Designing dashboards for the non-technical end user

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲, 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮.” - 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗥. 𝗧𝘂𝗳𝘁𝗲 Let’s be honest, many dashboards out there look beautiful, but they do not actually say anything. I have seen dashboards with bright colors, fancy charts, and animations, but when you ask, “So what does this mean?” the room goes silent. That is because most dashboards are built to impress, not to inform. A dashboard is not supposed to be decoration. It is supposed to be direction. The truth is, anyone can drag a few charts together. But building a dashboard that drives action, that one takes thought. A good dashboard answers a question, A great dashboard tells a story. When I build, I ask myself three things: • Who will use this? • What do they need to know? • What decision will this help them make? If your dashboard cannot answer these, then it is not ready yet. Because what matters is not how many visuals you use, but whether those visuals help people understand the truth faster. Sometimes, one clear chart is worth more than ten colorful ones. So next time you are designing, keep this in mind, dashboards are not for show, they are for sense. What is one mistake you often see in dashboards? 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥... See you every day. This is Day 41 of 100. 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗱-𝗪𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺-𝗢𝘁𝘂𝘆𝗮 (𝗠.𝗢.𝗣.)

This is the ultimate BI dashboard hack: (Use it to make your reports more intuitive) I call it the "Funnel framework." Instead of cramming charts everywhere... Structure them in a way that guides stakeholders in their decision-making. Here's how: 1. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁. Put the critical KPIs at the top. 2. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀. Use simple bar/line charts to break down the “why” behind the numbers. 3. 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺. Tables and advanced visuals belong last (they're only for the people who need them). 4. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 + 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲. Labels and spacing tell the story faster than a wall of charts. 5. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. 5 or less if you can. And if you have to include more, organize them logically.     This framework takes your end user on a journey: Summary → Trends → Detail. The result? Stakeholders make faster decisions. Insights turn into action. Action turns into profit. Stop building “chart museums.” Start building dashboards that actually drive the business forward. ♻️ Share this with someone who keeps overcomplicating dashboards. Follow me for pragmatic frameworks that make data drive outcomes.

« Structure dashboard in a way that guides stakeholders in their decision-making » I completely agree — structuring dashboards to guide decision-making is key. I often use header filters to help stakeholders narrow down the scope step by step. 👉 How do you organize your dashboards to highlight the most impactful actions?

Ever wonder what stories your numbers are trying to tell you? 📊 I'm obsessed with uncovering them. Just wrapped up a project I'm genuinely excited to share: a dynamic Financial Overview Dashboard built in Power BI. This isn't just a collection of charts; it's a strategic compass designed to transform raw financial data into crystal-clear, actionable insights. My goal? To empower users to effortlessly track income, expenses, savings rates, and net balance – moving beyond static reports to a truly interactive experience. Here’s a snapshot of the kind of insights we're dealing with: 👉 Total Income: $1,820,299 👉Total Expenses: $1,282,035 👉Net Balance: $538,264 👉Savings Rate: 29.6% 👉Avg. Monthly Income: $151,692 This dashboard provides a holistic view, blending high-level KPIs with granular breakdowns. We're talking: Time-Series Analysis: Spotting those crucial monthly fluctuations and seasonal patterns. YoY Comparison (2023 vs. 2024): Highlighting a strong trajectory with +15% revenue growth and -8% efficiency gains in spending. Talk about making data-driven decisions! Individual Breakdowns: Understanding financial dynamics at a deeper level. Interactive Drill-downs: Slicers for income sources, expense categories, and balance projections make data exploration intuitive and incredibly powerful. What truly sets this apart is the behind-the-scenes work: leveraging advanced DAX calculations for custom metrics ( dynamic savings ratios!), robust data modeling for seamless relationships, and a focus on UX design to ensure every insight hits home. Plus, I optimized queries to slash load times by 40% because efficient analytics is just as important as accurate analytics. #PowerBI | #DAX | #AdvancedDataModeling | #InteractiveVisualizations | #QueryOptimization For me, data visualization is the ultimate bridge between complex data and real-world strategic decisions. It's about clarity, impact, and ultimately, smarter business outcomes. What's your go-to visualization technique that has fundamentally changed how you approach data? I'd love to hear your thoughts and connect! #DataAnalytics #FinancialInsights #BusinessIntelligence #DataVisualization #Analytics #LinkedIn #Career

