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Table of Contents

  1. Dashboard Definition & Meaning
  2. What Is a Dashboard?
  3. 10 Types of Dashboards
  4. Dashboard Uses, Purpose, Importance
  5. What’s in a Dashboard? Parts?
  6. How to Design a Dashboard
  7. Dashboard vs. Report
  8. What’s the Difference between a Dashboard, Scorecard, and Infographic?
  9. Dashboard Sizes
  10. Dashboard Ideas & Examples
  11. FAQs

Dashboard

Dashboards are no ordinary visual user interfaces because these panels house all sorts of business metrics, key performance indicators, company infographics, and data visualization at a quick look. Even if you’re not part of the many well-established product developers in the digital market, navigating and optimizing a dashboard is important since these graphic representations are where you arrange and configure data in one source.

Dashboard Definition & Meaning

Dashboards are transformative graphic user interface platforms made for displaying a range of data from KPIs and project analytics to financial reporting and management visualization—you name it.

A dashboard tracks all sorts of data configured by the user such as website visit counts, traffic sources, and management metrics while everything is presented in an easy-to-follow portal navigating you through all info needed even in one glance.

What Is a Dashboard?

A dashboard primarily displays curated data and it is formatted in an easy-to-read and accessible control panel. Oftentimes, a dashboard stays idle on one page yet it continues to receive data from a database it is linked to. Due to a dashboard’s ability to practice data visualization, even people who aren’t savvy with the technical side of reading data would understand the configured content it presents.

10 Types of Dashboards

HR Dashboard

Human resources won’t have a hard time tracing, analyzing, and monitoring every HR KPI with a digital business board tool known as the HR dashboard. Its metrics affect the health of an organization, which would concern the admin, manager, or HR department. Thanks to the HR dashboard’s detailed content, looking for trends, tracking web analytics, and recognizing different areas of concern can be monopolized.

hr dashboard

Dashboard Layout

A dashboard doesn’t simply showcase loaded sets of data because everything must be organized and curated to achieve an easy-to-follow system. Hence, the dashboard layout exists to fuse all facets of a software dashboard until you’d have an efficient design, format, and layout. Dashboard layouts work best in interactive and modern dashboards.

dashboard layout

Dashboard Design

No effective dashboard is complete without a strategy-driven dashboard design. Since dashboards generally show a series of objectives and key performance indicators, everything must be arranged in a favorable design for smooth navigation. There are so many dashboard designs you can get inspiration from such as Bootstrap, Tableau, Discord, Google Workspace, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Excel.

dashboard design

Professional Dashboard

professional dashboard is a widely popular feature on Instagram for accessing performance and monitoring tools. However, you should know that professional dashboards can also be implemented on different types of social media sites, websites, and programs. If you need to track business performance or learn about different aspects of your enterprise with upgraded tools, opt for a professional dashboard system.

professional dashboard

Overtime Dashboard

Overtime activities need to be monitored 24/7, especially when most overtime work must be compensated eventually. To properly document and check how many overtime hours were spent by each employee, refer to the overtime dashboard for quick and detailed results. An agency may use this specific dashboard to trace the total monthly, quarterly, or yearly overtime hours spent and reflect those in payroll.

overtime dashboard

Payroll Dashboard

Never gloss over discrepancies in the company payroll using a reliable payroll dashboard. A payroll dashboard is an intelligent reporting tool for accessing payroll runs, particularly while editing, monitoring, or approving any payroll data. Whether an organization functions as an education business, music studio, health service, or software development, employee rewards must always be checked on all departments.

payroll dashboard

Dashboard Presentation

When it comes to presenting the details of a dashboard in a narrative approach, report the dashboard’s data through a riveting dashboard presentation. Consider dashboard presentations as the storytelling version of the technical information logged in dashboards. From the problem statement down to the conclusion, audiences would understand the dashboard’s content easily with a well-thought-out dashboard presentation.

dashboard presentation

Marketing CRM Dashboard

Customer relationship management activities, particularly the sales and marketing aspects of CRM, would be logged in a marketing CRM dashboard. Expect that a plethora of CRM factors is a concern in this dashboard. Examples include marketing KPIs, new deals, sales pipelines, and sales design themes.

marketing crm dashboard

Weekly Analysis Dashboard

Finished tasks, seven-day analytics, and weekly to-dos are effectively tracked using a weekly analysis dashboard. Per week, refer to the dashboard to analyze how your organization is doing business-wise and other important aspects. The data recorded here will eventually be discussed in detail through a weekly report that summarizes the weekly performances of any industry.

weekly analysis dashboard

Profit and Loss Dashboard

Graphically present your company’s expenses, revenue, and total costs with a readable profit and loss dashboard. Over a period of time, business profits and losses are scrutinized as a way of checking how lucrative or not an organization is. Profit and loss dashboards matter a lot to the accounting department to avoid inaccurate numerical records in financial data reports.

profit and loss dashboard

Dashboard Uses, Purpose, Importance

Indeed, dashboards can house different types of data at once but that is just one of the many features of this visual user interface. You will eventually understand how versatile and significant a dashboard is in terms of business computer information programs, thanks to the following:

Single yet Detailed Computer Screen

On one computer screen, a dashboard serves as your main overview of various information. Simply scroll down and navigate to the whole data to easily check results, monitor performances, and more. Examples of details summarized on screen would be sales info, financial statements, web analytics, marketing performances, client metrics, production and logistics info, etc.

