Digital Dashboard 101 Guide With Good & Bad Examples

Today data-driven world businesses are flooded with data. From sales figures to customer satisfaction metrics, easy to get lost in the sea of data. The main goal of a digital dashboard is to provide interactive visualization with real-time data and information. 💻

This blog article will cover different types of dashboards, good data examples, and bad. We will cover the main pitfalls for implementing data dashboards as well as the best tools for dashboard creation.

Recap:

1. What is digital dashboard and it’s benefits
2. How to create a digital dashboard
3. Different dashboard types
4. Best practices for designing the dashboard
5. Tools for digital dashboard creation

What is Digital Dashboard?

A digital dashboard is a centralized and interactive platform that provides a real-time view of key performance indicators (KPIs) and other important business data. It’s like having a cockpit for your business, giving you a quick and easy way to track progress, identify trends, and make informed decisions.

Why Use Digital dashboard?

There are many pros how businesses can benefit for digital dashboard implementation in the company.

1. Data visibility: it’s more easier to understand business metrics once it’s visualized in one place so you can get the grasp of the situation.
2. Enhance decision-making: with all data in one place it’s easier to get information about the business performance. It can help you make better decisions about strategy, marketing, sales, and operations.
3. Increased efficiency: dashboards can automate tasks and streamline processes, freeing up time for employees to focus on more strategic work.
4. Improved collaboration: dashboards are created for easy sharing and editing, helping team to work together on data analysis and decision-making.

Benefits of digital dashboard infographic by author

How To Create A Digital Dashboard For Data Analytics?

7 steps to implement digital dashboard in your business, infographic by author

Different Types of Digital Dashboards

Each team and each organization will need a different type of dashboard, as there are so many differences between data sources and main KPIs.

6 most popular digital dashboard types, infographic by author

For example, sales team can’t use finance dashboard as the metrics are not relevant. In this chapter we will deep dive into most popular data dashboard types and differences.

1. Marketing Dashboard

For marketers navigating the turbulent seas of campaigns and social media analytics, marketing dashboards are the compass, plotting course amidst metrics and engagements. Here are the key metrics that marketers measure:

• Website traffic: how many people are visiting your website and how often.
• Social media engagement: how many people are interacting with your brand on social media.
• Email open rates:  how many people are opening your emails.
• Conversion rates: the percentage of people who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
• Customer satisfaction: how satisfied your customers are with your products or services.

Marketing teams digital dashboard example from Ajelix BI

2. Sales Dashboard

Sales dashboards act as the navigational charts for sales teams, tracking pipeline progress and scrutinizing the intricacies of the sales funnel. 5 vital metrics for sales teams:

• Sales pipeline: the progress of your sales deals from lead qualification to close.
• Customer lifetime value (CLTV): the average revenue that a customer generates over their lifetime.
• Average deal size: the average amount of money that your sales team closes each deal.
• Customer acquisition costs (CAC): the average amount of money that you spend to acquire a new customer.
• Sales conversion rate: the percentage of leads that your sales team converts into customers.

3. Finance Dashboard

In the fiscal realm, finance dashboards steer through the budgetary waters, monitoring expenditures and forecasting financial trajectories. Here are the key finance metrics:

• Revenue: This is the total amount of money that your business generates from sales.
• Expenses: This is the total amount of money that your business spends.
• Profit margin: This is the percentage of revenue that your business keeps after paying for expenses.
• Cash flow: This is the movement of money into and out of your business.
• Debt levels: This is the amount of money that your business owes to creditors.

Finance digital dashboard example from Ajelix BI

4. Operational Dashboard

In the trenches of day-to-day activities, operational dashboards emerge as vigilant overseers, monitoring real-time data and ensuring the sails of daily operations catch the wind of efficiency. Operational metrics:

• Production output: how much product your business is producing.
• Inventory levels: tracks the amount of inventory that you have on hand.
• Customer service metrics: track the level of service that you are providing to your customers.
• Employee productivity: measures how productive your employees are.
• Return on investment (ROI): measures the return on money that your business invests in its operations.

