Datasheet

Defining dashboards
A dashboard is a visual interface that provides at-a-glance views into key
measures relevant to a particular objective or business process. Dashboards
have three main attributes:
 Dashboards are typically graphical in nature, providing visualizations
that help focus attention on key trends, comparisons, and exceptions.
 Dashboards often display only data that are relevant to the goal of the
dashboard.
 Because dashboards are designed with a specific purpose or goal, they
inherently contain predefined conclusions that relieve the end user from
performing his own analysis.
Figure 1-2 illustrates a dashboard that uses the same data shown in
Figure 1-1. This dashboard displays key information about the National Park
overnight visitor stats. As you can see, this presentation has all the main
attributes that define a dashboard. First, it’s a visual display that allows you
to quickly recognize the overall trending of the overnight visitor stats.
Second, you can see that not all the detailed data is shown here; only the key
pieces of information that’s relevant to support the goal of this dashboard.
Finally, by virtue of its objective, this dashboard effectively presents you with
analysis and conclusions about the trending of overnight visitors.
Figure 1-2:
Dashboards
provide
at-a-glance
views
into key
measures
relevant to a
particular
objective or
business
process.
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Chapter 1: Getting in the Dashboard State of Mind
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