Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data pptx

... wereonceagainabletogrow.Whatreallycausedheadstoturninrecognition of dashboardsasmuchmorethanyoureverydayfledglingtechnology,however,was the Enronscandalin2001. The aftermathputnewpressureoncorporationstodemonstratetheirabilitytocloselymonitorwhatwasgoingonintheirmidstandtotherebyassureshareholdersthattheywereincontrol.Thisincreasedaccountability,combinedwith the concurrenteconomicdownturn,sentChief Information Officers(CIOs)onamissiontofindanythingthatcouldhelpmanagersatalllevelsmoreeasilyandefficientlykeepaneyeonperformance.MostBIvendorsthathadn'talreadystartedofferinga dashboard productsoonbegantodoso,sometimesbycleverlychanging the name of anexistingproduct,sometimesbyquicklypurchasing the rightstoanexistingproductfromasmallervendor,andsometimesbycobblingtogetherpieces of productsthatalreadyexisted. The marketplacesoonofferedavastarray of dashboard softwarefromwhichtochoose.1.3.Dispelling the ConfusionLikemanyproductsthathit the high‐techscenewithasplash,dashboardsareveiledinmarketinghype.Virtuallyeveryvendorin the BIspaceclaimstosell dashboard software,butfewclarifywhatdashboardsactuallyare.I'mreminded of the earlyyears of data warehousing,wheneagertolearnaboutthisnewapproachto data managementIaskedmyIBMaccountmanagerhowIBMdefined the term.Hisresponsewasclassicandrefreshinglycandid:"By data warehousingweatIBMmeanwhatever the customerthinksitmeans."Irealizethatthiswasn'tIBM'sofficialdefinition,whichI'msureexistedsomewhereintheirliterature,butitwasmyblue‐suitedfriend'sway of sayingthatasasalesperson,itwasusefultoleave the termvagueandflexible.Aslongasaproductorserviceremainsundefinedorlooselydefined,itiseasytoclaimthatyourcompanysellsit.Thoseraresoftwarevendorsthathavetaken the timetodefine the termintheirmarketingliteraturestartwith the specificfeatures of theirproductsas the core of the definition,ratherthanagenericdescription.Asaresult,vendordefinitionstendtobeself‐validatinglists of technologiesandfeatures.Forexample,Dr.GregoryL.Hovis,Director of ProductDeploymentforSnippetsSoftware,Inc.,asserts:www.it-ebooks.infoAbletouniversallyconnecttoanyXMLorHTML data source,robust dashboard productsintelligentlygatheranddisplay data, providingbusinessintelligencewithoutinterruptingworkflow…Anenterprise dashboard ischaracterizedbyacollection of intelligentagents(orgauges),eachperformingfrequentbidirectional communication with data sources.Likeavirtualstaff of 24x7analysts,eachagentin the dashboard intelligentlygathers,processesandpresents data, generatingalertsandrevisingactionsasconditionschange.1Anarticlein the June16,2003edition of ComputerworldcitesstatisticsfromastudydonebyAMRResearch,Inc.,whichdeclaresthat"mor ... journey.In the nextfewpages,you'llseescreenshots of anassortment of dashboards,whichweremostlyfoundon the websites of vendorsthatsell dashboard software.Take the timenowtobrowsethroughtheseexamplesandseeifyoucandiscerncommonthreadsthatmightbewovenintoausefuldefinition.1GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February2002.2MarkLeon," ;Dashboard Democracy,"Computerworld,June16,20033Byincludingtheseexamplesfrom the websites of softwarevendorsandafewothersources,Idonotmeantoendorseany of thesedashboardsor the softwareproductsusedtocreatethemasexamples of gooddesign,norasextraordinaryexamples of poordesign.Tovaryingdegreestheyallexhibit visual designproblemsthatI'lladdressinlaterchapters.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐2.This dashboard fromBusinessObjectsreliesprimarilyongraphicalmeanstodisplayaseries of performancemeasures.alongwithalist of alerts,Noticethat the title of this dashboard is"MyKPIs."Keyperformanceindicatorsanddashboardsappeartobesynonymousin the minds of mostvendors.Notice the gaugesaswell.We'llseequiteafew of them.