Good dashboard, bad dashboard

Good dashboards are opinionated. A good dashboard communicates, "These things matter; these other things don't." A bad dashboard throws everything on the page and forces the user to decide what is important.

Good dashboards are as simple as possible—and no simpler. A good dashboard reduces data to its cleanest visual form. A good dashboard reduces cognitive overhead. If a metric cannot be understood without first segmenting it into two groups, do that by default.A good dashboard draws the shortest possible line from “I see it” to “I get it.” A bad dashboard will include secondary axes, tool tips, and messy labels.

Good dashboards clarify cause and effect. Dashboards are ultimately about creating a shared reality. So much of that shared reality relies on a common story about why something happened. A bad dashboard is flat, with no clear connection between metrics.

Good dashboards show performance against goals. Dashboards should focus the user on deviations from expectations. Goals show where reality hasn’t lined up with past expectations. A bad dashboard will show you a chart, with no context about whether the outcome is good or bad, surprising or not surprising.

Good dashboards define terms. A good dashboard will include a jargon-free description of what a metric means. A bad dashboard will hide complexity elsewhere. A bad dashboard will cause the user to ask, again and again, "Remind me, how is this metric calculated?"

Good dashboards anticipate followups. A good dashboard says, "This dip, right here, which I know sticks out immediately? It was caused by our pricing change." A bad dashboard leaves the user wondering, "What happened then?" A good dashboard makes rates of change — week-over-week, year-over-year — immediately apparent. A bad dashboard leaves the user doing their own back-of-the-envelope math.

Good dashboards facilitate exploration. A good dashboard links to more detailed analyses. A good dashboard lets the user download all the data. A bad dashboard forces the user to ask for ad hoc analysis.

Good dashboards respect the user's time. A good dashboard reflects that an analyst has done the work to save the user from doing it themselves. It is a product, designed to do a job: Help the user understand the story of the business.

(Inspired, of course, by Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager.)