www.it-ebooks.info InformationDashboardDesign ByStephenFew Publisher:O'Reilly PubDate:January2006 ISBN:0‐596‐10016‐7 Pages:223 www.it-ebooks.info Copyright Copyright©2006StephenFewAllrights reserved. PrintedinItaly. PublishedbyO'ReillyMedia,Inc.1005GravensteinHighwayNorthSebastopol,CA95472 O'Reillybooksmaybepurchasedforeducational, business,orsalespromotionaluse.Onlineeditionsare alsoavailableformosttitles(safari.oreilly.com).Formoreinformation,contactourcorporate/institutional sales department:800‐998‐9938orcorporate@oreilly.com. Editor ColleenWheeler ProductionEditor Genevieved'Entremont ArtDirector MikeKohnke CoverDesigner StephenFew InteriorDesigners MikeKohnke,TerriDriscoll ProductionServices SpecializedComposition,Inc. PrintHistory January2006: FirstEdition. TheO'ReillylogoisaregisteredtrademarkofO'ReillyMedia,Inc.InformationDashboardDesignand relatedtradedressaretrademarksofO'ReillyMedia,Inc. 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Whileeveryprecautionhasbeentakeninthepreparationofthisbook,thepublisherandauthorassumeno responsibilityforerrorsoromissions,orfordamagesresultingfromtheuseoftheinformation contained herein. 0‐596‐10016‐7 www.it-ebooks.info Tomyparents,BobandJoyceFew,whoseprideinmyjourneyhoweverstrangethatjourneymusthave sometimesseemedinstilleddeepdownintomybonestheresolvetokeepplacing onefootinfrontofthe other. www.it-ebooks.info AbouttheAuthor StephenFewhasover20yearsofexperienceasanITinnovator,consultant,andeducator.Today,as PrincipaloftheconsultancyPerceptualEdge,Stephenfocusesondatavisualizationforanalyzingand communicatingquantitativebusinessinformation.Heisworkingtoraiseconsciousnessandtoprovidea treatmentplanthataddressestheneeds ofbusinessinthelanguageofbusiness.Hispreviousbook,Show MetheNumbers:DesigningTablesandGraphstoEnlighten,isapowerfulfitnessprogramdesignedto targetthedatapresentationaspectsofthisproblem. Today,fromhisofficeinBerkeley,California,Stephenprovidesconsultingandtrainingservices,speaks frequently atconferences,andteachesintheMBAprogramattheUniversityofCaliforniainBerkeley. Moreabouthiscurrentworkcanbefoundatwww.perceptualedge.com . www.it-ebooks.info Introduction Fewphenomenacharacterizeourtimemoreuniquelyandpowerfully thantherapidriseandinfluenceof informationtechnologies.Thesetechnologieshaveunleashedatsunamiofdatathatrollsoverandflattens usinitswake.Tamingthisbeasthasbecomeaprimarygoaloftheinformationindustry.Onetoolthathas emergedfromthiseffortinrecentyearsistheinformationdashboard.Thissingle‐screendisplayofthe mostimportantinformationpeopleneedtodoajob,presentedinawaythatallowsthemtomonitor what'sgoingoninaninstant,isapowerfulnewmediumofcommunication.Atleast itcanbe,butonly whenproperlydesigned. Mostinformationdashboardsthatareusedinbusinesstodayfallfarshortoftheirpotential. Therootof theproblemisnottechnologyatleastnotprimarilybutpoorvisualdesign.Toservetheirpurposeandfulfill theirpotential,dashboardsmustdisplayadensearray ofinformationinasmallamountofspaceina mannerthatcommunicatesclearlyandimmediately.Thisrequiresdesignthattapsintoandleveragesthe powerofvisualperceptiontosenseandprocesslargechunksofinformationrapidly.Thiscanbeachieved onlywhenthevisualdesignofdashboardsis centraltothedeve lopmentprocessandisinformedbyasolid understandingofvisualperceptionwhatworks,whatdoesn't,andwhy. Notechnologycandothisforyou.Youmustbringthisexpertisetotheprocess .Takeheartthevisualdesign skillsthatyouneedtodevelopeffectivedashboardscanbelearned,and helpingyoulearnthemisthesole purposeofthisbook. Iftheinformationisimportant,itdeservestobecommunicatedwell. www.it-ebooks.info Acknowledgments WithoutadoubtIowethegreatestdebtofgratitudetothemanysoftwarevendorswhohavedoneso muchtomakethisbooknecessarybyfailingtoaddressorevencontemplatethevisualdesignneedsof dashboards.Theirkinddisregardforvisualdesignhasgivenmefocus,ignitedmypassion, andguaranteed mylivelihoodforyearstocome. Now,ontothosewhohavecontributedmoredirectlyandpersonallytothiseffort.Asaman,Iwillneverbe abletocreate,shelter,andnourishanemerginglifewithinthisbo dyofmine.Inrecentyears,however,I haverecognized andpursuedtheopportunity tobreathelifeintotheproductsofmyimaginationandpass themontotheworldintheformofbooks.Writingabookisabitlikebearingachild.Workingwitha publishertohelpthechildlearntowalkbeforeventuringintotheworld isalessonintrust.Thefolksat O'ReillyMediahavetaughtmetoentrusttothembeginningwithunspeakableangst,butproceeding throughunfalteringstepstowardever‐increasingcomfortthecollegialcareofthisbelovedchild.Manyat O'Reillyhavecontributedsomuch,buttwoinparticularhavestoodbymy sidefromthebeginningwith soothingvoicesofconfidenceandcalm.Myeditor,ColleenWheeler,knewwhentolisteninsilence,when toteasemeoutofmyopia,andwhentogentlyremindmethatIwasinherconsiderateandconsiderable care.Myacquisitionseditor,SteveWeiss,soughtmeout andwooedmethroughmonthsofthoughtful discussionintotheO'Reillyfold.Hegaveassurancesandhasmadesurethattheywerefulfilled. www.it-ebooks.info Sommario Copyright 3 AbouttheAuthor 5 Introduction 6 Acknowledgments 7 Chapter1.ClarifyingtheVision 11 1.1.AllThatGlittersIsNotGold 12 1.2.EvenDashboardsHaveaHistory 14 1.3.DispellingtheConfusion 15 1.3.1.WhatIsaDashboard? 