The digital world is revolutionizing every day. Every new day we come across new gadgets, technology, and innovation. Look around and you will see tons of websites offering you umpteen services and products. With the technological revolution, the importance of design has also increased multiple folds. A lot of time and creativity is invested to ensure that a user gets a delightful experience. However, only the front end design gets all the limelight while an unsung hero quietly sits in the background and works vigorously without any buzz. It’s the Dashboard.

The amount of data that we touch base is increasing day by day which makes the Dashboard design a very vital aspect. A great design provides solidity to the Dashboard and makes it more efficient. It helps users to maneuver around data, interpret it, and use it to understand the real picture. So how to design a great Dashboard? Here are top 5 tips that will help you in designing a great Dashboard.

1. Design For Users

If you emphasize purely on data and try to design a great dashboard, you will never succeed. At the end of the day, data is just some numbers. Always keep users at the top while designing a Dashboard. The soul objective of a Dashboard is to provide information to users which they seek and which can help them to understand the position at any given point in time. Analyze what questions will users be asking, which information will be required on a daily basis, and which is the best way of presenting the desired information. You should actually interact with the end users in order to understand them and their requirements.

2. Provide A Concise Overview

It’s very important that a user gets the most important information right on the front page. So the Dashboard design should display a front page should have different parts containing the most valuable information through which a user can drill deep down in any particular section. This ensures that the user is not bombarded with everything in the first go itself. It helps them to not get lost while looking out for information.

3. Use Visuals To Help Users

It’s a proven fact that visuals have a greater impact on users as compared to any other element. Data visualization is a wonderful way to provide information to users. Use graphs, charts, plots etc. to help them analyze the data. Graphs are better than a pie chart but there isn’t any thumb rule. Also, avoid using over the top graphics like an exploding pie or a stacked graph. The objective is to provide neat and clean visuals rather than complicating things for the user.

4. Maintain An Uncluttered Dashboard

The primary sign of a great Dashboard is that it’s very neat and uncluttered. It should not contain any unnecessary image, graphics, text or other elements. Good design practices like white space, grouping, and alignment must be followed religiously. It will help the user to visually connect to the related information eliminating all the noise and clutter.

5. Provide Guidance Where Necessary

Ideally, a Dashboard should be quite self-explanatory and the user must not require additional help. However, there will be some instances where he might need a little explanation. There is a possibility that the Dashboard is rarely used or at least for once there would be a new user. Provide contextual help where required. Like, provide info that describes a particular data visualization, or to explain data values shown. It’s best to show the help text in context upon clicking or hovering over a help icon or link.

Following these tips will definitely help you in designing a great dashboard. However, the bottom line is “it starts with users and ends at users only”. Keep taking feedback from the end users and use them to improve the design. Talk to our designers and discuss your digital requirements. Our team of experts will strive to provide you the best solutions.

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