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐3.This dashboard fromOracleCorporationdisplaysacollection of salesmeasuresforanalyzingproductperformancebycategory.All of the measuresaredisplayedgraphically.We'llfindthatthisemphasisongraphicaldisplaymediaisfairlycommon.Figure1‐4.This dashboard fromInformaticaCorporationdisplaysmeasures of revenuebysaleschannelalongwithalist of reportsthatcanbeviewedseparately. The predominance of graphicaldisplaymediathatweobservedon the previousdashboardsappearsonthisoneaswell,notablyin the form of metersdesignedtolooklikespeedometers. The list of reportsaddsportalfunctionality,enablingthis dashboard tooperateasalaunchpadtocomplementary information. www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐5.This dashboard fromPrincipaprovidesanoverview of acompany'sfinancialperformancecomparedtotargetsfor the month of March,bothintabularformandasaseries of gauges. The information canbetailoredbyselectingdifferentmonthsandamounts of history.Onceagain,weseeastrongexpression of the dashboard metaphor,thistimein the form of graphicaldevicesthatweredesignedtolooklikefuelgauges.www.it-ebooks.infowww.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐6.This dashboard fromCognos,Inc.displaysatableandfivegraphsonein the form of aworldmaptocommunicatesales information. Despite the onetable,there'sacontinuedemphasisongraphicalmedia.Noticealsothatathemeregarding the visual natureandneedfor visual appeal of dashboardsisemergingintheseexamples.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐7.This dashboard fromHyperionSolutionsCorporationdisplaysregionalsalesrevenueinthreeforms:onamap,inabargraph,andinatable. Data canbefilteredbymeans of threesets of radiobuttonson the left.Thesefilteringmechanismsbuildrudimentaryanalyticalfunctionalityintothis dashboard. Visual decorationreinforces the themethatdashboardsintentionallystrivefor visual appeal.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐8.This dashboard fromCordaTechnologies,Inc.featuresflight‐loadingmeasuresforanairlineusingfourpanels of graphs.Hereagainweseeanattentionto the visual appeal of the display.Noticealsoin the instructionsat the topthatanabilitytointeractwith the graphshasbeenbuiltinto the dashboard, sothatuserscanaccessadditional information inpop‐upsanddrillintogreaterlevels of detail.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐9.This dashboard from Visual Mining,Inc.displaysvariousmeasures of acity'stransitsystemtogive the executivesinchargeaquickoverview of the system'scurrentandhistoricalperformance.Use of the colorsgreen,yellow,andredtoindicategood,satisfactory,andbadperformance,asyoucanseeon the threegraphicaldisplaysarrangedhorizontallyacross the middle,iscommonondashboards.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐10.This dashboard fromInfommersion,Inc.givesexecutives of ahotelchain the meanstoviewmultiplemeasures of performance,onehotelatatime.Itisnotunusualfordashboardstodivide the fullset of data intoindividualviews,asthisonedoesbyusing the listboxin the upper‐leftcornertoenableviewerstoselectanindividualhotelbylocation. The greatcarethatweseeinthisexampletorealisticallyreproduce the dashboard metaphor,evendownto the sheenonpolishedmetal,isaneffortthatmanyvendorstakequiteseriously.Figure1‐11.This dashboard fromCelequestCorporationintegratesaseries of relatedtablesandgraphsthatallowexecutivestoviewseveralaspects of salessimultaneously.Itexhibitsanefforttocombinearichset of related data on the screentoprovideacomprehensiveoverview of acompany'ssalesperformance.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐12.This dashboard fromGeneralElectric,calleda"digitalcockpit,"providesatabularsummary of performance,complementedbyacolor‐codedindicatorlightforeachmeasure'sstatus.Ratherthana dashboard designedbyasoftwarevendortoexhibititsproduct,thisisanactualworking dashboard thatwasdesignedbyacompanytoserveitsownbusinessneeds.Inthisexample,noeffortwasmadetoliterallyrepresent the dashboard (orcockpit)metaphor.