe stackedbargraphinFigure624.

6.2.1.4.Combinationbarandlinegraphs Whenyoucombinebarsandlinestogetherinasinglegraph,youshouldn'tdosoarbitrarily.This combinationshouldbeusedonlywhensomedatacanbedisplayedbestusingbars,withanemphasison

individualvaluesandlocalcomparisons,andsomeusingaline,withanemphasisontheoverallshapeof thedata.Acommonexampleinvolvesdisplayingrevenuesandexpenses(usingbarstohighlightthe individualmonths)alongwithprofits(usingalinetohighlightthetrend),asseeninFigure626.

Figure626.Thisgraphcombinesbarsandalinetohighlightmonthlyrevenuesandexpensesontheonehandandtheoverall trendofprofitsontheother.

AlesscommonuseofcombinationbarandlinegraphsisonethatIsuggestedinthebargraphsection aboveasawaytoclearlydisplaymultipleinstancesthroughtimeofboththeindividualpartsofawhole andthewholeitself.TheexampleinFigure627solvesthisproblem.

Figure627.Exampleofacombinationbarandlinegraphthatdisplaysquarterlyinstancesofrevenuebysaleschannel,encoded asbars,andtotalrevenue,encodedasaline.

Thisisacombinationbarandlinegraphwithonequantitativescaleforthebarsandanotherfortheline.It isn'tnecessarytousetwoquantitativescales,oneontheleftaxisandoneontheright,butdoingso

eliminatesthewastedspacethatwouldotherwiseappearinthegapbetweenthetotalsalesvaluesandthe muchsmallervaluesfortheindividualsaleschannels. AnotherusefulcombinationofbarsandalinebreaksarulethatIdeclaredearlier,whenIsaidthatyou shoulduselinesonlytoencodedataalonganintervalscale.Thereisoneexceptiontothisrule,which involvesaspecialkindofgraphcalledaParetochart(namedafteritsinventor,VilfredoParetothesame fellowwhoformulatedthewellknown80:20ruleofdistribution1).Let'slookatanexample,andI'llexplain whytheParetochartdeservestobeanexceptiontomygeneralruleabouttheuseoflinesingraphs. Paretochartsdisplayindividualvaluesasbarsandthecumulativetotalofthosevaluesasalinealonga categoricalscale.ThecategoricalscaleinaParetochartmaybeatimeseries,suchasmonthsoftheyear; thisisanintervalscale,sotheuseofalineinthiscasedoesn'tneedanexplanation.TheexampleinFigure 628doesnothaveanintervalscale,butalinestillworkswellinthisexample.

Figure628.ThisParetochartdisplayssalesrevenuebysalesrepresentatives,encodedasbars,aswellasthecumulative revenue,encodedasaline.

Thisgraphhasbeendesignedtoclearlyshowthatthetop3of10totalsalesrepresentativeswere responsiblefor75%oftotalrevenueforthequarter.Thecategoricalscale,consistingofsales representatives,isanordinalscalebyvirtueofthefactthatthesalespeoplehavebeenarrangedinorderby rank,basedontheirsales.Cumulativesales,astheyincreasefromonesalespersontothenextinranked order,representmeaningfulchange.Eachsuccessivevalueisintimatelyconnectedtotheonethat precedesit,becauseitisthesumofitselfandthepreviousvalue.Thisintimateconnectionmeritstheuse ofalinetoencodechangesinvaluesfromonetothenext.Theslopeofthelineprovidesusefulinformation inthiscontext:thesteeperthelinefromonesalespersontothenext,thegreaterthatsalesperson's revenuecontributionwasrelativetothenextbestsalesperson's.Byviewingthelineasawhole,youcan easilyseehowevenlydistributedthecontributionsofthesalespeopleare,orhowmuchtheyareskewed towardthetopperformers.
The80:20ruleofdistributionisoftenusedinreferencetoacompany'srevenue,usuallystatingthat80%ofthe revenuecomesfrom20%ofthecustomers.Pareto'soriginalobservationthatledtotheformulationofthisrulein 19thcenturyItalywasthat80%ofthecountry'swealthwasownedby20%ofthepopulation.
1

6.2.1.5.Linegraphs Linegraphsdoanexceptionaljobofrevealingtheshapeofdataitsmovementupanddownfromonevalue tothenextespeciallyasitchangesthroughtime.Anytimethatyouwishtoemphasizepatternsinthedata, suchastrends,fluctuations,cycles,ratesofchange,andhowtwodatasetsvaryinrelationtooneanother, linegraphsprovidethebestmeans.Keepinmindthatwhenyoudisplaytimeseriesdataonadashboard, theshapeofthedata("Isitgoingupordown?""Isitvolatile?""Doesitgothroughseasonalcycles?")is generallythepicturethatisneeded,ratherthantheemphasisonindividualvaluesthatbargraphsprovide. Inthecontextofdashboards,linegraphsareoftenthebestmeanstopresentaquickoverviewofatime series. Figure629showsthesametimeseriesdataintwoways:ontheleftusingabargraphandontheright usingalinegraph.Noticehowmuchmorequicklyandclearlytheoverallshapeofthedatacomesthrough inthelinegraph.Unlikeabargraph,thequantitativescaleofalinegraphneednotbeginatzero,butitcan benarrowedtoarangeofvaluesbeginningjustbelowthelowestandjustabovethehighestvaluesinthe data,therebyfillingthedataregionofthegraphandrevealinggreaterdetail.Alwaysbesuretomakethe linesthatencodethedatamoreprominentthananyotherpartofthegraphsothatthedatastandsout aboveallelse.

Figure629.Twographsofthesametimeseriesdata:abargraphontheleftandalinegraphontheright.Noticehowthe overallshapeofthedataismucheasiertoseeinthelinegraph.

6.2.1.6.Sparklines SparklinesarethebrainchildofEdwardR.Tufte,atrueaficionadoofdatadisplay.Hehasdedicatedafull chaptertotheminhisbookBeautifulEvidence(asyetunpublishedbutexpectedin2006).Mytreatmentof thesubjectisbriefandfarfromdefinitive;mypurposehereistodescribesparklinesonlytotheextent necessarytodemonstratetheirvaluablecontributiontodashboards.Figure630providesanexampleofa simplesparkline.

Figure630.Asimplesparklinethatdisplaysthe12monthhistoryofacheckingaccountbalance.

Tuftecreatedthesparklinetoprovideabarebonesandspaceefficienttimeseriescontextformeasures. AssumingthatthesparklineinFigure630encodesarolling12monthhistoryofanaccountbalance,the upsanddownsareinstantlyavailabletotheviewerwhowishestoconsiderthemeaningofthecurrent balanceinlightofitshistory.

Tuftedescribessparklinesas"dataintense,designsimple,wordsizegraphics."1Assuch,theyareidealfor dashboardsandanythingelsethatrequireshighlycondensedformsofdatadisplay,suchasmedical diagnosticreportsthatincludepatienthistories. Youmightbewondering,"Where'sthequantitativescale?"It'snowheretobeseen,andthat'sintentional. Sparklinesarenotmeanttoprovidethequantitativeprecisionofanormallinegraph.Theirwholepurpose istoprovideaquicksenseofhistoricalcontexttoenrichthemeaningofthemeasure.Thisisexactlywhat's requiredinadashboard.Insteadofdetails,youmustdisplayaquickviewthatcanbeassimilatedata glance.Thedetailscancomelater,ifneeded,intheformofsupplementalgraphsandreports. Althoughalwayssmallandsimple,sparklinescanincludeabitmoreinformationthanwhatI'veillustrated sofar.Figure631showsasparklinethatincludesalightgrayrectangletorepresentthenumberof manufacturingdefectsthatareacceptable,whichrevealsthatinthelast30days(thefullrangeofthe sparkline)thenumberofdefectshasexceededtheacceptablerangeonthreeoccasions.Theoptionalred dotmarkingthefinalvalueinthesparklinetiestheendofthesparklinetothecurrentvalueoffiveby makingthembothred.

Figure631.Thissparklinedisplays30daysofmanufacturingdefecthistorycomparedtotheacceptablerange.

Peoplecommonlyusesimpleupordowntrendarrowstodisplaythedirectioninwhichameasureis moving,buttheseareoftenambiguous.InlookingattheMTDRevenuemeasureinFigure632,for example,itisn'tobviousiftheupwardtrendarrowindicatesthatrevenueistrendingupwardoverallfor theyear,thequarter,themonth,orjustsinceyesterday.

Figure632.Simpletrendarrowsareoftenusedondashboards,butwhattheymeanissometimesunclear.

Asparkline,however,asshowninFigure633,isnotambiguous,becauseitdisplaystheentireperiodof historyacrosswhichthetrendapplies.
Figure633.Thissparklineprovidesaclearpictureofthehistoricaltrendleadinguptothepresentmeasure.

Asyoucansee,sparklinesareidealfordashboards.Everydashboardvendoroughttosupportthem. 6.2.1.7.Boxplots Theboxplotisafairlyrecentadditiontothelexiconofgraphs.Itwasinventedinthe1970sbyan extraordinarymathematiciannamedJohnWilderTukey,whospecializedindatadisplay.Thisparticular typeofgraphdisplaysthedistributionofvaluesetsacrosstheentirerange,fromthesmallesttothe largest,withmanyusefulmeasuresinbetween. Itisofteninadequatetodescribeasetofvaluesasasinglesummarizedmeasuresuchasasumoraverage. Attimesitisimportanttodescribehowthosevaluesaredistributedacrosstheentirerange.Forinstance, tofullyunderstandthenatureofemployeecompensationinyourcompanyineachofthesalarygrades (thatis,specifiedlevelsofcompensationwithprescribedranges),youwouldcertainlyneedtoseemore
1

EdwardR.Tufte,BeautifulEvidence(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,2006).

thanthesumofsalariesforeachsalarygrade.Evenameasureofaveragecompensation,suchasthemean ormedian,wouldn'ttellyouenough.Let'slookatafewdifferentwaysthatthisdatacouldbepresented. Figure634presentsthemediansalaryineachgradethatis,thevaluethat'sinthemiddleofeachrange.

Figure634.Thisgraphdisplaysemployeesalariespersalarygradeasasinglemedianvalueforeachgrade.

Theadequacyofthisdisplaydependsonyourpurpose.Ifyourpurposerequiresasenseofhowsalariesare distributedacrosseachrange,thisdisplaywon'ttellenoughofthestory.Themedianexpressestheexact centeroftherange,butnothowthevaluesaredistributedaroundthatcenter.Figure635showssixquite differentexamplesofhowtheindividualsalariesinasinglesalarygradewithapotentialrangeof$20,000 to$30,000andamedianpreciselyinthemiddleat$25,000mightbedistributedacrossthatrange.Asyou cansee,themedianalonetellsalimitedstory,soitisoftenusefultodisplaythedatainawaythatreveals moreabouthowthevaluesaredistributed.

