Database Reference
In-Depth Information
in the strongest possible way. More is not always better, and care should be taken when
adding anything to a dashboard that the additional pixels serve a real and useful purpose.
Showing multiple charts simultaneously on a dashboard is useful when:
▪ Juxtaposing different views provides a perspective that each one alone fails to provide; or
▪ Interactivity among different views, such as filtering or highlighting, allows viewers to
answer a myriad of questions about the data ad hoc; or
▪ There is some inherent constraint such as limited time or space in which to present the
data to the audience, and no single view will communicate all that is required.
“Begin with the End in Mind”
Before designing a data dashboard in Tableau or any other tool, you should be able to clearly
state why a dashboard is needed. If it's because you want to impress your audience with data,
or with your dashboard design skills, or because a particular software package makes it easy
to do so, then you'd do well to revisit the Goal Triangle shown in
Figure 1-4
:
▪ Who is the target audience?
▪ What is your intended meaning?
▪ Why? What is the desired effect?
Once you've defined these three core elements, it's important to define the key objectives of
the display in greater detail. What's the primary objective? Are there any secondary object-
ives?
Here are four additional questions to consider:
▪ Are you trying to make a specific point, are you trying to give the target audience the
ability to ask and answer their own questions, or both?
▪ Is your target audience interested in the subject matter, and if so, why? What interests
them most about the data?
▪ What questions will your audience have about the data?
▪ Does the data relate to specific tasks or decisions that your audience is responsible for?
What are the tasks or decisions and how can the data help?