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐13.This dashboard isusedby the TreasuryBoard of Canadatomonitor the performance of aproject.Hereagainwehavea dashboard thatwasdesignedbyanorganizationforitsownuse.Thistime, the dashboard metaphormakesatokenappearancein the form of gauges. The traffic‐lightcolorsgreen,yellow,andredherewith the addition of bluefor the exceptionallygoodstatus of "ahead of schedule"arealsoused.Unlikesome of the examplesthatwe'veseenthatdisplayedrelativelylittle information, thisonemakes the attempttoprovide the comprehensiveoverviewthatwouldbeneededtoeffectivelymonitorprogressandperformance.1.3.1.WhatIsa Dashboard? Asyouhavenodoubtdeterminedbyexaminingtheseexamples,there'safairdegree of diversityin the productsthatgoby the name" ;dashboard. "One of the fewcharacteristicsthatmostvendorsseemtoagreeonisthatforsomethingtobecalleda dashboard itmustincludegraphicaldisplaymechanismssuchastrafficlightsandavariety of gaugesandmeters,manysimilarto the fuelgaugesandspeedometersfoundinautomobiles.ThisclearlyassociatesBIdashboardswith the familiar ... inanespeciallypowerfulway.Dashboardsandvisualizationarecognitivetoolsthatimproveyour"span of control"overalot of business data. Thesetoolshelppeoplevisuallyidentifytrends,patternsandanomalies,reasonaboutwhattheyseeandhelpguidethemtoward effective decisions.Assuch,thesetoolsneedtoleveragepeople's visual capabilities.With the prevalence of scorecards,dashboardsandothervisualizationtoolsnowwidelyavailableforbusinessuserstoreviewtheir data, the issue of visual information designismoreimportantthanever.2 The finalsentimentthatBrathandPetersexpressedinthisexcerptfromtheirarticleunderscores the purpose of thisbook.As data visualizationbecomesincreasinglycommonasameans of business communication, itisimperativethatexpertisein data visualizationbeacquired.Thisexpertisemustbegroundedinanunderstanding of visual perception,and of howthisunderstandingcanbeeffectivelyappliedto the visual display of datawhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy.Theseskillsarerarelyfoundin the businessworld,notbecausetheyaredifficulttolearn,butbecause the needtolearnthemisseldomrecognized.Thisistrueingeneral,andespeciallywithregardtodashboards. The challenge of presentingalargeassortment of data onasinglescreeninawaythatproducesimmediateinsightisbynomeanstrivial.Buckleup;you'reinforafunride.1GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February20022RichardBrathandMichaelPeters," ;Dashboard Design: WhyDesignisImportant,"DMDirect,October2004www.it-ebooks.infoChapter2.Variationsin Dashboard Usesand Data Dashboardscanbeusedtomonitormanytypes of data andtosupportalmostanyset of objectivesbusinessdeemsimportant.Therearemanywaystocategorizedashbo...

... wereonceagainabletogrow.Whatreallycausedheadstoturninrecognition of dashboardsasmuchmorethanyoureverydayfledglingtechnology,however,was the Enronscandalin2001. The aftermathputnewpressureoncorporationstodemonstratetheirabilitytocloselymonitorwhatwasgoingonintheirmidstandtotherebyassureshareholdersthattheywereincontrol.Thisincreasedaccountability,combinedwith the concurrenteconomicdownturn,sentChief Information Officers(CIOs)onamissiontofindanythingthatcouldhelpmanagersatalllevelsmoreeasilyandefficientlykeepaneyeonperformance.MostBIvendorsthathadn'talreadystartedofferinga dashboard productsoonbegantodoso,sometimesbycleverlychanging the name of anexistingproduct,sometimesbyquicklypurchasing the rightstoanexistingproductfromasmallervendor,andsometimesbycobblingtogetherpieces of productsthatalreadyexisted. The marketplacesoonofferedavastarray of dashboard softwarefromwhichtochoose.1.3.Dispelling the ConfusionLikemanyproductsthathit the high‐techscenewithasplash,dashboardsareveiledinmarketinghype.Virtuallyeveryvendorin the BIspaceclaimstosell dashboard software,butfewclarifywhatdashboardsactuallyare.I'mreminded of the earlyyears of data warehousing,wheneagertolearnaboutthisnewapproachto data managementIaskedmyIBMaccountmanagerhowIBMdefined the