Tölvumál - 01.10.2013, Síða 29

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be automated from the start. Updating the dashboard weekly or
quarterly is less efficient but a way to jump start a discussion until a
better integration can be created.
After you’ve managed to get all the metrics you want calculated and
pulled from various sources the next hurdle is to decide on a hierarchy
and importance of each metric.
First and foremost, we need to consider the audience for this dashboard.
Is this something that only a few c-level executives will be looking at or is
this something open to other employees. Maybe it is on a giant monitor
hanging in the office or in the lobby. Knowing who is going to see this
information helps us figure out what we can and can’t be showing.
Everyone think’s their metric is the most important, and to them it is.
Much like the company’s public face website, everyone wants to be on
the homepage with a link to their pet-project or department. Maybe you
have an editorial team that makes those decisions and that process
can also be used for the internal dashboard. Maybe someone would
want to build a dashboard which is customizable and allows people to
have their own custom layout and design to suit their needs. This
creates more design work and support issues, but it is a trade-off which
might be worth it for larger organizations. Another solution is to simply
create multiple dashboards, one for each of the departments. There is
no customization, but at the same time not everyone is forced to see
the same view.
A good dashboard has a mix of business metrics along with other
useful data sprinkled in. Let’s look at a few examples and discuss
different types of metrics.
The Panic Software Company has a large dashboard screen which can
be seen throughout the office. One of the interesting sections is the bus
time-table. If your dashboard is something displayed company-wide,
having non-business related data can also be useful. Strætó has an API
with real-time position of the busses. If you’re company has employees
taking the bus, it might be useful to expose this information. Other
simple data to display might be tomorrow’s weather forecast. Not
everything on the dashboard needs to be a direct business function.
These additional pieces of information help the staff, which in turn
makes the workplace better.
Panic Softwarehas since packaged-up their dashboard as a stand-
alone app for sale on iPads.
There are other web-based solutions like Gecko Board which also
allows you to pull in various data sources such as weather, RSS and
Twitter.
Once you have sorted out your metrics, hierarchy and layout, we have
to look into our third consideration for dashboards: multiple screens.
Creating a solid dashboard means that we need to take into
consideration that it will be viewed on multiple devices. This might
mean a 42 inch TV in the call centre, but also on the 3.5 inch screen on
your mobile phone. Designing for this range and usage has always
been a challenge, but we are beginning to see the tools to achieve this
mature enough that it should be a standard feature.
Rather than reducing the size of the graphics or removing data, make
the design responsive. The design changes, flexes and responds
based on the screen-size. For larger TVs the font gets bigger and the
design makes use of the space. Whereas on small screen the
dashboard boxes and order are moved around so it is much taller and
you scroll vertically.
The term „second screen„ and „second screen experience„ are used a
lot in the mobile spaces. It refers to a second, or sometimes 3rd or forth
screen competing for you attention. The first screen is usually the TV or
computer monitor, then followed by some second screen, usually a
tablet or phone. With Android devices nearing 1 billion activations this
year it means a lot of Android devices are also going into the draw or
put up for sale second-hand. These can be an ideal way to create a
‘second screen’ experience for the office on a small budget.
You might be able to easily recycle some of these devices to create a
second screen experience which compliments the data that you
already see on a daily basis via your email or other tools. Small
dashboards that can be left in meeting rooms, next to the water cooler,
in the reception and other places where people might casually glade at
the heart-beat of the company.
Any dashboard needs to be the right balance of actionable and relevant
information for the reader. Stephen Few wrote a great book called
„Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of
Data„. In the book he goes through many of the design principals which
are needed to convey the information effectively. From simple facts like
avoiding steam-power gauges on your dashboards to different ways to
make data stand out from a sea of other information, the book is an
excellent resource for tackling complex design.
A dashboard is there as a sign post to help guide you. It doesn’t replace
decision making or good leadership.
It is important to realize that not everything can be turned into a metric
and put onto a dashboard. Attending conferences, continued education
or „20% time„ are near impossible to actually measure the affects, but
no one argues that there isn’t an impact. Another of Deming’s points
focuses on running the company purely by numbers. He says „…
Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead
substitute with leadership.„ Metrics and dashboards are useful for
identifying problems and areas of improvement, but should only be an
aid rather than a crutch.