Preparing analytics like literature helps increase the relevance of the finished product. It ensures the focus is on the intended audience, message, and purpose. Authors don’t start with a blank page and a pen in hand when writing a book, nor should dashboard creators. Instead, they should follow a structured process centered around the reader’s needs and interests.
Prior to beginning the design process, it is essential to thoroughly understand the audience’s preferences and requirements. This ensures the resulting interface is something that resonates, thereby boosting usage. This article looks into the benefits of embracing the concept of treating a process such as dashboard development as a creative process. It fosters the development of analytics tools that are not only functional but also captivating.
The Author's Checklist: A Blueprint for Success
Before an author begins writing a book, they follow a checklist. This ensures that their work aligns with the readers’ expectations and serves its intended purpose. Let’s look at this checklist and how it can be applied to creating analytics dashboards.
1. Confirming the Demand
Authors start by assessing whether there is a demand for their book. The first question before starting work is, “Does anyone want this?” Similarly, analytics creators should determine if there is a genuine need for the data they intend to present. Sometimes, the requested dashboard will not meet the concrete business needs as intended. Other times, the need can be met by utilizing existing tools instead of implementing a new one. Thus, the developer must clarify the link between the need and the end product before the creation process begins.
2. Defining Format and Purpose
Authors consider their target audience, the intended readability level, and the format of their book before writing. Analytics creators should do the same. This can be done by answering these critical questions before producing a dashboard to ensure it fits the purpose.
- Audience: Who will be using the dashboard, and what are their specific needs?
- Readability Level: What level of data complexity is appropriate for the users?
- Consumption Method: How will users interact with the dashboard?
- Length: How extensive should the dashboard be to convey insights effectively?
Creating a dashboard with the answers to these questions in mind will significantly decrease the need for extensive iterations after the first draft is released.
3. Developing a Detailed Outline
Authors develop an outline with key points before diving into the writing process. Analytics creators can benefit from a similar approach, mapping out their dashboard’s structure and core elements. Developers often assume that their audience will automatically know what to do with a dashboard, yet this is often untrue. Starting with a clear flow will help guarantee that the flow of the dashboard is clear for the end user. This is crucial in ensuring people know how to use the included features. Users will disregard some parts without a clear role in the dashboard’s flow, as they won’t see the value.
Following these three structured steps before creating a dashboard will not only benefit the end user. It saves company resources, as the number of unused dashboards will decrease. Furthermore, by involving users from the very beginning, developers will spend less time tweaking the result later on.
The Benefits of the Literary Approach
As we saw in the previous section, creators of analytics and literature can benefit by following the same steps in the planning phase. Specifically, adopting this mindset can bring the following advantages for analytics:
- Enhanced Dashboard Quality: By treating analytics as a creative endeavor, creators are more likely to invest more time in planning and design. This results in dashboards that are not only visually appealing but also highly functional and informative.
- Efficient Resource Use: Analytics creators who follow a well-defined roadmap can use data resources more efficiently. This reduces the chances of collecting unnecessary data or creating superfluous visualizations.
- Improved User Adoption: User adoption rates soar when dashboards are meticulously crafted to meet the audience’s needs. A dashboard that aligns with users’ expectations and provides valuable insights becomes indispensable.
As highlighted in the previous section, this benefits the whole company. Users have a product that gives them real insight, and developers focus on items that create real value. On top of that, companies have more efficient resource allocation.
Practical example of the results
Cluster, a company specializing in UX (user experience-focused) design and front-end engineering, prepares dashboards in a similar manner. They describe five best practices for dashboard design in this blog from their webpage (https://clusterdesign.io/dashboard-ui-design/)
As their blog points out, dashboard UX design is the visual and functional part of an information panel that presents complex data, metrics, and indicators to users intuitively and straightforwardly.
Here are their five best practices for dashboard UX design:
- Know who the user is. Understand the level of knowledge and interests of the audience using the dashboard. This will help you create a screen that can quickly convey the desired data and help users achieve their goals.
- Define a hierarchy of information. Not all information on a dashboard is equally essential. Decide what is most important to the users and highlight this information. You can use size, position, color, and other visual elements to create a hierarchy of information.
- Organize the dashboard into modules. Group related data together and create modules to organize and communicate these themes. This will make it easier for users to locate the information they need.
- Select the appropriate colors. Use a color palette that is harmonious, easy to read, and aligns with the visual identity of the brand or project. Use colors strategically to highlight crucial data, categorize information, and create a visually pleasant experience.
- Use correct graphical representations. Choose the right charts and graphs to visualize, analyze, and interpret data. For example, use a bar chart to compare data and a line graph to show trends over time.
In summary, a good dashboard should be objective, concise, with meaningful representations and colors, and free of distractions. Less is more!
The following dashboards for their client BMG Bank show the benefit of taking the necessary time during the preparation phase. They contain the most relevant information, are easy to understand, and are visually engaging.
The Reality of Resource Allocation
Ideally, all analytics projects would begin with a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to dashboard design. Yet, the reality often involves time, budget, and resource limitations. Many organizations consider in-depth preparation as a luxury they can’t afford. Although it is easy to see where this problem comes from, it is crucial to avoid it.
Skipping steps to save resources during the design phase will inevitably have the opposite effect later on. Unfortunately, this approach can lead to problems because the developer is not aware of the real needs of the end user. The result can be costly rework and reduced effectiveness during testing or an unused analytics tool. In essence, skipping essential groundwork can cost more in the long run.
Bridging the Gap Between Creativity and Data
It’s essential to recognize that developing digital tools, including analytics dashboards, is a creative process. An author wouldn’t start writing a book without a clear plan, and analytics creators should approach their work with a similar mindset. After all, the art of crafting analytics can lead to a world where dashboards are as great as literature. They are efficient, impactful, and beloved by their audiences.
The literary approach to planning the creation of digital tools can transform their value. Careful planning, audience-centric design, and a dedication to quality turn them into powerful tools for decision-making. Developers embracing analytics’ creative nature unlock its potential. It ensures practical usage, key for data-driven success in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
