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What is a Business Dashboard & How it is useful for your Business?

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Customizable, highly configurable Business Dashboard enables you and your teams to share information, and track progress and trends. It also improves workflow processes. Therefore, each team has to customize its dashboards to share information and track progress.

What Is Dashboarding?

Dashboarding is a method of visualizing all of your data. While we can use it in a variety of ways, its primary purpose is to provide information at a glance. Dashboarding offers a significant opportunity to improve your company’s efficiency. It also reduces response time to issues and opportunities.

Business Dashboard Meaning

Dashboards, also known as business dashboards, are single screens that display various critical pieces of information in the form of panels. They, like car dashboards, provide the end-user with a unified view of the data that is important for “driving” the business performance.

Advantages of Business Dashboard 

1. Fast and effective decision-making –

Allows executives, managers, and analysts easy access to key performance metrics. Consequently, allowing them to monitor performance and processes for a better understanding of the business. Hence, it helps them in faster decision-making.

2. On-demand, accurate and relevant information –

Dashboards communicate business objectives throughout the organization. Hence, it allows users to see progress towards those goals. With a personalized layout, users can filter out information that is not relevant.

3. Focused identification of problems –

Dashboards help to identify negative trends for immediate action and improved performance. Thus, users can immediately see any problems. They can also drill down on charts and links to explore detailed information. As a result, they can determine root causes and correct negative trends.

4. Customizable –

We can tailor dashboards to meet the needs and expectations of individual users. Hence, helping people to present the most useful set of data. It enables each individual to see the level of detail required to complete their task and meet their objectives.

5. All-in-one –

Previously, users would spend a significant amount of time reviewing and analyzing various reports to conclude. This tool provides an overall situation report of the desired information at a glance helping stakeholders to make decisions.

6. Drill down into the details –

Having all-in-one accessibility does not mean that there are no details. Analysts design dashboards to allow users to drill down. They can do it by simply selecting the desired variable or object. This in turn will help in better outcomes.

7. Data visualization that is intuitive –

There is no need for complex and time-consuming training. Dashboards are simple to use for any user whether a trained employee or a novice. The graphic design makes it simple and easy to navigate through the information.

8. Mobile device accessible –

Most dashboard software can work with any mobile device. The goal is to get the most up-to-date information to anyone, anywhere, and at any time. Consequently, dashboards are easily accessible and used by any large or small business.

Business Dashboard Template

A dashboard template provides visual feedback on the performance of a business, department, project, or campaign. A dashboard is a great tool. It helps to quickly review key metrics as well as actions.

Including analysis and recommended actions in the dashboard can create a more useful report. Additionally, this can help close any communication gap between analysts and executives. 

Ultimately, a dashboard has the potential to save time and drive business growth. Let’s check out a few dashboard templates –

Given below is a financial dashboard that can have various uses, whether you’re tracking sales revenue, analyzing business growth, or making strategic decisions based on fiscal performance.

Another simple template provides marketing performance metrics at a glance to help you gauge the success of your campaigns. 

The majority of businesses use social media to market their products or services. A social media dashboard enables you to track your performance across multiple channels.

Business Dashboard Design

Dashboard design is a frequent request these days. Businesses dream about a simple view that presents all information and shows trends. Moreover, this view will guide them into a bright financial future. Let’s have a look at the dashboard design process –

1. Define the purpose of the dashboard –

The dashboard, like any other view of your product, serves a specific purpose. If you get this wrong, your subsequent efforts will be futile. There are several popular methods for categorizing dashboards based on their purpose (Analytical, Strategic, Operational, etc).

2. Select the appropriate data representation –

When we talk dashboards, we talk charts. Data representation is a complex task, especially since you want to display multiple types of information in a dashboard. Choosing the wrong chart type could confuse users or lead to data misinterpretation. 

3. Follow clear and consistent formatting –

Because the dashboard’s main goal is to convey the message at a glance, every detail is important. The most significant advantage of using a clear framework is data consistency. It will be easier to use those tools if your data is named the same way in each tool.

4. Establish the layout and flow –

The layout can assist you in achieving effective alignment and consistency with minimal effort, as well as creating a basic skeleton for your design. For example, grids are made up of “invisible” lines on which you can place your design elements. 

5. Use building blocks with a consistent structure –

After we’ve defined the grid, we can begin working with the various “widgets” that will hold the information, charts, and controls. Cards are simple to arrange. The most important aspect is that they can be almost infinitely manipulated. They are an excellent option for responsive design.

6. Increase your profit margins –

The area between elements in a design composition is a white space. Analysts also call it negative space. A copy will be difficult to read if the white space is not balanced. As a result, negative space is as important as any other typographic element.

7. Don’t hide information –

Because one of the primary goals of the dashboard is to surface information at a glance, relying on scrolling or a large number of interactions dilutes the entire purpose. Don’t tell the entire story; instead, summarise it and highlight only the most important details.

8. Personalization rather than customization –

Users expect the content they see to be relevant to their specific needs. Personalization and customization are methods for ensuring that users see what is important to them. Personalization is handled by the system, while customization is handled by the user.