 Figure635.Sixexamplesofhowasetofsalarieswiththesamemedianvaluemightbedifferentlydistributed.Thescaleonthe verticalaxesrepresentsthenumberofemployeeswhosesalariesfallintoeachoftherangesthatrunalongthescaleonthe horizontalaxes.

ThegraphinFigure636onthenextpageillustratesthesimplest(andleastinformative)waytodisplay howsetsofvaluesaredistributed.Itusesrangebarstodisplaytwovaluesforeachsalarygrade:thelowest andthehighest.Althoughitisusefultoseethefullrangeofeachsalarygrade,thissimpleapproachstill tellsusnothingabouthowindividualvaluesaredistributedacrossthoseranges.Dothevaluesclusternear thebottom,center,ortop,oraretheyevenlydistributed?

 Figure636.Thisisthesimplestbutleastinformativewaytodisplayrangesofvalues.Itusesrangebarsthatencodethelowest andhighestsalariesineachsalarygrade.

Withacombinationofrangebarsandameasureofthemedian,asshowninFigure637,abitmoreinsight beginstoemerge.

Figure637.Thisgraphcombinesrangebarswithdatapointstomarkthemediansaswellasthehighandlowsalariesineach salarygrade.

Knowingthatbydefinitionhalfofthevaluesarelargerthanthemedianandhalfaresmaller,weknowthat whenthemedianisclosertothelowendofarangeofvalues,morevaluesfallintothelowerhalfthanthe upperhalfoftherange.Thecloserthemedianistothebottomoftherange,themoreskewedthevalues areintheoppositedirection.Theoppositeistruewhenthemedianliesclosertothetopoftherange.The understandingofthedistributionthatisrevealedbythisrelativelysimpledisplaycertainlyisn'tcomplete, butit'sdefinitelygettingbetterandisprobablysufficientformanypurposesonadashboard.

Youcanthinkofthecombinationofrangebarswithdatapointstomarkthemediansasasimplisticversion ofaboxplot.Atrueboxplot,asintroducedbyTukey,providesmoreinformation.Theboxportionofabox plotissimplyarectangle(orbar)withorwithoutafillcolor.Aswitharangebar,thebottomofthebox representsavalueandthetoprepresentsavalue,buttheseareusuallynotthelowestandhighestvalues intherange.Figure638illustratesafullgrownversionofasingleboxplotwith"whiskers"(knownasa boxandwhiskerplot).Thisisjustoneofthemanyvariationsthatarecommonlyused.

Figure638.Anindividualboxplotwithwhiskers.Outliersareindividualdatavaluesthatfalloutsidetherangethatisdefinedby thewhiskers.

Agraphwithboxeslikethisconveysarichpictureofdatadistributionperhapstoorichformostdashboards andmostofthefolkswhousethem.Asimplerversionoftheboxplot,suchastheoneinFigure639onthe nextpage,maybepreferablefordashboarduse


Figure639.Asimplifiedversionofaboxplotsuchasthisoneisusuallymoreappropriatefordashboardsthantheoneshownin Figure638.

6.2.1.8.Scatterplots Ascatterplotdoesonlyonething,butitdoesitquitewell:itdisplayswhetherornot,inwhatdirection,and towhatdegreetwopairedsetsofquantitativevaluesarecorrelated.Forinstance,ifyouwanttoshowthat thereisarelationshipbetweenthenumberofbroadcastadsandsalesrevenues,ascatterplotsuchasthe oneinFigure640wouldworknicely.

Figure640.Thisscatterplotdisplaysthecorrelationbetweenthenumberofbroadcastadsandtheamountofsalesrevenuefor 24months.

Inthiscase,boththenumberoftimesadswereairedandthesalesrevenuesforeachmonthwere collectedasapairedsetofvaluesfor24months.Thisgraphtellsusthefollowing:

Thereisacorrelationbetweenadsandsalesrevenue,indicatedbythefactthatachangeinthe numberofadsalmostalwayscorrespondedtoachangeinsalesrevenue. Thecorrelationispositive(upwardslopingfromlefttoright),indicatingthatasthenumberof adsincreasedthesalesrevenuealsousuallyincreased. Thecorrelationisfairlystrong.Thisisindicatedbythetightgroupingofthedatavaluesaround thetrendline,showingthatanincreaseordecreaseinadsfromonemeasuretoanother almostalwayscorrespondedtoasimilaramountofincreaseordecreaseinsalesrevenue.

Giventhateachpairofmeasureswascollectedforagivenmonthacross24consecutivemonths,thisdata couldhavebeendisplayedasatimeserieslinegraph,butthenatureofthecorrelationwouldnothave stoodoutasclearly. Thescatterplotwillstillworknicelyifyousplitthemeasuresintomultiplesets.Forinstance,youcouldsplit theadsintotwotypesradioandtelevisionasshowninFigure641.Aquickexaminationofthisdisplaytells usthatthecorrelationoftelevisionadstosalesrevenueismorepositive(upwardsloping)thanthatof radioads,thoughthestrengthofeachcorrelation(theproximityofthedatavaluestothetrendline) appearstobeaboutthesame.

Figure641.Thisscatterplotdisplaysthecorrelationbetweenthenumberofradioandtelevisionadsandtheirrespective amountofsalesrevenuefor24months.

Scatterplotsaresometimesrenderedthreedimensionally,inordertodisplaythecorrelationofthree quantitativevariables,ratherthanjusttwo.Othermethodsaresometimesusedaswelltoincreasethe numberofcorrelatedvariablesinasinglescatterplot.Irecommendagainstusinganyoftheseapproaches onadashboard,however,becauseevenwhentheyaredesignedaswellaspossible,theyrequiretoomuch studytounderstandtimethatdashboardviewersdon'thave. OneotherpointI'dliketomentionisthattheuseofastraighttrendline(alsoknownasalineofbestfit)in ascatterplotmakesthedirectionandstrengthofthecorrelationstandoutmorethanjusttheindividual datapointsbythemselves.ThegraphinFigure642ispreciselythesameastheoneinFigure641,except thatitlackstrendlines.Itiseasytoseethatthedirectionandespeciallythestrengthofthecorrelations wouldrequiremoretimetodiscernwithoutthetrendlines.Linesofbestfitcomeinseveraltypes,someof

whicharecurved,andeachworksbestfordatasetsthatexhibitparticularpatterns.Knowledgeofwhento usethemandhowtointerpretthem,however,isnotcommonexceptamongstatisticians,soitisbestto avoidallbutthesimplestraightlineofbestfitunlessyouandthedashboard'susershavethenecessary trainingtounderstandtheotherforms.

Figure642.Thisscatterplotdisplaysthecorrelationbetweenthenumberofradioandtelevisionadsandtheirrespective amountofsalesrevenuefor24months,thistimewithoutthetrendlinesthatappearinFigure641.

6.2.1.9.Treemaps Treemaps,developedinthe1990sbyBenShneidermanoftheUniversityofMaryland,aregraphsusedto displaylargesetsofhierarchicallyorcategoricallystructureddatainthemostspaceefficientwaypossible. Shneidermanisoneofthemostinspiringresearchersandinnovatorsworkingininformation visualizationonewhoplayedamajorroleindefiningthedomain.Treemapscompletelyfillavailablescreen spacewithasetofcontiguousrectanglesthathaveeachbeensizedtoencodeaquantitativevariable. Hierarchiesandcategoriesarerepresentedasrectanglescontainedwithinlargerrectangles.Inadditionto thequantitativevariablethatisassociatedwithrectanglesize,colorcanalsobeusedtoencodeasecond quantitativevariableforprovidingarichermultivariatedisplay. Thepurposeoftreemapsisnottomakefinequantitativecomparisonsortorankitems,butrathertospot particularconditionsofinterest.The2Dareasofrectanglesandvariationsincolordonotsupporteasy, efficient,oraccuratevaluecomparisons,butwhenthesevisualattributesarecombinedinthetreemap, theycanmakeparticularconditionsjumpoutandtherebyenabletheprocessofdiscovery. Duetotheirspaceefficientdesign,treemapscanbeusedquiteeffectivelyondashboards,buttheyshould bereservedforthosecircumstancesforwhichtheyweredeveloped,and,whenused,shouldbedesigned withcare.TheexampleinFigure643illustratesanappropriatelyappliedandeffectivelydesignedtreemap forabusinessdashboard.

 Figure643.Thistreemap,createdusingTreemap4.3softwaredevelopedattheUniversityofMaryland'sHumanComputer InteractionLab(HCIL),displayssalesdata(revenueandpercentageofquota)byregion.

Itdisplayssalesbyregion,withrevenueencodedasrectanglesizeandthepercentageofsalesquota achievedencodedascolor(rangingfrombrightredasthelowestpercentageandpurewhiteasthe highest).Noticehowyoureyesaremostlydrawntothelargeredrectangles,whichrepresentstateswith largerevenuesthatareperformingpoorlyinotherwords,stateswhoseperformanceresultsinthegreatest negativeaffectonrevenue(forexample,California).Ifyou'reinterestedinspottingthosestateswhose goodperformanceishavingthegreatestpositiveaffectonrevenue,yousimplylookforthelargestlight coloredrectangles(forexample,Florida). Ichosetouseasinglehueratherthanseveraltoencodethepercentageofsalesquota,varyingthevalues byintensityfromcompletelyunsaturatedred(thatis,white)tofullysaturated,brightred.Itiscommonfor thistypeofdatatobeencodedinatreemapusingmultiplehues,suchasredforvaluesthatarebelow quotaandgreenforthosethatareabovequota.Typically,thesecolorswouldrangefrombrightredatthe lowendthroughdarkeranddarkershades,reachingblackinthemiddle(forvaluesclosetothequota),and proceedingthroughdarkshadesofgreenallthewaytobrightgreenatthehighend.Ifacleardistinction betweenvaluesthatarebelowquotaandthoseaboveisnecessary,thenmultiplehueswouldwork,butI believethatoftenwhensuchdistinctionsaredisplayed,theyareunwarranted.Ifyouareresponsiblefor monitoringsalesperformancebystate,doyoureallywanttoseeaqualitativedistinctionbetweenastate thatisslightlybelowquota(darkred)andonethatisslightlyabovequota(darkgreen)?Arethesevalues reallythatdifferent? Treemapsareusuallyinteractive,providingthemeanstoselectaparticulariteminthehierarchyandthen drilldownintothenextlevelofitemsthatbelongtothehigherlevelitemthatyouselected.Thisenables easynavigationthroughthehierarchytoinvestigateparticularconditionsofinterest,potentiallyrevealing

whatisgoingonatlowerlevelsthatiscreatingtheseconditions.Thisprovidesasimplepathformorefully exploringandrespondingtothoseconditionsthatjumpoutonthedashboardasneedingattention. 6.2.1.10.Finalthoughtsaboutgraphs Youmightbewonderingwhysomeoftheothergraphsthatarefamiliartoyouaremissingfromthis proposedlibrary.Eachismissingforoneofthefollowingtworeasons: ItcommunicateslesseffectivelythananalternativethatI'veincluded. Itistoocomplexforthetypicalneedsofadashboard.

