How Organizations Struggle with Data Fluency - Data Fluency: Empowering Your Organization with Effective Data Communication - page 39

data elitism and the data fluency fRamewoRk
Disconnecting analysis from the people that use it decreases employee
engagement. The data elite should be building frameworks that empower
others to do for themselves.
THE SuPERMODEL
It's easy to mistakenly believe that dashboards must look slick and flashy with
eye-catching visualizations that sizzle with graphical luster. Unfortunately,
dashboards of this type often say little, and what they do manage to com-
municate can be a distraction.
Banks are notorious for creating supermodel dashboards that conceal as much
as they present. One large bank displays the retirement accounts of its clients
with a snazzy dashboard. The landing page in the website gives you many
options including the ability to compare yourself to others. Enter a few data
points (age, marital status, savings, and salary), and you'll soon be compar-
ing your retirement nest egg to that of “people like you.” The presentation is
capped by a colorful animated pie chart showing your funds by asset class
(large cap growth, global/international, and small/mid/speciality).
If you want to substantively analyze your retirement account year-over-year,
you'll have to break out your calculator and gather old PDF statements. If you
want to see how much your fund grew due to contributions versus market
performance, it's your responsibility. Good luck finding the impact of fees on
your investment returns over time.
These dashboards distract customers from what's actually important and steer
them toward options that work for the bank. They might look fancy but as
soon as you start asking questions you hit a wall. Dashboards must display
the right information with a clear message in a limited space.