9. Make data tables interactive –

When you need to display a lot of information for a large number of items, a data table is a great solution. There are numerous other advantages: it makes good use of space, allows for easy scalability, facilitates development, and users are generally comfortable working with grids.

10. Create the dashboard last –

As the dashboard is one of the most visually appealing views, it is frequently one of the first things which analysts design. I would advise the opposite. A dashboard is a consolidated view of everything else that displays key information from various parts of the application.

Create a Business Dashboard

You don’t have to be a designer to create a dashboard that communicates your key metrics and goals. Whether you’re just getting started or have an existing dashboard that needs revamping, our dashboard design checklist will help you get the desired results.

The first step in dashboard development is to clearly define what you want to accomplish. What is the function of your dashboard? What would you like them to do differently as a result of it? While designing your dashboard, keep the following points in mind:

Your dashboard does not have to be functional. The most important thing is that it’s engaging, so have some fun with it. It’s a good thing if, including recent tweets, a stream of new deals, or cat GIFs encourages your team to look at the board more frequently.

Dashboards require a hierarchy that one can easily scan. Use size and position to draw attention to the most important information while downplaying less frequently reviewed metrics. Consistent sizes and clear relationships between elements will help create visual flow.

Points to keep in mind while creating a dashboard

Include the target as well as your current progress if you’re working toward a goal. To make it easier to spot problems, you can also add warnings when a metric exceeds or recedes a certain threshold. It is critical to arrange the information on your dashboard logically.

If you use the same visualizations and layouts across groups, your dashboard will be much easier to read. It will also look much nicer, so resist the urge to use a line chart instead of a column chart just to spice things up.

The labels that describe each metric or chart are an important component of your dashboard. They should be self-explanatory to your audience. At the same time, keep them as short as possible to avoid cluttering your board and getting in the way of the data.

Headings can be used to reduce repetition as well. Assume you have the same metric for different time frames, such as signups today, signups this month, and so on. You don’t have to do it again if they’re all grouped under the heading “Signups.”

Don’t include more precision than necessary when displaying numbers. The last and most important piece of dashboard design advice is from us. Don’t just leave your dashboard after you’ve built it. Request feedback from your team. Take feedback from your team and use it to improve your dashboard.

Business Intelligence Dashboard

A business intelligence dashboard is a data visualization and analysis tool that displays key performance indicators (KPIs) and other important business metrics on a single screen. Dashboards are a standard feature of most BI software platforms and are widely used to deliver analytics data to business executives.

BI dashboards, also known as business dashboards and data dashboards, typically contain multiple data visualizations to provide business users with a consolidated view of relevant KPIs and trends for both operational decision-making and strategic planning. They are more engaging than static reports.

BI dashboard features and components

Data visualizations – Dashboards can be configured with various types of data visualizations to display various performance metrics, statistics, and other information. 

Data tables – BI dashboards may also include data tables that provide an instant snapshot of relevant data values. Color-coding is frequently used in tabular data.

Drill-down capabilities – By clicking on data visualization, users can get more information or view and analyze detailed data. 

Data filters – Another interactive feature, filters allow users to change the date and time ranges, geographic settings, and other parameters in data visualizations.

Text boxes and tooltips – Dashboards frequently include standalone text boxes and pop-up information tooltips that explain the data being visualized.

Benefits and limitations of BI dashboards

BI dashboards are increasingly regarded as critical tools for assisting enterprises in deriving valuable business insights from their growing data warehouses. Well-designed dashboards can provide numerous business benefits. They, for example –

Dashboards, however, present challenges for both BI teams and business users. The potential drawbacks of BI dashboards are caused by the cost of creating, implementing, and maintaining them rather than the design of the software itself. Some of the challenges include: 

BI Dashboard Best Practices For Dashboard Design

A dashboard, as the “new face of BI,” is an appealing feature for prospective buyers of business intelligence. Some people believe that a corporate dashboard has magical properties. Dashboards must be used wisely if they are to be effective. Let’s take a look at some best-practice tips for making the most of your dashboard investment.

1 Keep the dashboard focused and business-driven

Consider this: what competitive goals are you attempting to achieve with this tool? What specific processes are you attempting to improve? What critical information are you attempting to make more accessible, and why? Be as specific as possible. Hence, keep your dashboard focused.

2 Let the KPI be your friend

What’s a KPI? It’s a key performance indicator–a colour-coded dot or gauge that “indicates” whether your “key” items are “performing” well or not. consequently, set a threshold for the critical items. 

3 Make your dashboard actionable

A dashboard is as useful as the morning paper if you can’t act on what you see. It informs you but doesn’t allow you to do anything about what you read. Give yourself the authority to see the information, comprehend what it means in terms of your goals, and act on it.

4 Make dashboard software available to everyone

Even if we in the BI industry aren’t aware of it, it exists. That culture in which reporting and analysis are limited to a few techies or upper management. Thus, dashboard software should be accessible to all decision-makers to be useful.

