Dashboard Creation - A Guide To Our Methodology

Introduction

The ultimate goal of a custom digital dashboard is to assist the user in making informed and timely decisions for improving business performance.  But the digital dashboard space is filled with a wide variety of players, including an abundance of business analysts and software developers.  It is the view of Dundas Consulting that business people don't always understand the technical requirements of dashboard creation - and developers sometimes misunderstand the business needs.  There seems to be few entities who can bridge the gap between the two camps.

This document provides a step-by-step summary of how a dashboard develops from a fuzzy idea into an actual, useable business tool.  From visualization techniques to sound technical implementation to the end-user experience, the dashboard created must represent the data correctly while satisfying the user's individual processes and needs.  Although every project will have its own idiosyncrasies, here are the five common steps we usually take:

Step One: Business Requirements

To start, you need to understand the business metrics you want to see.  There's no point in talking about your dashboard's cool tooltips or fancy hover-overs until you identify the kind of core data you want represented.  Think about the tale you want your dashboard to tell.  This story should be clear and concise, but flexible enough to be told many different ways.

Less figuratively, metrics should be immediately visible and understandable; they should be easy to manipulate via the interface in order to get the view of the data you need.  The first thing we do is try to get an understanding of the client's business and identify the current business processes by working with their analysts or end users.  This information establishes a foundation for creating the right dashboard for that particular client by identifying the key metrics affecting the performance of the company.