The Dashboard Spy

Using the word “Aesthetics” in conjunction with discussing business dashboards or software in general can be tricky. As most commonly used, aesthetics refers to the way something looks and whether or not it can be considered art. Let’s not go into the discussion of whether various dashboard software elements look good or not. I truly believe that most of that is basically opinion (although of course there are generally accepted prinicipals). No, what I am trying to get to is more of a common category of a visual look. An aesthetic, for example, would be the current Web 2.0 look. You know, that shiny, big-button look that you see everywhere these days. Even on business dashboards.

How does something become an aesthetic? Without delving deeply into the “what is art” discussion, I would say that an aethestic develops out of seeing common design solutions arise out of a particular time and place (virtual places are allowed - doesn’t have to be a physical location). This confluence of similar design takes hold and eventually becomes something that is purposefully strived for as a “look”. That’s when it becomes an aesthetic.

Starting a few years ago, we saw a real growth in the use of CSS for design and styling purposes. By adopting CSS-driven approaches to design elements, we started to see common looks arise. For example, the gradient background, the rounded corners, etc. This css-based look appeared on the “new” sites that were powered by the technologies that we associate with Web 2.0 - CSS/DOM/AJAX, etc. Once the Web 2.0 “look” started being shared through templates (especially on blogging platforms), this look really took off - in fact, it became rapidly emulated. Now, we have the Web 2.0 aesthetic - one that new sites want to adopt so as to be seen as Web 2.0 i.e. new and improved!

Here is a good slide presentation of what makes something look like Web 2.0:

Bringing the discussion back to business intelligence dashboard design and the Web 2.0 design aesthetic, let’s take a look at a dashboard screenshot sent to me by a Dashboard Spy reader who is indeed striving for that 2.0 look.

I have it over at the Dashboards by Example site, but here is a quick screengrab of the upcoming new Dashboard/Scorecard product that’s been under wraps. Have a look and I’ll explain more in the post titled Balanced Scorecard Meets Web 2.0. Please click on the image to bring up a larger dashboard screenshot:

Tags: Dashboard Design, Web 2.0 Aesthetic, Business Intelligence Dashboard Design