Database Reference
In-Depth Information
F I g u R e 2 -11
An early example of a “gauge” in a dashboard. Note how only one number is
communicated.
Glance-and-go visualizations thus need to be at once “information dense”
(or, to use another term, data rich) such that enough data are presented to
enable a viewer to know whether more investigation is required, but sparse
enough that the data do not overwhelm. A guided maximum of seven data
points is suggested, with the extension that multiple axes of seven points can
be used. For instance, you might have seven indicators each for Month-To-
Date, Year-To-Date, and Year-over-Year. This would be viable in a scorecard,
but depends on the visualization. Figure 2-12 shows a good example of a
monitoring scorecard, including drill-down information.
F I g u R e 2 -12
A scorecard with key performance indicators (KPIs) and time-based measures
Glance-and-go visualizations are often accompanied by interactive elements.
Drilling down on the KPIs to see what figures make up the number that is
not meeting target and drilling across to a second element, such as a line
chart, to give detail about how the KPI has trended over time are two of the
most common. In addition, capabilities such as interactive slice and dice are
often incorporated to aid discovery of the data behind the KPI. For instance,
