Database Reference
In-Depth Information
COMMuNICATION: ALERTS MuST BE DESIGNED TO EFFECTIVELY
CAPTuRE ATTENTION AND INFORM
Is the alert placed in context?
For example, Google Finance does a
nice job of putting news alerts within the stock chart.
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Is it clear what users should do next?
Give users a clear path to more
information so that they can understand the full context of the alert.
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Does the sophistication of your alerts match the sophistication of
your audience?
I've found that it is better to start with some simple
alerts so that your audience can begin to learn what it means and how
to react. Over time, these alerts can become more refined and focused
to capture complex situations.
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Does the alert draw the eye without being visually overwhelming
or annoying?
The visual noise in a dashboard can make it difficult to
see what is important.
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Is color used appropriately?
Red means bad. Yellow is sorta bad. Green
means good. (But “good” things don't need to be alerts.) It isn't particu-
larly fair for color blind folks, but these conventions are deeply rooted.
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Have you found the best mechanism for presenting alerts
?
Alerts
can be sent through e-mail, as an SMS message, blasted over the office
intercom system, or posted to the wall in the bathroom. What is the
most convenient and appropriate medium?
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CONTROL: ADVANCED ALERT SYSTEM SHOuLD GIVE uSERS THE
ABILITY TO CuSTOMIZE AND MANAGE ALERTS
Can users identify the important alerts and avoid the others?
As
hard as you may try in designing the dashboard or report, you aren't in
the shoes of the users. They will learn what they want to pay attention
to and what information is extraneous.
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Can users adjust the parameters?
With more sophisticated dash-
boards, you want to give users the ability to adjust parameters to hone
in on the exceptions that require action.
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Can users analyze alert frequency and trends?
I've never seen a sys-
tem that does this, but having the ability to view and analyze alert his-
tory seems critically important to getting a holistic view of performance.
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