Dashboards

Running a company usually generates a lot of data! Customer information, product stock, orders, the whole financial aspect, etc. All this valuable data is pretty much useless if it’s not displayed or manipulated the right way. To be able to get the most out of your business data, it’s recommended to start using dashboards.

A dashboard is a screen where important information is put in a readable and informative manner. This is usually done through graphs. Dashboards can give you very good insight on how your company is doing. They can for example tell you abour your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). It’s important for dashboards to remain simple and insightful, it’s therefore discouraged to have dashboards where you need to scroll, or place big lists of data on the screen.

The main reason is to keep track of you company information. Information that you would not be able to see or understand if it wouldn’t be placed in a graph or other form of dashboard. Dashboards can give you insights in your sales. In which month did you sell the most? What products was sold the most? Answering questions like these can help you better understand your customers and help you make predictions for the future. Dashboards can fulfil a role that could not be fulfilled by a human. Through dashboards and the software behind it, it’s like a new employee! A proper dashboard can be a huge push in the right direction for your company.

A dashboard can be created and designed in an infinite number of ways. But ultimately they all serve the same purpose: They provide you with company information that you can anticipate on. Dashboards are gonna be different for every company and for every sector. Every company has their own goals, their own interests and their own unique data. IT companies, logistics companies, but also hospitols and super markets will use a dashboard to keep track of their company.

Dashboard will often come in the form of so called “datawalls”. These are screens, usually placed on the walls in an office or warehouse or any other place where employees often spend time, that contain relevant information for that specific area. For example, a datawall in a warehouse might show departing and arriving shipments with their time, or it show’s information on the products in stock. Datawalls can be very helpful for aquiring information quickly and often and emergencies can be quickly spotted and resolved.

For dashboards it’s important that they remain insightful and simple. No scrolling, no large lists and no distracting designs. A “likeable” and simple dashboard will assure that people will come back to use it. Also keep in mind that however good a dashboard might be: Wrong data = wrong results. Always make sure that the data in your dashboard is correct. Making decisions based on wrong data can have bad consequences. This is why it’s important to hire a professional to help you figure out what you need and what data you need. For dashboards it’s important that they remain insightful and simple. No scrolling, no large lists and no distracting designs. A “likeable” and simple dashboard will assure that people will come back to use it. Also keep in mind that however good a dashboard might be: Wrong data = wrong results. Always make sure that the data in your dashboard is correct. Making decisions based on wrong data can have bad consequences. This is why it’s important to hire a professional to help you figure out what you need and what data you need.