26 1.4.ATimelyOpportunity 28 Chapter2.VariationsinDashboardUsesandData 29 2.1.CategorizingDashboards 30 2.1.1.ClassifyingDashboardsbyRole 31 2.2.TypicalDashboardData 33 2.2.1.TheCommonThreadinDashboardDiversity 33 Chapter3.ThirteenCommonMistakesinDashboard Design 38 3.1.ExceedingtheBoundariesofaSingleScreen 39 3.1.1.FragmentingDataintoSeparateScreens 40 3.1.2.RequiringScrolling 42 3.2.SupplyingInadequateContextfortheData 43 3.3.DisplayingExcessiveDetailorPrecision 45 3.4.ChoosingaDeficientMeasure 46 3.5.ChoosingInappropriateDisplayMedia 47 3.6.IntroducingMeaningles sVariety 51 3.7.UsingPoorlyDesignedDisplayMedia 52 3.8.EncodingQuantitativeDataInaccurately 56 3.9.ArrangingtheDataPoorly 56 3.10.HighlightingImportantDataIneffectivelyorNotatAll 57 3.11.ClutteringtheDisplaywith UselessDecoration 58 3.12.MisusingorOverusingColor 61 3.13.DesigninganUnattractiveVisualDisplay 62 Chapter4.TappingintothePowerofVisualPerception 64 4.1.UnderstandingtheLimitsofShort‐TermMemory 65 4.2.VisuallyEncodingDataforRapidPerception 67 www.it-ebooks.info 4.2.1.AttributesofColor 69 4.2.2.AttributesofForm 70 4.2.3.AttributesofPosition 71 4.2.4.AttributesofMotion 71 4.2.5.EncodingQuantitati ve Versus CategoricalData 71 4.2.6.LimitstoPerceptualDistinctness 73 4.2.7.UsingVividandSubtleColorsAppropriately 74 4.3.GestaltPrinciples ofVisualPerception 74 4.3.1.ThePrincipleofProximity 75 4.3.2.ThePrincipleofSimilarity 75 4.3.3.ThePrincipleofEnclosure 76 4.3.4.ThePrincipleofClosure 77 4.3.5.ThePrincipleofContinuity 78 4.3.6.ThePrincipleofConnection 78 4.4.Applyingthe PrinciplesofVisualPerceptiontoDashboardDesign 79 Chapter5.EloquenceThroughSimplicity 80 5.1.CharacteristicsofaWell‐DesignedDashboard 81 5.1.1.CondensingInformationviaSummarizationandException 82 5.2.KeyGoalsintheVisualDesignProcess 83 5.2.1.ReducetheNon‐DataPixels 86 5.2.2.EnhancetheDataPixels 94 Chapter6.EffectiveDashboardDisplayMedia 101 6.1.SelecttheBestDisplayMedium 102 6.2.AnIdealLibraryofDashboardDisplayMedia 106 6.2.1.Graphs 107 6.2.2.Icons 131 6.2.3.Text 133 6.2.4.Images 133 6.2.5.DrawingObjects 134 6.2.6.Organizers 135 6.3.Summary 137 Chapter7.DesigningDashboardsforUsability 138 7.1.OrganizetheInformati ontoSupportItsMeaningandUse 139 7.1.1.OrganizeGroupsA ccordingtoBusinessFunctions,Entities,andUse 139 7.1.2.Co‐locate ItemsThatBelongtotheSameGroup 139 www.it-ebooks.info 7.1.3.DelineateGroupsUsingtheLeastVisibleMeans 140 7.1.4.SupportMeaningfulComparisons 141 7.1.5.DiscourageMeaninglessComparisons 142 7.2.MaintainConsistencyforQuickandAccurateInterpretation 143 7.3.MaketheViewingExperienceAestheticallyPleasing 143 7.3.1.ChooseColorsAppropriately 144 7.3.2.ChooseHighResolution forClarity 145 7.3.3.ChoosetheRightText 145 7.4.DesignforUseasaLaunchPad 145 7.5.TestYourDesignforUsability 146 Chapter8.PuttingItAllTogether 147 8.1.SampleSalesDashboard 148 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample1 151 Critique ofSalesDashboardExample2 152 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample3 153 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample4 154 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample5 155 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample6 156 CritiqueofSalesDashboardExample7 157 CritiqueofSales DashboardExample8 158 8.2.SampleCIODashboard 159 8.3.SampleTelesalesDashboard 161 8.4.SampleMarketingAnalysisDashboard 162 8.5.AFinalWord 164 AppendixA.RecommendedReading 165 Colophon 166 www.it-ebooks.info [...]... I finally decided to begin the task of devising a working definition of my own by examining every example of a dashboard I could find on the Web, in search of their common characteristics. You might find it interesting to take a similar 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 ... 