Interactive, Real-Time Data Coverage

Dashboards are made to receive continuous data, meaning these platforms would cover updated information regularly. With a robust and interactive dashboard, it is convenient to keep track of near-real-time info whether it is for business, school, government, or community use. Depending the on the configured objectives set per the company’s dashboard, regular updates are naturally recorded.

Effective Visual Tool for Monitoring and Reporting

It is no stranger for dashboards to manifest graphical representations of data; thus, there is no need to read wordy reports with lots of pages. On your computer screen, a dashboard has many creative and visual ways to present data such as through graphs, charts, infographics, and more. These graphic tools are responsible for making data easy to read for the public rather than explaining in long, technical terms.

Facilitates Data-Informed Decisions

By presenting facts and information in one easy-to-read and detailed source, rest assured, a dashboard helps people create informed business decisions. Estimates, results, and actual performances are recorded in a standard dashboard and it is through here that your organization knows how to improve for the future. With optimum data-driven decisions, expect a better outcome rather than sticking with the wrong targets.

Data Tailored to the Audience’s Needs

How dashboards are made, labeled, or formatted would be customized according to the audience’s needs. Even the general workforce can comprehend the data in a dashboard since it is not mainly designed for the top executives. Making sure everyone follows the dashboard’s info conveniently and understandably is a good sign and it is the goal after collecting various raw data.

What’s in a Dashboard? Parts?

Visual Elements

Organizational charts, timetables, bar graphs, and other sorts of visual representations are critical to dashboards. These visual elements are responsible for improving how audiences understand the dashboard’s full content with a quick look.

Labels

Labels clarify what every single detail in a dashboard means. The visual elements and other data in a dashboard must be labeled accordingly for easy understanding.

KPIs

Configured key performance indicators or KPIs are the specified data being tracked, monitored, or measured in a dashboard. Every company has its own set of targets to consider and only relevant KPIs must be noted in a dashboard.

Data

Of course, the underlying data presented in the dashboard must never be excluded because this is the very meat of a dashboard. Whether the data involves analysis results, percentage of visitors, profit margins, or any other info, the data must be strategically presented in a dashboard.

Design

The overall design matters in a dashboard, such as the entire dashboard’s layout, format, and appearance. Keep organized and visually pleasing designs like complementary color schemes and professional arrangements of data.

Interactivity

Although a dashboard’s interactivity is optional, it is still crucial in the sense that users don’t only view and scroll through the dashboard’s data as it is. There must be clickable features, real-time measurement records, and other up-to-date variables for people to really gauge and manipulate the dashboard’s content.

How to Design a Dashboard

1. Check for the appropriate Dashboard Size to use

2. Identify the main reasons for creating a dashboard

3. Choose a Dashboard Template

4. Insert the essential parts of a standard dashboard

5. Take consideration into how the dashboard’s appearance, format, and layout look

6. Save everything and stay updated with your dashboard

Dashboard vs. Report

A dashboard is a general overview of various data that can be used to gauge KPIs, display visual analytics, and summarize other important information in one source.

A report has a more specific focus or area of concern to discuss detailed information with, not a number of data.

What’s the Difference between a Dashboard, Scorecard, and Infographic?

A dashboard showcases graphic representations of data such as the targets and current progress of an organization’s project.

A scorecard is a metric system that goes in line with a company’s objectives, strategies, and how near the company is to the goal.

An infographic is an engaging visual piece with texts, symbols, and various images that helps provide insights into certain information.

Dashboard Sizes

How dashboards appear may vary from one business to another, such as how Facebook dashboards are dissimilar to Tableau dashboards. The same goes for how diverse the dashboard sizes are. However, there are three standard dashboard dimensions that you can get accustomed to as a start.

Format

Pixels

Ratio

Laptop-Size Dashboard 800 × 600 px 1.33:1 or 4:3
Desktop or Computer-Size Dashboard 1000 × 800 px 1.25:1
Web-Embedded Dashboard 420 × 420 px 1:1

Dashboard Ideas & Examples

Considering that a dashboard contains a series of data, where or how you apply dashboards also has a range of possible examples and applications. Get introduced to popular dashboard ideas and eventually set a unique dashboard idea that fits best to your purpose.

FAQs

What should a dashboard contain?

A dashboard naturally contains various data formatted with graphic elements, specific labels, KPIs, designs, and interactivity features.

What is a dashboard design?

A dashboard design is a graphic user interface that showcases varied information with easy-to-understand visuals.

What makes a successful dashboard?

There is no such thing as a perfect dashboard but to have a successful one, you should present your data clearly to the public, use compelling visuals to summarize technical ideas, and know how to organize relevant information within a limited space.

What are the attributes of a dashboard?

A dashboard should be understandable, customizable, insightful, and constantly updated.

How many visuals are in a dashboard?

It depends on how many visual data can fit in your dashboard but generally, a standard dashboard contains around five to nine visuals.

What are KPI dashboards?

KPI dashboards are dashboards that are primarily used for tracking performances, targets, and results that align with the curated key performance indicators of an organization.

Which color is best for the dashboard?

Go for muted tones rather than extremely bold and bright colors and that these shades are complementary or good for the eyes; bright texts with dark backgrounds are mostly done for call-to-action statements or major highlights of a dashboard.

What is the most important part of a dashboard?

It would be data incorporated and presented meticulously in a dashboard; this aspect either makes or breaks the whole dashboard anyway.

Why do most dashboards fail?

Dashboards often fail when the data presented in the dashboard are vague, incomplete, inaccurate, and outdated.

What are dashboards used to visualize?

Dashboards basically visualize KPIs, metrics, and other crucial data points.

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