term.Hisresponsewasclassicandrefreshinglycandid:"By data warehousingweatIBMmeanwhatever the customerthinksitmeans."Irealizethatthiswasn'tIBM'sofficialdefinition,whichI'msureexistedsomewhereintheirliterature,butitwasmyblue‐suitedfriend'sway of sayingthatasasalesperson,itwasusefultoleave the termvagueandflexible.Aslongasaproductorserviceremainsundefinedorlooselydefined,itiseasytoclaimthatyourcompanysellsit.Thoseraresoftwarevendorsthathavetaken the timetodefine the termintheirmarketingliteraturestartwith the specificfeatures of theirproductsas the core of the definition,ratherthanagenericdescription.Asaresult,vendordefinitionstendtobeself‐validatinglists of technologiesandfeatures.Forexample,Dr.GregoryL.Hovis,Director of ProductDeploymentforSnippetsSoftware,Inc.,asserts:www.it-ebooks.infoAbletouniversallyconnecttoanyXMLorHTML data source,robust dashboard productsintelligentlygatheranddisplay data, providingbusinessintelligencewithoutinterruptingworkflow…Anenterprise dashboard ischaracterizedbyacollection of intelligentagents(orgauges),eachperformingfrequentbidirectional communication with data sources.Likeavirtualstaff of 24x7analysts,eachagentin the dashboard intelligentlygathers,processesandpresents data, generatingalertsandrevisingactionsasconditionschange.1Anarticlein the June16,2003edition of ComputerworldcitesstatisticsfromastudydonebyAMRResearch,Inc.,whichdeclaresthat"mor ... journey.In the nextfewpages,you'llseescreenshots of anassortment of dashboards,whichweremostlyfoundon the websites of vendorsthatsell dashboard software.Take the timenowtobrowsethroughtheseexamplesandseeifyoucandiscerncommonthreadsthatmightbewovenintoausefuldefinition.1GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February2002.2MarkLeon," ;Dashboard Democracy,"Computerworld,June16,20033Byincludingtheseexamplesfrom the websites of softwarevendorsandafewothersources,Idonotmeantoendorseany of thesedashboardsor the softwareproductsusedtocreatethemasexamples of gooddesign,norasextraordinaryexamples of poordesign.Tovaryingdegreestheyallexhibit visual designproblemsthatI'lladdressinlaterchapters.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐2.This dashboard fromBusinessObjectsreliesprimarilyongraphicalmeanstodisplayaseries of performancemeasures.alongwithalist of alerts,Noticethat the title of this dashboard is"MyKPIs."Keyperformanceindicatorsanddashboardsappeartobesynonymousin the minds of mostvendors.Notice the gaugesaswell.We'llseequiteafew of them.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐3.This dashboard fromOracleCorporationdisplaysacollection of salesmeasuresforanalyzingproductperformancebycategory.All of the measuresaredisplayedgraphically.We'llfindthatthisemphasisongraphicaldisplaymediaisfairlycommon.Figure1‐4.This dashboard fromInformaticaCorporationdisplaysmeasures of revenuebysaleschannelalongwithalist of reportsthatcanbeviewedseparately. The predominance of graphicaldisplaymediathatweobservedon the previousdashboardsappearsonthisoneaswell,notablyin the form of metersdesignedtolooklikespeedometers. The list of reportsaddsportalfunctionality,enablingthis dashboard tooperateasalaunchpadtocomplementary information. www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐5.This dashboard fromPrincipaprovidesanoverview of acompany'sfinancialperformancecomparedtotargetsfor the month of March,bothintabularformandasaseries of gauges. The information canbetailoredbyselectingdifferentmonthsandamounts of history.Onceagain,weseeastrongexpression of the dashboard metaphor,thistimein the form of graphicaldevicesthatweredesignedtolooklikefuelgauges.www.it-ebooks.infowww.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐6.This dashboard fromCognos,Inc.displaysatableandfivegraphsonein the form of aworldmaptocommunicatesales information. Despite the onetable,there'sacontinuedemphasisongraphicalmedia.Noticealsothatathemeregarding the visual natureandneedfor visual appeal of dashboardsisemergingintheseexamples.