Thepiechartprobablytopsthelistofoftenusedgraphsthatwereleftoutofthislibraryofgraphsbecause theycommunicatelesseffectivelythanothermeans.Piechartsweredesignedtodisplayparttowhole information,suchastheindividualproductsthatmakeupanentireproductline.Aswe'vealready discovered,however,parttowholeinformationcanbecommunicatedmoreclearlyusingabargraph. Anothercomparisonofthetwotypesofgraphusedtodisplaythesamesetofparttowholedataisshown inFigure644.

Figure644.Thispiechartandbargraphbothdisplaythesameparttowholedata.Thevaluesaremucheasiertointerpretand comparewhenabargraphisused.

Viewerscanprocesstheinformationinthebargraphontherightmuchmorequicklyandeasilythaninthe piechartontheleft.Why?Whereasabargraphusesthepreattentivevisualattributeoflinelength(thatis, thelengthsorheightsofthebars)toencodequantitativevalues,piechartsencodevaluesasthetwo dimensionalareasoftheslicesandtheiranglesastheyextendfromthecentertowardthecircumference ofthecircle.Ourvisualperceptiondoesapoorjobofaccuratelyandefficientlycomparing2Dareasand angles.Theonlythingthatapiecharthasgoingforitisthatwhenyouseeoneyouautomaticallyknowthat youarelookingatmeasuresthatarepartsofawhole.Becausebargraphscanbeusedforothertypesof comparisons,whenyouusethemtodisplayparttowholedata,youmustlabeltheminamannerthat makesthisclear.Aslongasthisisdone,bargraphsarefarsuperior. Apiechartfallsintoalargerclassofgraphscalledareagraphs.Areagraphsuse2Dspacetoencode quantitativevalues,whichispronetoinaccurateinterpretationandoftentoocclusion(aproblemthatis causedwhenoneobjectishiddenentirelyorinpartbehindanother).TheareagraphinFigure645onthe

nextpageillustratestheproblemofocclusionrevenuesforQuarters2and3intheWestandQuarter4in theNortharecompletelyhidden.

Figure645.Areagraphscansufferfromtheproblemofocclusion.

Anothertypeofgraphthat'ssurfacingmoreandmoreoftenthesedaysistheradargraph,acirculargraph thatencodesquantitativevaluesusinglinesthatradiatefromthecenterofthecircletomeettheboundary formedbyitscircumference.Itisnothingbutalinegraphwiththecategoricalscalearrangedalonga circularaxis,asyoucanseeontheleftinFigure646.Forcommonbusinessdataaradargraphisnotas effectiveasabargraph(shownontherightinFigure646),becauseitismoredifficulttoreadvalues arrangedinacircularfashion.TheonlytimeI'vefoundaradargraphtobetolerablefordisplayingtypical businessdatawaswhenthecategoricalscalecouldnaturallybeenvisionedascircularforexample,when themeasuresonthescalearethehoursofaday,duetothefamiliarcirculararrangementoftimeona clock.

Figure646.Thisradargraph(left)andbargraph(right)displaythesameexpensedata.Intheradargraph,departmentsare arrangedalongthecircumferenceandthequantitativescaleforexpensesresidesalongtheradialaxesthatextendfromthe center.Thebargraphismucheasierandfastertoread.

6.2.2.Icons Iconsaresimpleimagesthatcommunicateaclearandsimplemeaning.Onlyafewareneededona dashboard.Themostusefuliconsaretypicallythosethatcommunicatethefollowingthreemeanings:

Alert Up/down On/off

6.2.2.1.Alerticons Itisoftenusefultodrawattentiontoparticularinformationonadashboard.Thisisespeciallytruewhen somethingiswrongandrequiresattention.Aniconthatworksasanalertshoutsattheviewer,"Hey,look here!"Foranicontoplaythisrolewell,itneedstobeexceptionallysimpleandnoticeable.Tenvariations ofanalerticon,eachwithitsownslightlydifferentmeaning,arefartoocomplexforadashboard.Tryto limitalertlevelstoamaximumoftwo,andideallytoone.Asinglealerticoncatchestheeyemuchmore effectivelythanmultiplealertswithvariousmeanings. Acommonalertschemeondashboardsusesthetrafficlightmetaphor,composedofthreecolorswith differentmeanings.Greenistypicallyusedtoindicatethatalliswellbutwhat'sthepoint?Ifeverything's fine,youdon'tneedtodrawattentiontothedata.Alertsthatarealwaystheredrawlessattentionthan alertsthatappearonlywhenattentionisrequired.Thisisbecauseasimpleiconthatappearsonlyincertain circumstancesisperceivedpreattentivelyasan"addedmark."Thispreattentiveattributeisnottappedinto whenthetrafficlightalertsystemisused,becausealthoughthecolorusedtoencodethedatamaychange, nothingisbeingadded. I'vefoundthatasimpleshape,suchasacircleorsquare,usuallyworksbestasanalerticon.Ifyoumust communicatemultiplelevelsofalerts,ratherthanusingdistincticons,stickwithoneshapeandvarythe color.Trafficsignalcolorsofred,yellow,andgreenareconventional,buttheydon'tworkforthe10%of malesand1%offemaleswhoarecolorblind.Figure647illustratesthispointbyshowingthecolorsgreen, yellow,andredontheleftandwhatapersonwiththepredominantformofcolorblindnesswouldseeon theright.

Figure647.Theiconsontherightsimulatewhatsomeonewhoiscolorblindwouldseewhenlookingatthoseontheleft.

Asolutionthatworksforeveryoneinvolvesdistinctintensitiesofthesamehue,suchaslightred(inplace ofyellow)anddarkred,asshowninFigure648.

Figure648.Thesimplealerticonsontheleftusevaryingintensitiesofasinglehuetoencodedifferentmeanings.Thetwoon therightsimulatewhatapersonwhoiscolorblindwouldsee.Varyingintensitiesofanysinglehuearedistinguishableby everyone.

6.2.2.2.Up/downicons Up/downiconsconveythesimplemessagethatameasurehasgoneupordowncomparedtosomepoint inthepastorisgreaterorlesserthansomethingelse,suchasthetarget.Financialinformationiscommon

ondashboards,andaquickwaytoindicatetheupordownmovementofstocks,profits,andsoonisoften useful.Fortunately,aconventionalsymbolisalreadyinusetocommunicatethesemeanings:atriangleor arrowwiththetippointingeitherupordown.Thecoloroftheiconsmayvaryaswell(usuallygreenfor goodandredforbad)sotheystandoutmoreclearly,butagain,thisisaproblemforthosewhoarecolor blind.Thisproblemcanbeavoidedbyusingcolorsthatvarygreatlyinintensityaswellashue,suchasfully saturatedredfortheiconthatindicatesmovementinthewrongdirectionandlesseyecatchingpalegreen fortheother.Figure649illustratesapossiblepresentationoftwoversionsofthissimpleicon.

Figure649.Simpleupanddownicons.

6.2.2.3.On/officons On/officonsserveasflagstoidentifysomeitemsasdifferentfromothers.Forexample,ifyoudisplayalist ofthetop10currentsalesopportunitiesandyouwanttoflagsomeasbeingclosertoclosingthanothers,a simpleon/officonwoulddothisnicely.Othertypicalusesincludemarkingfeatureditems,suchasproducts inalist,andpointingoutwhereyoucurrentlyareonaschedulethatincludeseventsthatextendintothe pastandfuture.Anyoneofmanysimpleiconscouldbeusedtoservethispurpose,butcheckmarks, asterisks,andXs(Figure650)areprobablythemostcommonandintuitivelyunderstood.Regardlessof whichiconyouchooseforthispurpose,itisbesttopickoneandsticktoit.Consistencymightseemboring, butondashboardsitmakesthingsclear.

Figure650.Sampleon/officons.

6.2.3.Text Alldashboards,nomatterhowgraphicallyoriented,includesomeinformationthatisencodedastext.This isbothnecessaryanddesirable,forsomeinformationisbettercommunicatedtextuallyratherthan graphically.Textisusedforthecategoricallabelsthatidentifywhatitemsareongraphs,butitisoften appropriateinotherplacesaswell.Anytimeitisappropriatetoreportasinglemeasurealone,without comparingittoanything,textcommunicatesthenumbermoredirectlyandefficientlythanagraph(Figure 651).Notethatintheseinstancessomemeanstodisplaythetextonadashboard,suchasasimpletext box,isnecessary.1

Figure651.Textcanbeusedonadashboardtoclearlyconveyasinglemeasureonitsown.

6.2.4.Images Themeanstodisplayimagessuchasphotos,illustrations,ordiagramsissometimesusefulonadashboard, butrarely,inmyexperience.Adashboardthatisusedbyatrainermightincludephotographsofthepeople

11

SeeChapter7,DesigningDashboardsforUsability,foradiscussionofchoosingfontsforuseonadashboard.

scheduledtoattendtheday'sclass,oneusedbyamaintenanceworkermighthighlighttheareasofthe buildingwherelightbulbsneedtobereplaced,oroneusedbyapolicedepartmentmightuseamapto showwherecrimeshaveoccurredinthelast24hours.However,imageswillbeunnecessaryformost typicalbusinessuses. 6.2.5.DrawingObjects Itissometimesusefultoarrangeandconnectpiecesofinformationinrelationtooneanotherinwaysthat simpledrawingobjectshandlewithclarityandease.Forinstance,whendisplayinginformationabouta process,itcanbehelpfultoarrangeseparateeventsintheprocesssequentiallyandtoindicatethepath alongwhichtheprocessflows,especiallywhenbranchingalongmultiplepathsispossible.Another exampleiswhenyouneedtoshowconnectionsbetweenentities,perhapsincludingahierarchical relationship,suchasinanorganizationchart.Entitiescaneasilybedisplayedasrectanglesandcircles,and relationshipscanbedisplayedusinglinesandarrows.Forinstance,rectanglesorcirclescouldrepresent tasksinaproject,witharrowsconnectingthemtoindicatetheirrelationshipsandorder. Figures652and653provideexamplesofhowsomeoftheseobjectsmightbeused.Theycanalsobeused tohighlightandgroupinformation,whichisacommonneedindashboarddesign.Switchingbetween rectanglesandcirclesprovidesaneasywaytodistinguishdifferenttypesofentities.Linesandarrowsboth showconnectionsbetweenentities,butarrowsdisplaytheadditionalelementofdirection.

Figure652.Simpledrawingobjectscanbeusedtoclarifyrelationshipsbetweenthecomponentsofnetrevenue.

