Putting It All Together

A great deal of information has been amassed as the lessons in this book have been unveiled step by step, concept by concept, and principle by principle. Now it is time to tie it all together, to see these principles combined in the form of sample dashboards. The proof is in the efficacy of the result: dashboards that can be monitored and understood at a glance. We'll look at four examples of effectively designed dashboards, and put our knowledge to the test by critiquing eight alternate solutions to one of these design problems.

Sample sales dashboards

Sample CIO dashboard

Sample telesales dashboard

Sample marketing analysis dashboard

In this final chapter, we'll bring together the principles and practices taught throughout the book. We'll examine some dashboards that illustrate the clear and efficient communication that results from informed design, and we'll test your knowledge by critiquing several others. These samples address four different business scenarios, including dashboards that support strategic, analytical, and operational purposes:

Sample sales dashboard A sales manager might use this dashboard to monitor sales performance and opportunities (strategic).

Sample CIO dashboard A Chief Information Officer (CIO) might use this dashboard to monitor several aspects of a company's information systems (strategic and operational).

Sample telesales dashboard The supervisor of a team of sales representatives who take orders and answer questions by phone might use this dashboard to monitor performance (operational).

Sample marketing analysis dashboard A marketing analyst might use this dashboard to monitor the marketing performance of the company's web site (analytical).

These examples will not only put flesh on the bones of the design principles that I've taught in this book, but (I hope) will also suggest ideas for the types of information you might display on a dashboard and some interesting and effective ways to do so.