Business Intelligence Sales Dashboard

Sales dashboards present sales data that is relevant and actionable, allowing sellers to make data-driven decisions quickly. Having the right sales dashboards that are based on current data saves time. Consequently, sellers can become obsessed. Hence, they contact the leads on the same day. They also discuss how close they are to meeting their quota, what talking points to use in a call, and other details.

Business Intelligence Financial Dashboard

Finance departments, arguably, face the most information management challenges of any department within an organization. We’ve discovered that many Finance teams across dozens of industry segments, including commercial, government, and non-profit, require more than just a business intelligence solution.

Business Intelligence Dashboard Software

There are several BI Dashboard Software available in the market. For example –

JIRA

Jira is the most popular software development tool among agile teams. It is used by teams to manage every stage of their workflow, from planning to shipping and releasing. Teams can also use native roadmaps to track the big picture by laddering up their work. Jira’s no-code automation engine saves time. As a result, it empowers teams by automating any task with a few clicks.

ZOHO ANALYTICS

Business intelligence and analytics platform that allows you to gain new insights from your diverse business data. It also enables you to quickly create and share powerful ad hoc reports and dashboards with no IT assistance. Data can be imported from a variety of sources, including files, web feeds, cloud, and on-premises databases, cloud storage, and so on.

CLUVIO

Cluvio is a modern data analytics platform. It allows you to create beautiful, interactive dashboards based on data in your database in minutes. Consequently, with startup-friendly pricing, it’s simple and inexpensive to share insights with everyone. Cluvio also supports powerful embedding, allowing you to easily add analytical features to any website.

SMARTSHEET

Smartsheet, an online work execution platform, enables businesses to plan, track, automate, and report on their tasks. It is used by over 80,000 brands for project and work management because of its simple interface, real-time Gantt charts, dashboards, and work automation features.

ASANA

Asana assists teams in organizing their work, from daily tasks to strategic initiatives. With Asana, teams are more confident, move faster, and accomplish more with less regardless of location. Hence, Asana is used by over 114,000 paying organizations and millions of organizations in 190 countries. Thus they easily manage product launches, marketing campaigns, and other tasks.

Business Intelligence Dashboard Tools

Leading Business Intelligence tools in 2022 are –  

Microsoft Power BI 

Microsoft’s BI suite includes interactive business intelligence capabilities that can be used to create dashboards and reports for marketers. Power BI, which was released in 2011, includes a cloud-based BI service. However, Microsoft released Power BI Embedded on its Azure cloud platform in 2016. Microsoft Power BI includes built-in AI, Excel integration, and pre-built data connectors.

Zoho Analytics

Zoho Analytics, a business intelligence suite developed by the Indian multinational technology company Zoho, was released in 2009. Enterprise reporting and dashboard creation are handled by the self-service BI and analytics solution. It also comes with an automated data sync feature, allowing businesses to analyze data from any source. 

Qlik

QlikView, a Qlik product, was released in 1994 as the company’s first eponymous product. Businesses can use it to create dashboards and guided analytics applications. Qlik is simple to use and allows marketers to consolidate, search, visualize, and analyze available data sources to generate actionable insights. 

Tableau

Tableau provides marketing dashboards to businesses to centralize all marketing data. They also provide actionable insights on social media presence, customer journey, website performance, and spending. With Tableau Desktop data exploration via an easy-to-use interface is also available. It also employs AI-driven statistical modeling using natural language.

HubSpot

HubSpot makes it simple to create custom reports by linking all CRM contact, company, and deal data, as well as marketing, sales, and service data. As a result, companies can use custom objects to import data into HubSpot and integrate their apps through the HubSpot App Marketplace. It also functions as an all-in-one inbound marketing software, attracting visitors through social media.

Thinklytics

Thinklytics is a cutting-edge business intelligence and data visualization platform. It enables you to create visualizations from data using machine learning. Also, it helps to make data-driven predictions. Consequently, businesses can reduce the additional cost, complexity, and security risks associated with multiple solutions. They can achieve it by using an analytics platform that scales from individuals to the entire organization.

How To Create A Business Intelligence Dashboard?

You can tell a meaningful story using BI dashboards. Dashboards graphically represent your data and efficiently communicate large data sets. Thinklayer is an enterprise business intelligence software that provides collaborative self-service reporting and analytics. With us, you can quickly and easily create high-value, interactive, and drillable dashboards.

We’ll begin by dragging and dropping a line chart onto the design area and binding it to the Retail data set that we already have. This chart will be used to compare revenue generated year over year. See how simple it is to create a chart from scratch by simply dragging and dropping the data fields, and how the chart title is generated automatically.

Easily Customize Your BI Dashboard

Conclusion

Business intelligence can assist companies in making better decisions by displaying current and historical data within the context of their business. Analysts can use BI dashboards to provide performance and competitor benchmarks, allowing the organization to run more smoothly and efficiently.
Thinklayer makes it possible to create highly interactive business dashboards. So, hurry up and get one made for your company.

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