DASHBOARDS
Visualize success with centralized intel
As long as humans are running businesses, dashboards won’t be dead. That’s because “dashboard” is just another word for a place where decision makers can see the information needed to make non-critical decisions in a quickly digestible format. Ask yourself, how painful is this process for you? We recommend using dashboards for “two-way door decisions” and more research for critical and more consequential decisions.
Our Experience
Ironwood Analytics can help you target your audience so you can reach them more effectively.
After writing hundreds of reports for business leaders and executives, we’ve learned a few lessons along that way – especially what not to do. We’ve taken these lessons and formulated a method for displaying information we call the FACTS approach. Each dashboard and report must be built with all FACTS components in mind – Familiar, Actionable, Complete, Timely, and Simple. Most companies will offer guarantees about their dashboards – of course we can do that too. But remember, each dashboard we produce is custom built, delivering intelligence specific to your needs to support your goals.
FAMILIAR
Is the presentation consistent with the user’s preference?
Familiar formats are important. There’s a time and place for novel designs – dashboards are not the place. If you need to learn how to read the dashboard or reference a “how-to” guide, then it won’t be effective.
ACTIONABLE
Does the dashboard support “two-way” decision making?
If the intel contained within the dashboard isn’t actionable, then it’s informational. Informational intelligence is often better for more consequential decisions that are difficult to unwind. Otherwise, the dashboard should always position the decision maker to tweaks and adjust as needed.
COMPLETE
Does the user need to flip between different pages to understand a single dashboard?
Each dashboard topic must have all the intel contained within one view. Cross-referencing violates the completeness component and is simply frustrating. Footnotes, links, and references are not for dashboards.
TIMELY
How much has the data aged between the most recently available harvest to its publication?
If the most recent refresh is dated, then the utility for actionability diminishes daily. Based on your data availability, we do our best to automate the majority of your data imports, tidying, and publishing, so you can access up to date intel on demand.
SIMPLE
Can someone with very little knowledge of the organization understand the dashboard?
Dashboards are condensed for the purpose of simplicity. If the final package doesn’t simplify the concept, then it’s a failure. The best dashboards present a comprehensive picture in a simplistic manner.