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 ... Chapter 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 dashboards into various types. The way that relates most directly to a dashboard' s visual design involves the role it plays, whether strategic, analytical, or operational. The design characteristics of the dashboard can be tailored to effectively support the needs of ... operational. The design characteristics of the dashboard can be tailored to effectively support the needs of each of these roles. While certain differences such as these will affect design, there are also many commonalities that span all dashboards and invite a standard set of design practices. www.it-ebooks.info Categorizing dashboards Common threads in dashboard data Non‐quantitative dashboard data Dashboards are used to support a broad spectrum of information needs, spanning the entire range of ... Figure 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 ... 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 ... Comparative measure Example The same measure at the same point in time in the past The same day last year The same measure at some other point in time in the past The end of last year The current target for the measure A budgeted amount for the current period Relationship to a future target Percentage of this year's budget so far A prior prediction of the measure Forecast of where we expected to be today ... 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 ... sought to guarantee its accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness. From the early days of data warehousing on into the early years of this new millennium, the effort has largely focused on the technologies, and to a lesser degree the methodologies, needed to make information available and useful. The direct beneficiaries so far have mostly been folks who are highly proficient in the use of computers and able to use the available tools to navigate through large, often complex databases. ... 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 . journey.In the nextfewpages,you'll seescreenshots of anassortment of dashboards,whichweremostlyfoundon the websites of vendorsthatsell dashboard software.Take the timenowtobrowsethroughtheseexamplesandseeifyoucandiscerncommonthreadsthatmightbe wovenintoausefuldefinition. 1 GregoryL.Hovis,"StopSearchingforInformationMonitoritwith Dashboard Technology,"DMDirect,February2002. 2 MarkLeon," ;Dashboard Democracy,"Computerworld,June16,2003 3 Byincludingtheseexamplesfrom the websites of softwarevendorsandafewothersources,Idonotmeanto endorseany of thesedashboardsor the softwareproductsusedtocreatethemasexamples of gooddesign,noras extraordinaryexamples of poordesign.Tovaryingdegreesthey allexhibit visual designproblemsthatI'lladdressin laterchapters. www.it-ebooks.info Figure1‐2.This dashboard fromBusinessObjectsreliesprimarilyongraphicalmeanstodisplayaseries of performance measures.alongwithalist of alerts,Noticethat the title of this dashboard is"MyKPIs."Keyperformanceindicatorsand dashboardsappeartobesynonymousin the minds of mostvendors. Notice the gaugesaswell.We'llseequiteafew of them. www.it-ebooks.info Figure1‐3.This dashboard fromOracleCorporationdisplaysacollection of salesmeasuresforanalyzingproductperformanceby category.All of the measuresaredisplayedgraphically.We'llfindthatthisemphasisongraphicaldisplaymediaisfairly common. Figure1‐4.This dashboard fromInformaticaCorporationdisplaysmeasures of revenuebysaleschannelalongwithalist of reportsthatcanbeviewedseparately. The predominance of graphicaldisplaymediathatweobservedon the previous dashboardsappearsonthisoneaswell,notablyin the form of metersdesignedtolooklikespeedometers. The list of reports addsportalfunctionality,enablingthis dashboard tooperateasalaunchpadtocomplementary information. www.it-ebooks.info Figure1‐5.This dashboard fromPrincipaprovidesanoverview of acompany'sfinancialperformancecomparedtotargetsfor the month of March,bothintabularformandasaseries of gauges. The information canbetailoredbyselectingdifferentmonths andamounts of history.Onceagain,weseeastrongexpression of the dashboard metaphor,thistimein the form of graphical devicesthatweredesignedtolooklikefuelgauges. www.it-ebooks.info Figure1‐6.This dashboard fromCognos,Inc.displaysatableandfivegraphsonein the form of aworldmaptocommunicate sales information. Despite the onetable,there'sacontinuedemphasisongraphicalmedia.Noticealsothatathemeregarding the visual natureandneedfor visual appeal of dashboards isemergingintheseexamples. www.it-ebooks.info . 76 4.3.4. The Principle of Closure 77 4.3.5. The Principle of Continuity 78 4.3.6. The Principle of Connection 78 4.4.Applying the Principles of Visual Perceptionto Dashboard Design