Five rules for dashboards your team will actually read
Most dashboards die within a month. Here is what the ones that survive have in common, based on 2,000 workspaces.
We looked at how often dashboards are opened in the first ninety days after they are created. Most are opened a handful of times in the first week and then never again. A small group is opened every single day. The difference is rarely the data. It is almost always the design.
1. Start with one question
The dashboards that last answer a single question, such as “are new teams activating?”. Every tile on the page supports that question. Anything else goes on a different dashboard.
2. Put the answer at the top left
People read dashboards the way they read a page. The first tile should be the number that answers the question, large enough to read from across the room.
If someone has to scroll to find out whether things are good or bad, the dashboard has already failed.
3. Show change, not just totals
A total without context is hard to act on. Pair every key number with its change over a sensible period and a short trend line.
4. Use fewer colours
One accent colour for the thing that matters and neutral tones for everything else. Save red and green for status, never for decoration.
5. Give it an owner
- Name one person responsible for each dashboard.
- Review it once a quarter and delete tiles nobody uses.
- Archive the whole dashboard if its question no longer matters.
None of these rules need new tools. They need a decision about what the dashboard is for, and the discipline to leave everything else out.