Why are so many dashboards so poorly designed?
That’s a loaded question, of course, because we have to break down what we mean by enterprise dashboard design. Depending on who you talk to in the business intelligence application world, the word “design” means different things. Talk to a data visualization expert like Stephen Few and you’ll walk away with a mission to properly design the data presentation elements like graphs, charts and indicators such that information is fairly and accurately delivered.
Speak to a graphic design/usability/information architect oriented person like myself and you’ll understand design to mean the presentation of the entire interface so that users can easily understand control their visual experience to optimize the understanding of their business. The emphasis here is more on the usabiltiy of the business intelligence system itself and less on the actual chart-level, data presentation elements.
There is also the political side of design of the look and feel from the perspective of acommodating design ideas from users and sponsors. After all, as every graphic designer knows, every client is a design guru - at least in their own minds.
From the good folks at the graphic design resource at underconsideration.com we get this very funny song called “Make the Logo Bigger“.
Tags: Executive Dashboard Design