💡 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝟱𝟬% 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 A dashboard I inherited once took 8 minutes to load. Eight. Whole. Minutes. Every time I opened it, I could feel my patience—and productivity—drain away. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲: ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 — pre-aggregated data by date and segment, so the dashboard didn’t have to do heavy lifting on every refresh. ✅ 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝘀 — replaced SELECT * with only the fields that actually mattered. ✅ 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 — focused on a few key visuals to give a fast overview first, and moved deeper analysis to secondary tabs. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩? ⚡ ~50% faster loads ⚡ Fewer refresh failures ⚡ Happier users (including me) This experience reminded me that 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 — in dashboards, in data, and in life. When your insights arrive faster, your decisions get smarter. If you’d like, I can share the SQL logic and architecture behind this improvement — just comment 👍 below. Let’s keep making data not just powerful, but beautifully fast 🚀

A dashboard may look stunning on the surface... But be a disaster behind the scenes. Here are key warning signs that your dashboard has a weak foundation: ❌ Too many calculations or too complex: ✅ This slows down performance and makes maintenance or scalability. ❌ Unreasonable data volume: ✅ The scope of the product isn’t well-defined, trying to solve too many needs at once = 450 columns. ❌ No documentation: ✅ The next data analyst to use your product will be completely lost. ❌ No brief: ✅ There’s no clarity on whom the product is for, why it exists, or which problem it solves. ❌ No product identity card: ✅ I recommend creating a product identity card to provide context, highlight risks, and assist future developers. A truly great dashboard isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about reliability, clarity, and usability. And remember: this isn’t YOUR dashboard. Chances are, you’ll leave the team or company within five years. Be kind to the next person who will carry out your work. For more content like this, I send one spicy dashboard tip every week in The Dashboard Design Brief. And yes, LinkedIn still insists the good stuff belongs in the comments. ⬇️ #businessintelligence #datavisualization #dataanalytics

3 Mistakes I Made in My First Dashboard Build (and How I Fixed Them) When I built my first real dashboard, I was proud. Until I realised… it wasn’t working. Here are 3 painful (but valuable) mistakes I made — and how I fixed them: 1. I Overloaded It With Charts I thought more visuals meant more insight. Wrong. It overwhelmed the user. Fix: I narrowed down to key metrics with simple KPIs and one clear narrative per page. 2. No Real User Testing I built it for myself, not the people using it. They didn’t understand filters or the logic. Fix: I now ask, “What question are you trying to answer?” Then build around their flow, not mine. 3. No Performance Optimisation The dashboard was beautifully slow. Heavy data, no aggregation, too many visuals. Fix: Used DAX optimisation, pre-aggregated queries, and limited visuals per page. Each mistake taught me that dashboard design = problem-solving, not decoration. If you’re just starting — keep it user-first, performance-aware, and outcome-driven. 💬 Have you made (or fixed) a dashboard mistake? Let’s swap notes below. #DataAnalytics #PowerBI #DataVisualization #LearningByDoing #DashboardDesign #CareerGrowth #AnalyticsJourney

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁-𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻—𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. If you’ve ever switched between five tabs just to explain campaign performance, this one’s for you. Improvado’s new Native Dashboards and Automated Reporting & Presentations complete the marketing analytics pipeline, so you can move from raw data to decisions without leaving one environment. Add the AI Agent for instant answers, anomaly detection, and optimization tips, and you’ve got your full Marketing Intelligence OS. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: • Automated reports in presentation-ready formats with rich visuals—shareable in seconds with stakeholders. • Custom dashboards created in plain language—just describe what you need. • Governance and consistency built in, so numbers match across every report. And if you’d rather keep your BI or warehouse, no problem. Improvado adapts to your stack.

Bringing visualization, automation, and governance into one layer wasn’t easy, but it’s the missing piece for marketing data maturity. The full analytics loop now lives inside Improvado.

Bringing visualization, automation, and governance into one layer wasn’t easy, but it’s the missing piece for marketing data maturity. The full analytics loop now lives inside Improvado.