Figure653.Simpledrawingobjectscanbeusedtodisplayrelationshipsbetweentasksinaprojectplan.

6.2.6.Organizers Itisoftenthecasethatsetsofinformationneedtobearrangedinaparticularmannertocommunicate clearly.Threeseparatewaysoforganizingandarrangingrelatedinformationstandoutasparticularlyuseful whendisplayingbusinessinformationondashboards: Tables Spatialmaps Smallmultiples

6.2.6.1.Tables Tablesarrangedataintocolumnsandrows.Thisisafamiliararrangementfortext(Figure654),butitcan alsobeusedtoarrangeanyoftheotherdisplaymediathatwe'vealreadyexamined.Arranginggraphs, icons,andimagesintocolumnsandrowsisoftenuseful.

Figure654.Atabulararrangementoftext.

6.2.6.2.Spatialmaps Spatialmapsofferamorespecializedandlessoftenneededformoforganization.Theycanbeusedto associatedatabothcategoricalandquantitativewithphysicalspace.Whendataistiedtophysicalspaceand itsmeaningcanbeenhancedbymakingthatarrangementvisible,spatialmapsareuseful. Themostcommonarrangementofdatarelatedtophysicalspaceisageographicalarrangementintheform ofamap.Whenthegeographicallocationofthethingbeingmeasuredmustbeseentounderstandthe data,placingthemeasuresonamapsupportsthisunderstanding.However,thisdoesn'tmeanthatany timemeasurescanbeshowninrelationtogeography,theyshouldbe;onlywhenthemeaningofthedata istiedtogeographyandthatmeaningcannoteasilybeunderstoodwithoutactuallyseeingthedata arrangedonamapshouldthisapproachbetaken.Forexample,salesrevenuecanbeunderstoodin relationtoasmallnumberofsalesregionswithoutdisplayingthedataonamap(seeFigure655),but displayingconcentrationsofabsenteeismamongemployeesinstoreslocatedthroughouttheUnitedStates onamapcouldrevealpatternsrelatedtolocationthatmightnotbeobviousotherwise.

 Figure655.Spatialmapscanbeusefulwhentheyaddtoourunderstandingofthedata,but,asinthiscase,theyareoftenused unnecessarily.

Thesecondmostusefultypeofspatialmaponadashboardisprobablythefloorplanofabuilding.If,for example,itisyourjobtomonitortemperaturesthroughoutalargebuildingandrespondwhenever particularareasexceedestablishednorms,seeingthetemperaturesarrangedonafloorplancouldbring relationshipsbetweenadjacentareastolightthatyoumightmissotherwise. 6.2.6.3.Smallmultiples ThelastorganizerarrangesgraphsinamannerthatEdwardTuftecalls"smallmultiples."Thisarrangement istabular,consistingofasingleroworcolumnofrelatedgraphs,ormultiplerowsandcolumnsofrelated graphsarrangedinamatrix.Ilistsmallmultiplesseparatelyfromtablesbecauseorganizersthatdisplay smallmultiplesoughttohavesomeintelligencebuiltintothemtohandleaspectsofthisarrangementthat wouldbetimeconsumingtoarrangemanuallyinatable. Inadisplayofsmallmultiples,thesamebasicgraphappearsmultipletimes,eachtimedifferingalonga singlevariable.Let'slookatanexample.Ifyouneedtodisplayrevenuedataasabargraphacrossfoursales regions,withbookingsandbillingsrevenueshownseparately,youcoulddosoinasinglegraph,asshown inFigure656.

 Figure656.Thisbargraphdisplaysthreevariables.

If,however,youmustsimultaneouslydisplaytherevenuesplitbetweenthreesaleschannels(forexample, solddirectly,throughdistributors,andthroughresellers),asinglegraphwon'twork.Totherescuecomes thesmallmultiplesdisplay.AsshowninFigure657,byarrangingthreeversionsofthesamegraphnextto oneanotheronegraphpersaleschannelyoucanshowtheentirepicturewithineyespan,making comparisonseasy.Toeliminateunnecessaryredundancy,youcouldavoidrepeatingtheregionlabelsin eachgraph,aswellasthelegendandtheoveralltitle.Thisnotonlysavesvaluablespace,whichisalways importantonadashboard,butitalsoreducestheamountofinformationthattheviewermustreadwhen examiningthedisplay.

Figure657.Thisseriesofhorizontallyalignedsmallmultiplesdisplaysrevenuesplitbetweenthreesaleschannels.

Anintelligentorganizerforsmallmultiplesbuiltintothesoftwarewouldallowyoutoreferencethedata, indicatewhichvariablegoesonwhichaxisofthegraph,whichshouldbeencodedaslinesofseparate colors,whichshouldvarypergraph,andfinallywhetheryouwantthegraphstobearrangedvertically, horizontally,orinamatrix;theorganizerwouldthenhandletherestforyou.Asofthiswriting,Ihaveyetto seedashboardsoftwarethatmakesthiseasytodo.Ireservethehope,however,thatthiswillsoonchange.

6.3.Summary
ThelibraryofdashboarddisplaymediathatI'veproposedinthischapteriscertainlynotcomprehensive, norwillitremainunchangedastimegoeson.Asnewgraphicinventionsemergethatsuitthepurposeand designconstraintsofdashboards,thislibrarywillcontinuetogrow,butIexpectthatitwilldososlowly.

Justbecauseavendorintroducesanewvisualizationtechniquedoesn'tmeanitbelongsonadashboard. Let'skeepthevisiontruetoformandeffectiveforenlighteningandefficientcommunication.

Chapter7.DesigningDashboardsforUsability
Afewimportantaspectsofdashboard'svisualdesignremaintobeconsidered.Oneofthemostchallenging istheneedtoarrangemanyitemsofinformationoftenrelatedsolelybytheviewer'sneedtomonitorthem allinamannerthatdoesn'tresultinaclutteredmess.Thisarrangementmustsupporttheintrinsic relationshipsbetweenthevariousitemsandthemannerinwhichtheymustbenavigatedandusedto supportthetaskathand.Adashboard'sdesignmustoptimallyandtransparentlysupportitsuse.Thewhole alsomustbepleasingtolookupon,oritwillbeignored.

Organizetheinformationtosupportitsmeaninganduse Maintainconsistencyforquickandaccurateinterpretation Maketheviewingexperienceaestheticallypleasing Designforuseasalaunchpad Testyourdesignforusability Beyondselectingappropriatedisplaymediaandreducingthenondatapixelstoaminimum,attentionalso mustbegiventoseveralotheraspectsofdesigntoguaranteethatyourdashboardsareeasytouseanddo everythingtheycantosupporttheviewer'sneedtorespondtotheinformation.Havingknowledgeofafew moredesignstrategiesunderyourbeltwillhelpyoublendallthevisualaspectsofyourdashboardintoa pleasingandfunctionaldisplay.

7.1.OrganizetheInformationtoSupportItsMeaningandUse
Youcan'tjusttakeinformationandthrowitontothedashboardanywayyouplease.Howthepiecesare arrangedinrelationtooneanothercanmakethedifferencebetweenadashboardthatworksandonethat endsupbeingignored,eventhoughtheinformationtheypresentisthesame.Keepthefollowing considerationsinmindwhenyoudeterminehowtoarrangedataonthescreen: Organizegroupsaccordingtobusinessfunctions,entities,anduse. Colocateitemsthatbelongtothesamegroup. Delineategroupsusingtheleastvisiblemeans. Supportmeaningfulcomparisons. Discouragemeaninglesscomparisons.

7.1.1.OrganizeGroupsAccordingtoBusinessFunctions,Entities,andUse Agoodfirstcutatorganizingdataistoformgroupsthatarealignedwithbusinessfunctions(forexample, orderentry,shipping,orbudgetplanning),withentities(departments,projects,systems,etc.),orwithuses ofthedata(forinstance,theneedtocomparerevenuesandexpenses).Thesearethenaturalwaysto organizemostbusinessdata. Inabusiness,becauseentitiesandfunctionsarepartsofaninterconnectedsystem,someonewhoserole spansmanyoftheseindividualunitsmightprefertoseedataorganizedinawaythatismoreintegrated andalignedwiththewaysheusesthatinformation.Forinstance,aCEOstandsabovethedivisionsfoundin anorganization'sstructureandusuallywantstoseerelationshipsamongdatathataremoreholistic, perhapsbasedontherelativeimportanceofeachitemtothecompany'sbottomline,fromgreatestto least.Inacaselikethis,itemsthatothersmightnaturallyseeasbelongingtodistinctgroupsmightbe groupedtogethertobetterservetheneedsoftheCEO.Ifthereisaparticularorderinwhichthedataought tobescannedtobuildthedesiredoverviewasefficientlyaspossible,groupingandorderingitems accordinglymightworkbest. Whenorganizingdataonadashboard,startbylearningpreciselyhowtheinformationwillbeusedandhow thepiecesoughttobearrangedtobestservetheseuses. 7.1.2.ColocateItemsThatBelongtotheSameGroup Onceyou'vedeterminedthoseitemsthatbelongtogetherrelativetothetaskathand,thebestmeansto connectthemistoplacethemclosetooneanother,yetdelineatedinsomesimplemannerfrom

surroundinggroups.Usingpositiontogroupitemsvisuallyisastrategythatispreattentivelyandthus rapidlyperceived. 7.1.3.DelineateGroupsUsingtheLeastVisibleMeans Visualmeansthatareusedtodelineategroupsofdata,suchasgridlines,borders,andbackgroundfill colors,qualifyasnondatapixels.Assuch,theyshouldbeonlyasvisibleasnecessarytodothejob.Whatis theleastvisiblemeanstovisuallydelineategroupsofdata?Theansweriswhitespace.Whenenoughblank spacesurroundsagroupofdatatosetitapartfromtheothergroups,theobjectiveisaccomplished withoutaddinganyvisualcontenttothedashboardthatmightdistractattentionfromthedata.Usewhite spacetodelineategroupsofdatawheneverpossible. Ofcourse,asdashboardsareoftenhighdensitydisplays,theydonotalwayshavethesparespace necessarytousewhitespacealonetodelineatethegroups.Whenthatisthecase,subtlebordersare usuallythebestmeanstodistinguishthegroups.Youmightbesurprisedathowlightlinescanbeandstill dothejob.TakealookatFigure71foranexampleofhowyoucanusewhitespaceorlightbordersto delineatethesamegroupsofdata.

Figure71.Thefourtablesonthetophavebeenseparatedeffectivelyusingwhitespacealone,butthefouronthebottom, becausetheyareclosertogether,havebeenseparatedusinglightborders.

