Data Core · Reporting · Module
Dashboards
How numbers are presented so that a reader can tell what is normal, what is not, and what to do.
The idea
How it works
A number without a comparison carries no information. Against target, against last period, or against normal variation — one of the three is required for a reader to know whether to care.
The test for every element is whether the reader can name what they would do differently on seeing it. Most dashboard elements fail, and removing them makes the rest visible.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Show every number against something
Target, prior period or normal range. A bare figure cannot be interpreted.
- 02
Make the normal range visible
So that a reader can distinguish a change from a fluctuation without doing arithmetic.
- 03
Remove what nobody acts on
For each element, ask what a reader would do differently. Elements with no answer come off.
- 04
Design for the decision, not for completeness
A dashboard containing everything is a dashboard nobody reads.
One level in
The components of dashboards
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
For each element, ask what a reader would do differently on seeing it. Most cannot answer, and those come off.
The other modules in reporting
What gets reported
The inventory of reports and dashboards, what each is for, and who asked for it — the basis for removing the ones nobody needs.
LearnDistribution
How reports reach people, in what rhythm, and whether they arrive while still useful.
LearnWhether it is read
Usage measured rather than assumed, and the retirement of what nobody opens.
Learn