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐7.This dashboard fromHyperionSolutionsCorporationdisplaysregionalsalesrevenueinthreeforms:onamap,inabargraph,andinatable. Data canbefilteredbymeans of threesets of radiobuttonson the left.Thesefilteringmechanismsbuildrudimentaryanalyticalfunctionalityintothis dashboard. Visual decorationreinforces the themethatdashboardsintentionallystrivefor visual appeal.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐8.This dashboard fromCordaTechnologies,Inc.featuresflight‐loadingmeasuresforanairlineusingfourpanels of graphs.Hereagainweseeanattentionto the visual appeal of the display.Noticealsoin the instructionsat the topthatanabilitytointeractwith the graphshasbeenbuiltinto the dashboard, sothatuserscanaccessadditional information inpop‐upsanddrillintogreaterlevels of detail.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐9.This dashboard from Visual Mining,Inc.displaysvariousmeasures of acity'stransitsystemtogive the executivesinchargeaquickoverview of the system'scurrentandhistoricalperformance.Use of the colorsgreen,yellow,andredtoindicategood,satisfactory,andbadperformance,asyoucanseeon the threegraphicaldisplaysarrangedhorizontallyacross the middle,iscommonondashboards.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐10.This dashboard fromInfommersion,Inc.givesexecutives of ahotelchain the meanstoviewmultiplemeasures of performance,onehotelatatime.Itisnotunusualfordashboardstodivide the fullset of data intoindividualviews,asthisonedoesbyusing the listboxin the upper‐leftcornertoenableviewerstoselectanindividualhotelbylocation. The greatcarethatweseeinthisexampletorealisticallyreproduce the dashboard metaphor,evendownto the sheenonpolishedmetal,isaneffortthatmanyvendorstakequiteseriously.Figure1‐11.This dashboard fromCelequestCorporationintegratesaseries of relatedtablesandgraphsthatallowexecutivestoviewseveralaspects of salessimultaneously.Itexhibitsanefforttocombinearichset of related data on the screentoprovideacomprehensiveoverview of acompany'ssalesperformance.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐12.This dashboard fromGeneralElectric,calleda"digitalcockpit,"providesatabularsummary of performance,complementedbyacolor‐codedindicatorlightforeachmeasure'sstatus.Ratherthana dashboard designedbyasoftwarevendortoexhibititsproduct,thisisanactualworking dashboard thatwasdesignedbyacompanytoserveitsownbusinessneeds.Inthisexample,noeffortwasmadetoliterallyrepresent the dashboard (orcockpit)metaphor.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐13.This dashboard isusedby the TreasuryBoard of Canadatomonitor the performance of aproject.Hereagainwehavea dashboard thatwasdesignedbyanorganizationforitsownuse.Thistime, the dashboard metaphormakesatokenappearancein the form of gauges. The traffic‐lightcolorsgreen,yellow,andredherewith the addition of bluefor the exceptionallygoodstatus of "ahead of schedule"arealsoused.Unlikesome of the examplesthatwe'veseenthatdisplayedrelativelylittle information, thisonemakes the attempttoprovide the comprehensiveoverviewthatwouldbeneededtoeffectivelymonitorprogressandperformance.1.3.1.WhatIsa Dashboard? Asyouhavenodoubtdeterminedbyexaminingtheseexamples,there'safairdegree of diversityin the productsthatgoby the name" ;dashboard. "One of the fewcharacteristicsthatmostvendorsseemtoagreeonisthatforsomethingtobecalleda dashboard itmustincludegraphicaldisplaymechanismssuchastrafficlightsandavariety of gaugesandmeters,manysimilarto the fuelgaugesandspeedometersfoundinautomobiles.ThisclearlyassociatesBIdashboardswith the familiar ... inanespeciallypowerfulway.Dashboardsandvisualizationarecognitivetoolsthatimproveyour"span of control"overalot of business data. Thesetoolshelppeoplevisuallyidentifytrends,patternsandanomalies,reasonaboutwhattheyseeandhelpguidethemtoward effective decisions.Assuch,thesetoolsneedtoleveragepeople's visual capabilities.With the prevalence of