Too often dashboards focus on what has happened in a business (e.g. revenue, contracts signed, etc). These are referred to as output metrics or results. Input metrics, or metrics that drive those results, are much more useful to learn about the business1.
- Dashboards are incentive design and also a source of power struggle (it frames the focus of the business)1
- Dashboards need to provide context and differentiate from valuable information to make decisions2.
- Good dashboards show performance against goals in the simplest possible terms. It âdraws the shortest possible line from âI see itâ to âI get it.ââ. A good dashboard is opinionated and defines terms3.
1. Critchlow, T. Some notes on executive dashboards. (2022).
2. Butler, C. Building dashboards is cowardly. (2017).
3. Bartholomew, A. Good dashboard, bad dashboard.