5. HR Dashboard

Amidst the human capital landscape, HR dashboards measure employee performance metrics and serve as the lighthouse for recruitment and retention endeavors. HR department metrics:

• Employee engagement: how engaged your employees are with their work.
• Employee turnover: the percentage of employees who leave your company each year.
• Training and development: tracks the number of employees who are taking training courses.
• Performance management: the performance of employees against their goals.
• Compensation and benefits: the compensation and benefits that you are offering to your employees.

6. Customer Service Dashboard

For customer service teams, these dashboards become the chronicles of ticket resolution times and metrics gauging customer satisfaction. Customer service key metrics:

• Contact volume: the number of customer inquiries that you receive each day.
• Average resolution time: the average time it takes to resolve a customer inquiry.
• First contact resolution (FCR): the percentage of customer inquiries that are resolved on the first contact.
• Customer satisfaction: how satisfied your customers are with the service that you provide.
• Customer loyalty: how likely your customers are to recommend your business to others.

Best Practices for Designing Digital Dashboards

1. Color choice and interactivity

Use colors effectively and thoughtfully. Using too many colors can make the dashboard cluttered and difficult to read. Conversely, using too few colors can make the dashboard boring and uninspired.

Consider the overall purpose of the dashboard and the target audience. For example, if your dashboard is intended for a technical audience, you may want to use more muted colors. If your dashboard is intended for a non-technical audience, you may want to use more vibrant colors.

2. Data Accuracy and Reliability

The data should be accurate, up-to-date, and relevant to the target audience. It should also be presented in a way that is easy to understand and interpret.

• Keep your dashboards simple and uncluttered.
• Use a consistent style throughout your dashboards.
• Label your visualizations clearly.
• Test your dashboards with your target audience to make sure they are effective.
• Monitor and update your dashboards regularly.

3. Responsiveness and Compatibility

In a world of diverse devices, mobile-friendly dashboards and cross-platform compatibility ensure a seamless user experience. Make sure the chosen data visualization tool is compatible with all devices including Mac. Check if the dashboards are responsive, as some tools require additional dashboard building for each device type.

5 design tips for effective digital dashboard creation, infographic made by author

4. Additional Tips

When creating a digital dashboard make sure to use:

• Consistent color scheme throughout the dashboard.
• Font that is easy to read and understand.
• Clear and concise title for each visualization.
• Legend to explain the colors and symbols used in the visualization.
• Drill-down feature to allow users to see more detailed information about a particular metric.
• Filter feature to allow users to view data for a specific time period or group of users.

Read more on our article about data visualization practices.

Good Examples of Digital Dashboards

Good Example: A sales team dashboard that tracks key metrics such as sales pipeline, customer satisfaction, and average deal size. This dashboard helps salespeople stay on top of their leads, identify areas for improvement, and make adjustments to their strategies.

Bad Examples of Digital Dashboards

Bad Example: A marketing dashboard that displays a vast amount of data in a cluttered and difficult-to-navigate format. This dashboard is overwhelming and difficult to use, making it ineffective for helping marketers make informed decisions.

Outdated Design

Anchored in unappealing aesthetics and inefficient layouts, outdated designs sabotage the user experience and hinder the functionality of digital dashboards.

Inaccurate Data Representation

Misleading visualizations and a lack of contextual information can transform a dashboard from a guiding star to a misdirection, leading decision-makers astray.

best Tools for digital dashboards

1. Ajelix BI
2. Power BI
3. Looker Studio
4. Zoho Analytics
5. Tableau

Conclusion

Digital dashboards are a valuable tool for businesses to visualize and analyze their data, leading to improved decision-making, increased efficiency, and better collaboration.

We covered how to create a digital dashboard, different types of dashboards for various departments, best practices for designing dashboards, and a list of tools for dashboard creation.

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