scorecards,dashboardsandothervisualizationtoolsnowwidelyavailableforbusinessuserstoreviewtheir data, the issue of visual information designismoreimportantthanever.2 The finalsentimentthatBrathandPetersexpressedinthisexcerptfromtheirarticleunderscores the purpose of thisbook.As data visualizationbecomesincreasinglycommonasameans of business communication, itisimperativethatexpertisein data visualizationbeacquired.Thisexpertisemustbegroundedinanunderstanding of visual perception,and of howthisunderstandingcanbeeffectivelyappliedto the visual display of datawhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy.Theseskillsarerarelyfoundin the businessworld,notbecausetheyaredifficulttolearn,butbecause the needtolearnthemisseldomrecognized.Thisistrueingeneral,andespeciallywithregardtodashboards. The challenge of presentingalargeassortment of data onasinglescreeninawaythatproducesimmediateinsightisbynomeanstrivial.Buckleup;you'reinforafunride.1GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February20022RichardBrathandMichaelPeters," ;Dashboard Design: WhyDesignisImportant,"DMDirect,October2004www.it-ebooks.infoChapter2.Variationsin Dashboard Usesand Data Dashboardscanbeusedtomonitormanytypes of data andtosupportalmostanyset of objectivesbusinessdeemsimportant.Therearemanywaystocategorizedashbo...

... wereonceagainabletogrow.Whatreallycausedheadstoturninrecognition of dashboardsasmuchmorethanyoureverydayfledglingtechnology,however,was the Enronscandalin2001. The aftermathputnewpressureoncorporationstodemonstratetheirabilitytocloselymonitorwhatwasgoingonintheirmidstandtotherebyassureshareholdersthattheywereincontrol.Thisincreasedaccountability,combinedwith the concurrenteconomicdownturn,sentChief Information Officers(CIOs)onamissiontofindanythingthatcouldhelpmanagersatalllevelsmoreeasilyandefficientlykeepaneyeonperformance.MostBIvendorsthathadn'talreadystartedofferinga dashboard productsoonbegantodoso,sometimesbycleverlychanging the name of anexistingproduct,sometimesbyquicklypurchasing the rightstoanexistingproductfromasmallervendor,andsometimesbycobblingtogetherpieces of productsthatalreadyexisted. The marketplacesoonofferedavastarray of dashboard softwarefromwhichtochoose.1.3.Dispelling the ConfusionLikemanyproductsthathit the high‐techscenewithasplash,dashboardsareveiledinmarketinghype.Virtuallyeveryvendorin the BIspaceclaimstosell dashboard software,butfewclarifywhatdashboardsactuallyare.I'mreminded of the earlyyears of data warehousing,wheneagertolearnaboutthisnewapproachto data managementIaskedmyIBMaccountmanagerhowIBMdefined the term.Hisresponsewasclassicandrefreshinglycandid:"By data warehousingweatIBMmeanwhatever the customerthinksitmeans."Irealizethatthiswasn'tIBM'sofficialdefinition,whichI'msureexistedsomewhereintheirliterature,butitwasmyblue‐suitedfriend'sway of sayingthatasasalesperson,itwasusefultoleave the termvagueandflexible.Aslongasaproductorserviceremainsundefinedorlooselydefined,itiseasytoclaimthatyourcompanysellsit.Thoseraresoftwarevendorsthathavetaken the timetodefine the termintheirmarketingliteraturestartwith the specificfeatures of theirproductsas the core of the definition,ratherthanagenericdescription.Asaresult,vendordefinitionstendtobeself‐validatinglists of technologiesandfeatures.Forexample,Dr.GregoryL.Hovis,Director of ProductDeploymentforSnippetsSoftware,Inc.,asserts:www.it-ebooks.infoAbletouniversallyconnecttoanyXMLorHTML data source,robust dashboard productsintelligentlygatheranddisplay data, providingbusinessintelligencewithoutinterruptingworkflow…Anenterprise dashboard ischaracterizedbyacollection of intelligentagents(orgauges),eachperformingfrequentbidirectional communication with data sources.Likeavirtualstaff of 24x7analysts,eachagentin the dashboard intelligentlygathers,processesandpresents data, generatingalertsandrevisingactionsasconditionschange.1Anarticlein the June16,2003edition of ComputerworldcitesstatisticsfromastudydonebyAMRResearch,Inc.,whichdeclaresthat"mor ... journey.In the nextfewpages,you'llseescreenshots of anassortment of dashboards,whichweremostlyfoundon the websites of vendorsthatsell dashboard software.Take the timenowtobrowsethroughtheseexamplesandseeifyoucandiscerncommonthreadsthatmightbewovenintoausefuldefinition.1GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February2002.2MarkLeon," ;Dashboard Democracy,"Computerworld,June16,20033Byincludingtheseexamplesfrom the websites of softwarevendorsandafewothersources,Idonotmeantoendorseany of thesedashboardsor the softwareproductsusedtocreatethemasexamples of gooddesign,norasextraordinaryexamples of poordesign.Tovaryingdegreestheyallexhibit visual designproblemsthatI'lladdressinlaterchapters.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐2.This dashboard fromBusinessObjectsreliesprimarilyongraphicalmeanstodisplayaseries of performancemeasures.alongwithalist of alerts,Noticethat the title of this dashboard is"MyKPIs."Keyperformanceindicatorsanddashboardsappeartobesynonymousin the minds of mostvendors.Notice the gaugesaswell.We'llseequiteafew of them.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐3.This dashboard fromOracleCorporationdisplaysacollection of salesmeasuresforanalyzingproductperformancebycategory.All of the measuresaredisplayedgraphically.We'llfindthatthisemphasisongraphicaldisplaymediaisfairlycommon.Figure1‐4.This dashboard fromInformaticaCorporationdisplaysmeasures of revenuebysaleschannelalongwithalist of reportsthatcanbeviewedseparately. The predominance of graphicaldisplaymediathatweobservedon the previousdashboardsappearsonthisoneaswell,notablyin the form of metersdesignedtolooklikespeedometers. The list of reportsaddsportalfunctionality,enablingthis dashboard tooperateasalaunchpadtocomplementary information. www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐5.This dashboard fromPrincipaprovidesanoverview of acompany'sfinancialperformancecomparedtotargetsfor the month of March,bothintabularformandasaseries of gauges. The information canbetailoredbyselectingdifferentmonthsandamounts of history.Onceagain,weseeastrongexpression of the dashboard metaphor,thistimein the form of graphicaldevicesthatweredesignedtolooklikefuelgauges.www.it-ebooks.infowww.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐6.This dashboard fromCognos,Inc.displaysatableandfivegraphsonein the form of aworldmaptocommunicatesales information. Despite the onetable,there'sacontinuedemphasisongraphicalmedia.Noticealsothatathemeregarding the visual natureandneedfor visual appeal of dashboardsisemergingintheseexamples.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐7.This dashboard fromHyperionSolutionsCorporationdisplaysregionalsalesrevenueinthreeforms:onamap,inabargraph,andinatable. Data canbefilteredbymeans of threesets of radiobuttonson the left.Thesefilteringmechanismsbuildrudimentaryanalyticalfunctionalityintothis dashboard. Visual decorationreinforces the themethatdashboardsintentionallystrivefor visual appeal.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐8.This dashboard fromCordaTechnologies,Inc.featuresflight‐loadingmeasuresforanairlineusingfourpanels of graphs.Hereagainweseeanattentionto the visual appeal of the display.Noticealsoin the instructionsat the topthatanabilitytointeractwith the graphshasbeenbuiltinto the dashboard, sothatuserscanaccessadditional information inpop‐upsanddrillintogreaterlevels of detail.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐9.This dashboard from Visual Mining,Inc.displaysvariousmeasures of acity'stransitsystemtogive the executivesinchargeaquickoverview of the system'scurrentandhistoricalperformance.Use of the colorsgreen,yellow,andredtoindicategood,satisfactory,andbadperformance,asyoucanseeon the threegraphicaldisplaysarrangedhorizontallyacross the middle,iscommonondashboards.