7.1.4.SupportMeaningfulComparisons Measuresofperformancecomealiveonlywhenyoucomparethemtoothermeasures.Forexample, knowingthatquartertodatesalesrevenueis$92,354ismeaningfulonlywhencomparedtooneormore othermeasuresthatcanbeusedasyardstickstodetermineitsmerit,suchasatargetortheamountof revenuethathadcomeinatthispointinthepriorquarter.Youcanencouragemeaningfulcomparisonsby doingthefollowing: Combiningitemsinasingletableorgraph(ifappropriate) Placingitemsclosetooneanother Linkingitemsindifferentgroupsusingacommoncolor Includingcomparativevalues(forexample,ratios,percentages,oractualvariances)whenever usefulforclarityandefficiency

Figure72illustratestwoofthesepractices.Thegraphontopshowsseveralmeasuresthatsharethesame unitofmeasure,displayedinasinglegraphtoencouragecomparison.Thegraphonthebottomcombines twodatasetswithdifferentunitsofmeasureinasinglegraphbyplacingonequantitativescaleontheleft verticalaxisandanotherontheright.

Figure72.Twoexamplesofcombiningmultiplemeasuresinasinglegraphtoencouragecomparisons.

ThetableinFigure73illustrateshowvaluescanbeexpresseddirectlyascomparativeunitsofmeasureto encouragecomparisons.Boththe"%ofTotal"and"%ofFcst"columnscontainvaluesthatarecomparative bytheirverynature.Especiallywhenyouwanttocommunicatethedegreetowhichonevaluediffersfrom another,percentagesexpressthismoredirectlythanrawvalues.

Figure73.Youcanusecomparativevaluestodirectlysupportcomparisons.

7.1.5.DiscourageMeaninglessComparisons Evenifit'sallimportanttosomejoborsetofobjectives,notallthedatathatappearsonadashboardis meanttobecompared.However,withoutvigilance,youmightinadvertentlymakedesignchoicesthat encouragethecomparisonofunrelateddata.Forinstance,inFigure74,someofthecolorchoicesproduce thisunintendedeffect.Thecolorsgreenandredmean"good"and"bad"wherevertheyappear,which encouragesustoassumethatallthecolorsusedonthisdashboardmeanthesamewherevertheyappear. However,thisisn'tthecasenoticethatthecoloryellowmeans"satisfactory"insomecontexts,butinone graphitrepresentsforecastbalancesandinanotherthemonthofJune.Inthiscase,ournaturalinclination tolinklikecolorsismisleading.

Figure74.Thisdashboardinadvertentlyencouragesmeaninglesscomparisons.

Youcandiscouragemeaninglesscomparisonsbydoingtheoppositeofthepracticesmentionedinthe previoussection: Separateitemsfromoneanotherspatially(ifappropriate). Usedifferentcolors.

7.2.MaintainConsistencyforQuickandAccurateInterpretation
Differencesinappearancealwayspromptustosearch,whetherconsciouslyorunconsciously,forthe significanceofthosedifferences.Anythingthatmeansthesamethingorfunctionsinthesamewayought tolookthesamewhereveritappearsonadashboard.Evensomethingassubtleasarbitrarilyusingdark axislinesononegraphandlightaxislinesonanotherwillleadviewerstosuspectthatthisdifference, whichisinfactarbitrary,issignificant. It'simportanttomaintainconsistencynotonlyinthevisualappearanceofthedisplaymedia,butinyour choiceofdisplaymediaaswell.Iftwosectionsofdatainvolvethesametypeofquantitativerelationship (suchasatimeseries)andareintendedforsimilaruse(forexample,tocompareameasuretoatarget measureforeachmonth),youshouldusethesametypeofdisplayforboth(forexample,abargraph). Nevervarythemeansofdisplayforthesakeofvariety.Alwaysselectthemediumthatbestcommunicates thedataanditsmessage,evenifthatmeansthatyourdashboardconsistsofthesametypeofgraph throughout.

7.3.MaketheViewingExperienceAestheticallyPleasing
In1988DonaldNorman,acognitivescientist,wroteawonderfulbookentitledTheDesignofEveryday Things(NewYork:BasicBooks).Itisaclassicinthefieldofdesignthatconvincinglyarguesthatthe effectivenessofsomething'sdesignshouldbejudgedbyhowwellitworksandhoweasyitistouse.Inthe yearssinceitspublication,designershaveoftenaccusedNormanofignoringthevalueofaesthetics.This frequentcritiquewasoneofhismotivesforwritingtherecentbookentitledEmotionalDesign:WhyWe Love(orHate)EverydayThings(NewYork:BasicBooks,2004). Inthisbook,Normandescribesthepsychologicalandphysiologicalbenefitsofaestheticallypleasingdesign. Ifappliedtodashboarddesign,Norman'spointwouldarguethataestheticallypleasingdashboardsare moreenjoyable,whichmakesthemmorerelaxing,whichpreparestheviewerforgreaterinsightand creativeresponse.ThisisnotadeparturefromhisearlierassertionsinTheDesignofEverydayThings,but ratheranextensionassertingthataesthetics,whennotinconflictwithaproduct'susability,possess intrinsicqualitiesthatalsocontributetousability.Thisnewbookconvincinglyreframesthediscussion abouttheimportanceofusabilityasamatternotofusabilityversusaestheticsbutofusabilityversus anythingthatflagrantlyunderminesusability,whichgood,aestheticallypleasingdesignmanagestoavoid. Ilovevisualart.Iappreciatebeautyforitsownsake.Momentsofgreatbeautyexaltme.Information design,however,isaboutcommunication:gettinganintendedmessageacrossinawaythatresultsin usefulunderstanding.Aestheticsareanimportantcomponentofinformationdesign,butnotinthesame waythattheyareinart.Ifadashboardisnotdesignedinanaestheticallypleasingway,theunpleasant experiencethatresultsfortheviewerunderminesthedashboard'sabilitytocommunicate.Ona dashboard,youraesthetictalentoughttobeapplieddirectlytothedisplayofthedataitself,notto meaninglessanddistractingornamentation.Theaestheticsofdashboarddesignshouldalwaysexpress themselvessimply,strivingfortheeloquencethatemergesuniquelyfromsimplicity.

ThedashboardshowninFigure75,whilesimpleenough,isaglaringexampleofdesignthatisanythingbut aestheticallypleasing.Howcanyouavoidcreatingasimilarmonstrosity?Let'slookatafewguidelinesthat willhelpyouachieveasimpleaestheticwithoutcompromisingthedata.

Figure75.Anexampleofadownrightuglydashboard.

7.3.1.ChooseColorsAppropriately Pooruseofcolorisperhapsthemostcommonoffensetoadashboard'sappearance.Colorsthatarebright ordarknaturallydemandmoreattention.Toomanybrightordarkcolorscanquicklybecomevisually exhausting.Whenselectingcolors,keepthefollowingguidelinesinmind: Keepbrightcolorstoaminimum,usingthemonlytohighlightdatathatrequiresattention. Exceptforcontentthatdemandsattention,uselesssaturatedcolorssuchasthosethatare predominantinnature(forexample,thecolorsoftheearthandsky). Useabarelydiscernablepalebackgroundcolorotherthanpurewhitetoprovideamore soothing,lessstarklycontrastingsurfaceonwhichthedatacanreside.

Figure76illustratestheseprinciples.

 Figure76.Avoidtheuseofbrightcolorsexcepttohighlightparticulardatastickwithmoresubduedcolorsformostofwhat's displayed.Useabackgroundcolorthatisslightlyoffwhitetoavoidthestarkcontrastbetweenforegroundcolorsagainstapure whitebackground.

7.3.2.ChooseHighResolutionforClarity Thehighdensityofinformationthattypicallyappearsonadashboardrequiresthatthegraphicalimagesbe displayedwithexceptionalvisualclarity.Imageswithpoorresolutionarehardtoread,whichslowsdown theprocessofscanningthedashboardforinformation(andisjustplainannoying).Visualclaritydoesnot requirefancyshadingorphotorealism;simplehighresolutionimageswilldo. 7.3.3.ChoosetheRightText Myfinalrecommendationregardingdashboardaestheticsinvolvestheuseoftext.Usethemostlegible fontyoucanfind.Youdon'tneedtosetamoodorreinforceathemebyusinganunusualfont.Ornatetext mightbeappropriateforaposteradvertisingthecircus,butnotforadashboard.Youwantafontthatcan bereadthefastestwiththeleastamountofstrainontheeyes.Findonethatworksandstickwithit throughoutthedashboard.Youcanuseadifferentfontforheadingstohelpthemstandoutifyouwish,but that'sthepracticallimit.Figure77illustratesafewofthegoodandbadchoicesthatareavailable.

Figure77.Examplesofsomefontsthatareeasytoreadyandsomethatarenot.

7.4.DesignforUseasaLaunchPad
Assinglescreendisplays,dashboardsdonotalwaysprovidealltheinformationneededtoperformajobor topursueaparticularsetofobjectives.Theycanprovidetheinitialoverviewthatisneededformonitoring atahighlevel,buttheymightneedtobesupplementedwithadditionalinformationformore comprehensiveunderstandingandresponse.Dashboardsshouldalmostalwaysbedesignedforinteraction. Themostcommontypesofdashboardinteractionare: Drillingdownintothedetails Slicingthedatatonarrowthefieldoffocus

Whicheveroftheseyouintend,whenyourdashboardservesasalaunchpadtoadditional,complementary information,besuretokeepthefollowingprinciplesinmind: Allowtheviewertoinitiatethelaunchbyclickingthedataitself. Useconsistentlaunchactions.

Enablingtheviewertoaccessadditionaldata(suchasthedetailsbeneaththeoverview)viadirect interactioniseasyandintuitive,anditsavesspaceonthedashboardbyeliminatingseparatecontrolssuch asbuttons.Ifyoudisplayabargraphinwhicheachbarrepresentstherevenueofadifferentsalesregion, forexample,itmightbeidealtoallowtheviewertoclickdirectlyonaparticularbartoseeagraphthat furthersubdividesthatregion'srevenueaccordingtotheindividualstatesthatbelongtotheregion. Likewise,iftherearetimeswhenaviewermightwanttoknowtheprecisevalueforaparticulardatapoint alongalinegraph,theabilitytohoveroverthatpositionandhavethevaluepopuptemporarilyastextis ideal.Whatevermechanismyoudecidetobuildintothedashboardtoinitiatelinkstoadditionaldata,make surethatitisconsistentwhereveritappears,toavoidconfusion.