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐10.This dashboard fromInfommersion,Inc.givesexecutives of ahotelchain the meanstoviewmultiplemeasures of performance,onehotelatatime.Itisnotunusualfordashboardstodivide the fullset of data intoindividualviews,asthisonedoesbyusing the listboxin the upper‐leftcornertoenableviewerstoselectanindividualhotelbylocation. The greatcarethatweseeinthisexampletorealisticallyreproduce the dashboard metaphor,evendownto the sheenonpolishedmetal,isaneffortthatmanyvendorstakequiteseriously.Figure1‐11.This dashboard fromCelequestCorporationintegratesaseries of relatedtablesandgraphsthatallowexecutivestoviewseveralaspects of salessimultaneously.Itexhibitsanefforttocombinearichset of related data on the screentoprovideacomprehensiveoverview of acompany'ssalesperformance.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐12.This dashboard fromGeneralElectric,calleda"digitalcockpit,"providesatabularsummary of performance,complementedbyacolor‐codedindicatorlightforeachmeasure'sstatus.Ratherthana dashboard designedbyasoftwarevendortoexhibititsproduct,thisisanactualworking dashboard thatwasdesignedbyacompanytoserveitsownbusinessneeds.Inthisexample,noeffortwasmadetoliterallyrepresent the dashboard (orcockpit)metaphor.www.it-ebooks.infoFigure1‐13.This dashboard isusedby the TreasuryBoard of Canadatomonitor the performance of aproject.Hereagainwehavea dashboard thatwasdesignedbyanorganizationforitsownuse.Thistime, the dashboard metaphormakesatokenappearancein the form of gauges. The traffic‐lightcolorsgreen,yellow,andredherewith the addition of bluefor the exceptionallygoodstatus of "ahead of schedule"arealsoused.Unlikesome of the examplesthatwe'veseenthatdisplayedrelativelylittle information, thisonemakes the attempttoprovide the comprehensiveoverviewthatwouldbeneededtoeffectivelymonitorprogressandperformance.1.3.1.WhatIsa Dashboard? Asyouhavenodoubtdeterminedbyexaminingtheseexamples,there'safairdegree of diversityin the productsthatgoby the name" ;dashboard. "One of the fewcharacteristicsthatmostvendorsseemtoagreeonisthatforsomethingtobecalleda dashboard itmustincludegraphicaldisplaymechanismssuchastrafficlightsandavariety of gaugesandmeters,manysimilarto the fuelgaugesandspeedometersfoundinautomobiles.ThisclearlyassociatesBIdashboardswith the familiar ... inanespeciallypowerfulway.Dashboardsandvisualizationarecognitivetoolsthatimproveyour"span of control"overalot of business data. Thesetoolshelppeoplevisuallyidentifytrends,patternsandanomalies,reasonaboutwhattheyseeandhelpguidethemtoward effective decisions.Assuch,thesetoolsneedtoleveragepeople's visual capabilities.With the prevalence of scorecards,dashboardsandothervisualizationtoolsnowwidelyavailableforbusinessuserstoreviewtheir data, the issue of visual information designismoreimportantthanever.2 The finalsentimentthatBrathandPetersexpressedinthisexcerptfromtheirarticleunderscores the purpose of thisbook.As data visualizationbecomesincreasinglycommonasameans of business communication, itisimperativethatexpertisein data visualizationbeacquired.Thisexpertisemustbegroundedinanunderstanding of visual perception,and of howthisunderstandingcanbeeffectivelyappliedto the visual display of datawhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy.Theseskillsarerarelyfoundin the businessworld,notbecausetheyaredifficulttolearn,butbecause the needtolearnthemisseldomrecognized.Thisistrueingeneral,andespeciallywithregardtodashboards. The challenge of presentingalargeassortment of data onasinglescreeninawaythatproducesimmediateinsightisbynomeanstrivial.Buckleup;you'reinforafunride.1GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February20022RichardBrathandMichaelPeters," ;Dashboard Design: WhyDesignisImportant,"DMDirect,October2004www.it-ebooks.infoChapter2.Variationsin Dashboard Usesand Data Dashboardscanbeusedtomonitormanytypes of data andtosupportalmostanyset of objectivesbusinessdeemsimportant.Therearemanywaystocategorizedashbo...

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