7.5.TestYourDesignforUsability
Nomatterhowwelldesignedyourfinalproductturnsouttobe,itisalwayshardtodissuadepeoplefrom predeterminednotionsofhowitshouldlook.Doyourbesttopreventthosewhowilleventuallyuseyour completeddashboardfromdevelopingexpectationsaboutitslookandfeelapartfromyourinputand expertadvice.Presentyouruserswithasingleprototypeofthemosteffectivedesignthatyoucancreate, andletthatbethestartingpointfordiscussionsabouthowitmightbetweakedtobetterservetheirneeds. Don'tpresentthemwithseveralalternativedesigns,becauseeventhoughyourusersprobablyknowwhat theyneedtoaccomplish,theydon'tknowhowthedashboardoughttobevisuallydesignedtoachievethat result.Youarethedesigner,soitisuptoyoutobringthisexpertisetotheprocess. Youwillnevergeteverythingrightonthefirsttry,nomatterhowskilledyouare.Youmustputyourdesign tothetest.Onlythosewhowillactuallyusethedashboardarequalifiedtodetermineifitactuallyworks andworkswell.Showittothempopulatedwithrealdata,andobservethemastheylookitoverandlearn tomakesenseofthedata.Ifyouareintroducingdisplaymediathatarenewtothem,beginwithsimple instructioninhowtheyworkandexplainwhyyouchosethosemechanismsratherthanothersthatmight bemorefamiliar.Ifyou'vedoneyourhomeworkandyourusersreallycareaboutdoingtheirjobswell ratherthandoingtheminaparticularway,usabilitytestingwillusuallyresultinrelativelyminoradditions andtweakstorefinetheeffectivenessofthedashboard,ratherthanmajorrevisions.Althoughthereare certainlyexceptionswhendealingwiththefoiblesofhumanbeings,gooddesignusuallyresultsinagood reception.

Chapter8.PuttingItAllTogether
Agreatdealofinformationhasbeenamassedasthelessonsinthisbookhavebeenunveiledstepbystep, conceptbyconcept,andprinciplebyprinciple.Nowitistimetotieitalltogether,toseetheseprinciples combinedintheformofsampledashboards.Theproofisintheefficacyoftheresult:dashboardsthatcan bemonitoredandunderstoodataglance.We'lllookatfourexamplesofeffectivelydesigneddashboards, andputourknowledgetothetestbycritiquingeightalternatesolutionstooneofthesedesignproblems.

Samplesalesdashboards SampleCIOdashboard Sampletelesalesdashboard Samplemarketinganalysisdashboard Inthisfinalchapter,we'llbringtogethertheprinciplesandpracticestaughtthroughoutthebook.We'll examinesomedashboardsthatillustratetheclearandefficientcommunicationthatresultsfrominformed design,andwe'lltestyourknowledgebycritiquingseveralothers.Thesesamplesaddressfourdifferent businessscenarios,includingdashboardsthatsupportstrategic,analytical,andoperationalpurposes: SamplesalesdashboardAsalesmanagermightusethisdashboardtomonitorsalesperformanceand opportunities(strategic). SampleCIOdashboardAChiefInformationOfficer(CIO)mightusethisdashboardtomonitorseveral aspectsofacompany'sinformationsystems(strategicandoperational). SampletelesalesdashboardThesupervisorofateamofsalesrepresentativeswhotakeordersandanswer questionsbyphonemightusethisdashboardtomonitorperformance(operational). SamplemarketinganalysisdashboardAmarketinganalystmightusethisdashboardtomonitorthe marketingperformanceofthecompany'swebsite(analytical). TheseexampleswillnotonlyputfleshonthebonesofthedesignprinciplesthatI'vetaughtinthisbook, but(Ihope)willalsosuggestideasforthetypesofinformationyoumightdisplayonadashboardandsome interestingandeffectivewaystodoso.

8.1.SampleSalesDashboard
Apartfromexecutivedashboards,Isuspectthatnoonetypeofdashboardisimplementedmoreoftenthan asalesdashboard.Salesactivityisthelifegivingheartofmostbusinesses.Thoseinchargeofsalesneedto keeptheirfingersonthepulseatalltimes,evenwhenalliswell.Salesstrategiesmightneedtochange quicklywhennewopportunities,problems,orcompetitivepressuresarise.Awelldesigneddashboardcan beapowerfultoolforasalesmanager. Ibegandesigningthesamplesalesdashboardbyselectingtheinformationthatseemedmostimportantfor asalesmanagertomonitor.EachitemthatIselectedisameasureofwhat'scurrentlygoingoninsales. Here'sthelist:1

1

Salesrevenue Salesrevenueinthepipeline(expectedrevenuedividedintocategoriesofprobability) Profit Customersatisfactionrating Top10customers Marketshare

Keepinmindthatthepurposeofthesamplesinthischapterisnottodefinethedatathatyoushouldincludeonany particulartypeofdashboard,butrathertoillustratehowthevisualdesignprinciplesthatyou'velearnedinthisbook canbeappliedtorealworldsituations,andhowtheymightlook.Itisn'tpossibletodeterminetheprecisedatathat willbeappropriateforalldashboardsofanyparticulartype,suchasasalesdashboard.

Foreachoftheseitems,Ineededtomakeseveraldecisions,including:

AtwhatlevelofsummarizationshouldIexpressthismeasure? WhatunitofmeasureshouldIusetoexpressthismeasure? WhatcomplementaryinformationshouldIincludeascontexttoenhancethismeasure'smeaning? Whatmeansofdisplaywouldbestexpressthismeasure? Howimportantisthismeasuretoasalesmanagercomparedtotheothermeasures? Atwhatpointinthesequenceofviewingtheitemsonthedashboardmightasalesmanagerwant toseethismeasure? Towhatothermeasuresmightasalesmanagerwanttocomparethismeasure?

IfIweredesigningasalesdashboardforaparticularpersonorgroup,Iwouldinvolvetheminanswering thesequestions.Formypresentpurposes,however,Imadeseveralassumptionsbasedonmyknowledge ofsalesandproducedthedashboardinFigure81.

Figure81.Asamplesalesdashboardthatputsintopracticetheprincipleswe'vediscussedthroughoutthisbook.

Examinethisdashboardonyourown,througheyesthatcannowrecognizewhatworksandwhatdoesn't, withanunderstandingofwhy.Lookateachmeasure,atwhatIincludedascontext,andateveryaspectof thevisualdesign,bothonitsownandinrelationtothewhole.Askyourself,"Whywasitdesignedinthis way?"Takesometimenowtodothisbeforereadingon.Hopefully,you'llbeabletoidentifyandexplain thereasonsformostofmydesignchoices. Hereareafewofthehighlights: Colorhasbeenusedsparingly.Otherthanthelightbrownheadingstoclearlygroupthedatainto meaningfulsections,theonlyothercolorthatisnotagraytoneappearsontheredalerts.Thisjudicious useofcolormakesthoseitemsthatmustgrabattentiondosoclearly,withoutcompetitionfromother colorsthatmightalsoattractattention. Theprimerealestateonthescreenhasbeenusedforthemostimportantdata.Assumingthatthe measuresthathavebeenidentifiedasthe"keymetrics"aregenerallythemostimportantitemsonthe dashboard,placingthemintheupperleftcornerofthescreengivesthemtheprominencethatthey deserve. Small,concisedisplaymediahavebeenusedtosupportthedisplayofadensesetofdatainasmall amountofspace.Thisdashboarddisplaysagreatdealofinformation,yetitisn'tcluttered.Spaceefficient andsimpledisplaymediasuchassparklinesandbulletgraphsarerequiredtoachievethiseffect. Somemeasureshavebeenpresentedbothgraphicallyandastext.Peoplewhomonitorsalesactivityare

generallyinterestedinknowingboththeactualsalesamountsandhowwellsalesaredoingcomparedto targets. Thedisplayofquartertodaterevenueperregioncombinestheactualandpipelinevaluesintheformof stackedbars.Thisapproachenablesviewerstoeasilyseetheresultofaddinganticipatedtoactualrevenue inrelationtothetarget. Whitespacealonehasbeenusedtodelineateandgroupdata.Borders,gridlines,andbackgroundfill colorsareunnecessaryandwouldseverelyclutterthescreen. Thedashboardhasnotbeenclutteredwithinstructionsanddescriptionsthatwillseldombeneeded.A singlehelpbuttonhasbeenprovidedtoallowtheviewertoaccessinformationthatwillprobablybe neededonlyonceortwice,atthebeginningofthedashboard'suse. Lookingatthissampledashboard,youmightseewaysthatdifferentchoicescouldhavebeenmadeto furtherimproveitseffectiveness.Ifullyexpectandevenhopetoreceivefeedbackfromreaderslikeyouto pointoutimprovementsthatcouldbemade. Youmightfinditusefultocomparemysalesdashboardtoseveralothersthatweredesignedtomeetthe sameexactsetofrequirements.IrecentlyjudgedadatavisualizationcompetitionforDMReview magazine.Oneofthefourbusinessscenariosthatparticipantswereaskedtoaddresswithdata visualizationsolutionsrequiredasalesdashboardwiththesamemeasuresthatIincludedinmine.The contestantsweregiventherequirementswithoutanydesigninstructionorsamplesolutions.I'dliketo showyouafewofthesolutionsthatweresubmitted,allofwhicharequitedifferentfrommine.Examine themtojudgehowthechoicestheirdesignersmademighthavebeenimproved.Ibelievethatbydoingthis youwillseehowapplyingthedesignprinciplesthatyou'velearnedinthisbookwillofferclearadvantages overtheseotherapproaches. I'veincludedafewcommentsfollowingeachofthesealternativesalesdashboardsolutions,buttakethe timetoexamineeachofthemonyourownbeforereadingmycritique.Thiseffortwillstrengthenyour understandingofdashboarddesignandhelptomoreseamlesslyintegratetheprincipleswe'vecovered intoyourthinking.Ihaven'tbotheredtolisteveryoneoftheproblemsthatI'vediscoveredineachofthe dashboards,buthavefocusedprimarilyonuniqueproblems.

CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample1

Figure82.Thistextbasedsamplesalesdashboardcouldbeimproved.

Thissalesdashboardusesanapproachthatreliesalmostentirelyontexttocommunicate,usingvisual meansonlyintheformofgreen,lightred,andvibrantredhuestohighlightitemsas"good,""satisfactory," or"poor."Expressingquantitativedatatextuallyprovidesprecisedetail,butthisisn'tusuallythepurposeof adashboard.Dashboardsaremeanttoprovideimmediateinsightintowhat'sgoingon,buttextrequires readingaserialprocessthatismuchslowerthantheparallelprocessingofavisuallyorienteddashboard thatmakesgooduseofthepreattentiveattributesofvisualperception. Tocompareactualmeasurestotheirtargets,mentalmathisrequired.Graphicalsupportofthese comparisonswouldhavebeeneasierandfastertointerpret. Numbershavebeencenterjustifiedinthecolumns,ratherthanrightjustified.Thismakesthemharderto comparewhenscanningupanddownacolumn. Someimportantmeasuresaremissing.Thisdashboarddoesnotincludepipelinerevenueorthetop10 customers. Allfourquartersofthecurrentyearhavebeengivenequallevelsofemphasis.Asalesmanagerwouldhave greaterinterestinthecurrentquarter.Thedesignofthedashboardshouldhavefocusedonthecurrent quarterandcomparativelyreducedemphasisontheotherquarters. Propercarehasnotbeengiventomakeimportantdistinctions.Thegreaterintensityofthevibrantredhue thatisusedtohighlightmeasuresthatareperformingpoorlywillstandoutclearlyeventocolorblind users,butthesubduedshadeofredandtheequallysubduedshadeofgreenmightnotbedistinguishable.

Also,thenumbersthatoughttostandoutmostandbeveryeasytoreadthepoorlyperformingmeasures arethehardesttoreadagainstthedarkredbackground. CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample2

Figure83.Thissolutionexhibitssomeofthesameproblemsasthepreviousexample,butalsoafewdifferentones.

Thegridlinesthatappearinthetablesarenotneededatall.Eveniftheywereneeded,theyshouldhave beenmutedvisually.Intheircurrentheavyform,theyimprisonthenumbers. Thegridlinesthatappearinthegraphsarealsounnecessary.Theydistractfromthedata.Especiallyinthe contextofadashboard,youcan'taffordtoincludeanyunnecessaryvisualcontent. Thedropshadowsonthebarsandlinesintwoofthegraphsandonthepiechartarevisualfluff.These elementsserveonlytodistract.

Allofthenumbersinthetableshavebeenexpressedaspercentages.Ifthosewhousethisdashboardonly careaboutperformancerelativetotargets,thisisfine,butitislikelythattheywillwantasenseofthe actualamountsaswell. Thepiechartisnotthemosteffectivedisplaymedium.Assumingthatitisworthwhiletodisplayhowthe 90%probabilityportionoftherevenuepipelineisdistributedamongtheregions,abargraphwiththe regionsinrankedorderwouldhavecommunicatedthisinformationmoreeffectively. Overall,thisdashboardexhibitstoomanybrightcolors.Thedashboardasawholeisvisuallyoverwhelming andfailstofeaturethemostimportantdata. Thereisnocomparisonoftrendsintherevenuehistory.The12monthrevenuehistoryshownintheline graphisuseful,butitwouldalsohavebeenusefultoseethishistoryperregionandperproduct,toallow thecomparisonoftrends. CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample3

Figure84.ThissolutionillustratesseveraloftheproblemsthatIpointedoutinChapter3,ThirteenCommonMistakesin DashboardDesign.

Thisdesignfragmentsthedatathatasalesmanagerwouldwanttoseeintoseparateinstancesofthe dashboard.Noticetheradiobuttonsabovethegraphontheleft,whichareusedtoselectthequarterthat youwanttosee.Thisgivesyounomeanstocomparesalesperformanceovertime. Thephotographsarechartjunk(atermcoinedbyEdwardTuftetodescribevisualcontentinaninformation displaythatservesonlyasdecoration).Thisuselessdecorationservesonlytodistractfromthedata.After seeingthesefacesforacoupleofdays,viewerswilltireofthemandwishthespacehadbeenbetterused.

Furthermore,themostimportantrealestateonthescreen(atthetopleft)istakenupbyphotographsand acompanylogo.Thisisawasteofvaluablespace. Thebargraphintheupperleftfailstovisuallydisplayclearcomparisonstothetargets.Youmustreadthe numbersprintedonthebarstodeterminetherelationshipstothetargets. Thetwographsontherightmakeanattempttovisuallycomparetherevenuemeasurestotheirtargets, buttheyusealinetoencodethetargets,whichisinappropriateforthisdata.Usingalinetoconnectvalues inagraphsuggestsarelationshipofchangebetweenthevalues,butrevenuevaluesforindividualproducts orregionsarenotintimatelyconnectedtooneanothertheyarediscretevaluesalonganominalscale.The patternsformedbythelinesaremeaningless. CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample4

Figure85.Thisexampleusedheadacheinducingcolors.

Theuseofcoloristoodramatic,especiallyintheareaswiththedarkbackgrounds.Alight,slightlyoffwhite backgroundthroughoutwouldhaveworkedbetter.Also,theuseofextremelydifferentbackgroundcolors toseparatethedataintofoursectionsisn'tnecessary. Whitespaceisoverused.Ratherthansurroundingthetwotablesontheleftinalargeamountofwhite space,thetablescouldhavebeenenlargedtomakethemeasiertoread.

CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample5

Figure86.Thissolutionexhibitssomeoftheproblemsfoundinpreviousexamples,andafewothers.

Onceagain,wehaveadesignthathasfragmentedthedata.Noticetheradiobuttonsorslidersnexttoeach ofthegraphs.Wecanonlyseeonemeasureatatimeineachgraph,yetmuchofthisdataoughttobe displayedtogethertoenableustomakeusefulcomparisons(suchasbetweentheregions). Thebeautiful,brightlycoloredpiechartslooksomuchlikecandy,Igetasugarrushjustlookingatthem. Thecolorsaremuchtoobright,andthephotorealisticshadingtogivethema3Dappearanceissimplynot necessary.Thiseffectmakesthepiechartsjumpoutasthedominantfeaturesofthedashboard,whichis notwarranted.Also,onceagain,piechartsarenotthemosteffectivemeansofdisplayingdataona dashboard,becausetheydon'tallowforcomparisonsaseasilyasbargraphs. Thevisualshadingonthebarsandbuttons,likethatonthepiecharts,isunnecessaryanddistracting.This contributestotheeffectofmakingtheseobjectspopoutinappropriately.

CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample6

Figure87.Whilevisuallyappealinginsomeways,thissolutionhassomeseriousweaknesses.

Despitethevisualappealofthelefthalfofthisdashboard,thedisplaymediawerenotwellchosen.The circularrepresentationsoftimeseriesdatausinghuestoencodestatesofperformance(good,satisfactory, andpoor)areclever,butforthepurposeofshowinghistory,thesearenotasintuitiveorinformativeasa lineardisplay,suchasalinegraph. Noneofthemeasuresthatappearontheleftsideofthedashboardisrevealedbeyonditsperformance state.Knowingtheactualrevenueamountandmoreabouthowitcomparestothetargetwouldcertainly beusefultoasalesmanager.Unlikesomeofthepreviousexamplesthatusedhuestoencodestatesof performance,however,Ibelievethatthesehueswerecarefullychosentoberecognizablebythosewho arecolorblind. Thecirculardisplaymechanismstreatallperiodsoftimeequally.Thereisnoemphasisonthecurrent quarter. Gradientfillcolorsinthebargraphsaddmeaninglessvisualinterest.Theyalsoinfluenceperceptionofthe valuesencodedbythebarsinsubtleways.Barsthatextendintothedarkersectionsofthegradientappear slightlydifferentfromthosethatextendonlyintothelightersections.Dashboarddesignersshouldbe consciousofeventhesesubtleeffectsandavoidthem.

CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample7

Figure88.Thisdashboardhasaproblemthatwehaven'tseensofarthatunderminesitseffectiveness.

Someofthesegraphsaretoocomplexforeasyinterpretation.Therevenueperformancebyproductand regiongraphsatthelowerleftandthequartertodatesalespipelinebyregiongraphinthecenterbottom positionallusebarsthatencodevaluesintwodimensions,usingboththeheightandwidthofeachbar. Thisisaworthwhileattempttosavespace,butonethatrequirestoomuchstudytointerpretdueto limitationsinvisualperception.ThetwographsontheleftbothusetheX(horizontal)axistoencode revenueperformancecomparedtotarget,andtheY(vertical)axistoencodetheportionofeachproductor regiontothewhole,functioninglikestackedbargraphs.Thepipelinerevenuegraphinthecenterdisplays thedifferentpartsofthepipeline(90%probability,etc.)assegmentsofthebarrunninghorizontallyfrom lefttoright,andtheregionalportionsofthetotalpipelineasverticalsegments.Usingboththeheightand widthofthebarstoencodequantitativevaluesrectanglesthattemptustocomparetheir2Dareastoone anotherresultsininaccuratecomparisons.

CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample8

Figure89.Thisfinalexampleisquiteadeparturefromtheothersandhassomeserious(andprobablyobvious)flaws.

Thisdashboard,whileaninterestingcontrasttotheothers,isconfusingatfirstglanceandlikelytoremain thatwayforsomewhile.Muchofthedataitpresentsisalsofairlyimprecise.Colorsandshapeshavebeen usedtoencodevaluesintherectanglesthatappearthroughoutthedashboard.Intheupperrightcorner, youfindalegendthattellsyouwhateachoftherectanglesrepresents(revenue,marketshare,profit,etc.) whereveryouseethemarrangedinthisparticularconfiguration.Althoughakeyforthemeaningofthe variouscolorsandshapesthatappearintherectanglesdoesnotappearonthedashboard,thekeyshown inFigure810wasprovidedseparatelywhenitwassubmittedforthecompetition.Youcouldcertainly memorizethemeaningsofthevariousrectanglelocationsandofthecolorsandshapesinsidethem,but evenafterthateffort,theserectangleswouldstillnevergiveyoumorethanaroughsenseofhowthe measurescomparetotheirtargets.Forinstance,seeingthesemeasuresencodedinthiswayandarranged sidebysidetorepresentmonthsorquartersdoesnotcomeclosetoprovidingtheunderstandingof historicaltrendthatasimplelinegraphcouldconvey.

 Figure810.KeyforinterpretingthedatainFigure89.

Nowthatyou'vetakenthislittletourthroughseveralsolutionstothesamedashboarddesignchallenge,go backandtakealookoncemoreatthedashboardinFigure81.Asyoucansee,thereisaneloquenceto datadisplayedsimplythatcannotbeachievedifwestrayfromtheessentialgoalofcommunication.

8.2.SampleCIODashboard
AChiefInformationOfficermustkeeptrackofmanyfactsregardingtheperformanceofthecompany's informationsystemsandactivities,includingprojectsthatservethecompany'sinformationneeds.Ichose toincludethefollowingdatainmysampledashboard:

Systemavailability(uptime) Expenses Customersatisfaction Severeproblemcount CPUusagerelativetocapacity Storageusagerelativetocapacity Networktraffic Applicationresponsetime Majorprojectmilestones Topprojectsinthequeue Othercriticalevents

ThisisamixtureofstrategicandfrequentlyupdatedoperationalinformationthataCIOmightneed. ExamineFigure811closelyandtrytogetasenseforhowitmightworkintherealworld. Onlyonesectionofthisdashboardtheupperleftcornerdisplaysnearrealtimedata.Thissectionconsistsof aseriesoffivealerts:oneforeachofthesystemsthattheCIOmightneedtorespondtoimmediatelywhen aproblemarises.Ifnoredcirclesappearinthissection,nothingcriticaliscurrentlywrongwithanyofthese systems.TobettergrabtheCIO'sattention,redalertsthatappearinthissectioncouldblinkuntilclicked,or

evenemitalongwiththeblinksasoundthatgraduallyincreasesinvolume.Theredalertobjectscouldalso serveaslinkstootherscreensthatdescribepreciselywhatiswrong. TherestofthisdashboardprovidestheCIOwithinformationthatismorestrategicinnature.Noticethata greatdealofcontextualinformationhasbeenprovidedtocomplementthemeasuresespecially comparisonstomeasuresofacceptableperformance.ThisisthekindofcontextthatcouldhelptheCIO easilymakesenseofthesemeasures.

Figure811.AsampleCIOdashboard.

Thereisagreatdealofinformationonthisdashboard,yetitdoesn'tseemcluttered.Thisislargelydueto thefactthatnondatapixelshavebeenreducedtoaminimum.Forinstance,whitespacealonehasbeen usedtoseparatethevarioussectionsofthedisplay.Ajudicioususeofcolorhasalsocontributedtothis effect.Besidesgrayscalecolors,theonlyotherhuesyouseeareamutedgreenforthenameofeach sectionandtwointensitiesofred,whichineverycaseservesasanalert.Itiseasytoscanthedashboard andquicklyfindeverythingthatneedsattention,becausetheredalertobjectsareunique,visuallyunlike anythingelse. Includinginformationaboutprojectmilestones,pendingprojects,andothercriticaleventsonthis dashboardnotonlylocatesallthemostimportantinformationtheCIOneedsinoneplace,butalso supportsusefulcomparisons.Beingremindedaboutcomingeventsthatmightaffectexistingsystemsand

beingabletolookimmediatelyatthecurrentperformanceofthosesystemscouldraiseusefulquestions abouttheirreadiness.

8.3.SampleTelesalesDashboard
Thissampledashboardwasdesignedtomonitorrealtimeoperationssothatatelesalessupervisorcan takenecessaryactionswithoutdelay.Thisisn'tadashboardthat'slikelytobelookedatonceaday,butone thatwillbekeptavailableandexaminedthroughouttheday.Itdoesn'tdisplayasmanymeasuresasthe examplesyou'veseensofarinthischapter,becausetoomanymeasurescanbeoverwhelmingwhenthe dashboardisusedtomonitorrealtimeoperationsthatrequirequickresponses.Onlythefollowingsix measuresareincluded:

Callwaittime Callduration Abandonedcalls(thatis,callerswhogottiredofwaitingandhungup) Callvolume Ordervolume Salesrepresentativeutilization(representativesonlinecomparedtothenumberavailable)

That'sitandthat'splentyforadashboardofthistype. Imaginethatyou'reresponsibleforateamofaround25telesalesrepresentativesandareusingthe dashboardinFigure812tokeepontopoftheiractivitiesthroughouttheday. Theprimarymetricsthatyoumustvigilantlymonitorarethelengthoftimecustomersarewaitingto connectwithasalesrepresentative,thelengthoftimesalesrepresentativesarespendingoncalls,andthe numberofcustomerswhoaregettingdiscouragedandhangingupwhilewaitingtogetthrough.Becauseof theirimportance,thesethreemetricsarelocatedintheupperleftcornerofthedashboardandare extremelyeasytoread. Whenproblemsarise,suchasthelengthyholdtimesandexcessivelylengthycallsshowninthisexample, youmustquicklydeterminethecausebeforetakingaction.Thisiswhenyouwouldswitchyourfocustothe performanceoftheindividualsalesrepresentatives,whichyoucanseeontherightsideofthedashboard. Individualsarerankedbyperformance,withthoseperformingpoorlyatthetopandaredrectangle highlightingthosewhoareperformingoutsidetheacceptablerange.

 Figure812.Asampletelesalesdashboard.

Asadashboardformonitoringrealtimeoperations,thedatawouldprobablychangewithupdatesevery fewseconds.Thiscanbedistractingwhenyou'retryingtofocusonaproblem,however,soa"Freeze Data/UnfreezeData"buttonhasbeenprovidedtotemporarilyputahalttoupdates.Whenupdatesare frozen,thebuttonshinesyellowtoremindyouofthisfact.Ifthedisplayremainsfrozenfortoolong,the buttonbeginstoblinkwithabrighteryellowuntilclickedtoonceagainallowupdates.Whenalertsfirst appear(theredcircles),theyblinktoattractattentionandperhapsevenemitanaudiosignaltoalertyouif youaren'twatchingthescreen.Tostopthesesignals,youclicktheredalert.Toremindyouthatyou've blockedthealertsfromprovidingurgentsignals,the"ResetAlerts"buttonturnsyellow,andafterawhile beginstoblink.Onceclicked,allalertscanonceagainsignalurgentconditionsifnecessary.

8.4.SampleMarketingAnalysisDashboard
Thelastsampledashboardwe'lllookatisanexampleofonethatsupportsanalysis(Figure813).Likeall dashboards,itisusedtomonitortheinformationneededtodoajob,butinthiscasethatjobhappensto primarilyinvolveanalysis.Dashboardscanprovideausefulmeansforanalyststowatchovertheirdomains andspotconditionsthatwarrantexamination.Ideally,theycanalsoserveasdirectlaunchpadstothe additionaldataandtoolsnecessarytoperformcomprehensiveanalyses. Thisparticularscenarioinvolvesananalystwhoseworksupportsthemarketingeffortsofthecompany's website.Shemonitorscustomerbehavioronthesitetoidentifybothproblemsthatpreventcustomers fromfindingandpurchasingwhattheywantandopportunitiestointerestcustomersinadditional

products.Toexposeactivitiesonthewebsitethatcouldleadtoinsightifstudiedandunderstood,the followingdataappearsonthedashboard:

Numberofvisitors(daily,monthly,andyearly) Numberoforders Numberofregisteredvisitors Numberoftimesindividualproductswereviewedonthesite Occasionswhenproductsthatweredisplayedonthesamepagewererarelypurchasedtogether Occasionswhenproductsthatwerenotdisplayedonthesamepagewerepurchasedtogether Referralsfromotherwebsitesthathaveresultedinthemostvisits

Theinformationthatappearsatthetopofthisdashboardprovidesanoverviewofthewebsite's performancethroughtimeandlistsmissedopportunitiesandineffectivemarketingefforts.Noticethatthe timeseriesinformationregardingvisitorstothesiteissegmentedintothreesections,eachfeaturinga differentintervaloftime.Theintervalshavebeentailoredtorevealgreaterdetailfortherecentpastand increasinglylessdetailthefartherbackthedatagoes. Muchoftheinformationonthisdashboardhasbeenselectedandarrangedtodisplayaranking relationship.Thisiscommonwhenadashboardisusedtofeatureexceptionalconditions,bothgoodand bad.Muchofthisrankedinformationiscommunicatedintheformoftext,withlittlegraphicalcontent. Giventhepurposetoinformtheanalystofpotentialareasofinterestwithabriefexplanationofwhy,text doesthejobnicely.Theanalystmustreadeachentrytodecideifshe'llinvestigatethematter,butgraphical displays,whichcouldbescannedfaster,wouldnotdothejobaswell.Thefactthatanitemappearsonone oftheselistsalreadyimpliesitsimportance,sographicaldevicessuchasalertswouldaddnothing.

 Figure813.Asamplewebmarketinganalysisdashboard.

8.5.AFinalWord
Todesigndashboardsthatreallywork,youmustalwaysfocusonthefundamentalgoal:communication. Morethananythingelse,youmustcarethatthepeoplewhouseyourdashboardscanlookatthemand understandthemsimply,clearly,andquickly.Dashboardsdesignedforanyotherreason,nomatterhow impressiveorentertaining,willbecometiresomeinafewdaysandwillbediscardedinafewweeksandfew thingsaremorediscouragingthanhavingyourhardworktossedasideasuseless. WhenIdesignsomethingthatmakespeople'slivesbetter,helpsthemworksmarter,orgivesthemwhat theyneedtosucceedinsomethingthatisimportanttothem,Iamremindedthatoneofthegreat cornerstonesofalifeworthlivingisthejoyofdoinggoodwork.Thisdoesn'tjusthappen;itistheresultof effortthatyoumakebecauseyoucare.Yourdashboardsmaynotchangetheworldinanybigway,but anythingyoudowellwillchangeyoutosomedegreeforthebetter.Evenifthebusinessgoalsthatyou're helpingsomeoneachievethroughawelldesigneddashboarddon'tultimatelymattertoyouorarenot intrinsicallyworthyofgreateffort,you'reworththeeffort,andthat'senough.Infact,that'splenty.

AppendixA.RecommendedReading
BooksbythreeauthorsinparticularstandoutascomplementarytotheinformationthatI'vepresented aboutdashboarddesign,andeachdeservesaplaceinyourlibrary: WayneW.Eckerson,DirectorofResearch,TheDataWarehousingInstitute(TDWI). PerformanceDashboards:Measuring,Monitoring,andManagingYourBusiness (Indianapolis,IN:WileyPublishing,Inc.,2005) Wayneisoneofthetopindustryanalystsfocusedonbusinessintelligenceanddatawarehousing.Inhis book,hecoversseveralaspectsofdashboardsthatfalloutsideofmyexclusiveconcentrationonvisual design,includinghowtheycanbeusedtoimprovebusinessperformance. EdwardR.Tufte,ProfessorEmeritusatYaleUniversity TheVisualDisplayofQuantitativeInformation(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,1983) VisualExplanations(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,1990) EnvisioningInformation(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,1997) BeautifulEvidence(Cheshire,CT:GraphicsPress,2006) NooneinrecenthistoryhascontributedmoretoourunderstandingofvisualinformationdisplaythanDr. Tufte.Allofhisbooksarebeautifullydesigned,eloquentlywritten,andoverflowingwithinsights. ColinWare,DirectoroftheDataVisualizationResearchLaboratory,UniversityofNewHampshire InformationVisualization:PerceptionforDesign,SecondEdition(SanFrancisco,CA: MorganKaufmannPublishers,2004) Whatweknowtodayaboutvisualperceptioncomesfromtheworkofmanyresearchersfrommany scientificdisciplines,butDr.Wareappliesthisknowledgetothevisualpresentationofinformationbetter thananyoneelse.

Colophon
Genevieved'EntremontwastheproductioneditorforInformationDashboardDesign.RachelWheelerwas thecopyeditor.ClaireCloutierprovidedqualitycontrol.SpecializedComposition,Inc.providedproduction services. StephenFewdesignedthecoverofthisbook.KarenMontgomeryproducedthecoverlayoutinAdobe InDesignCS,usingSabonandNewsGothicCondensedfonts. MikeKohnkeandTerriDriscolldesignedtheinteriorlayout.ThetextfontisSabon,andtheheadingfontis NewsGothicCondensed.Theoriginalillustrationsthatappearinthisbookwereproducedbytheauthor, StephenFew,usingMicrosoftExcelandAdobeIllustratorCS.