In this blog, we explore some of the common mistakes made when introducing a KPI dashboard into a business.

However, there are countless examples of businesses producing ineffective dashboard displays that can overwhelm and confuse users. Dashboards should be about using data to tell a story of business performance. You should be able to glance at it and get the insights you need.

Sometimes the IT and finance experts who pull data together aren’t the most qualified to produce visually engaging dashboards, or perhaps they might just require some guidance with software dashboard implementation.

Information technology innovator and author Stephen Few has written several books on dashboard design. In this blog we delve into some of the main common dashboard software implementation mistakes that businesses make, partly based on Few’s research.

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Dashboard design mistakes to learn from

1. Breaking the one-screen rule

A user should able to look at a dashboard and see all of the critical information on one screen or page. The various elements should provide an overall picture of business performance at a glance. Spilling information over multiple pages and requiring a user to scroll down is an example of poor dashboard design.

People can only hold a few chunks of information at a time in short-term memory, so you should give them the crucial chunks on one screen.

For example, think of a car dashboard. You only need to take a quick look to know how fast you’re going, how much petrol is in the tank, and whether or not there’s anything wrong with the engine. Your KPI dashboard should operate in the same way.

2. Displaying excessive detail

A common mistake that businesses make when preparing a dashboard is cramming it full of excessive detail. Just because the data is available to be displayed, doesn’t mean it should be.

Few found that including precise details (such as decimal points) actually hindered staff as they spent more time getting their heads around the unimportant detail. Keep in mind that staff have limited time to digest the details, so keep them as simple as possible.

3. Data misinterpretation

One of the worst mistakes you can make with your dashboard is to leave data open to be misinterpreted. This can happen when the data is old, when different units are used to represent data, and when there isn’t a common way to talk about the same measure.

Check your dashboard display to make sure there is no room for misinterpretation and take the opportunity to explain acronyms or finance jargon that are unclear.

4. Choosing the wrong visual element

This is one of the most common mistakes businesses make - choosing a graph when a chart would have been more appropriate, or vice versa. Choosing the wrong visual element or media to display your data can cause a communication breakdown.

A pie chart with 40 different colours might be aesthetically pleasing, but it’s almost meaningless at a glance. It’s important to put some thought into how your data will be presented. Compare different charts and graphs before deciding on which communicates the data best.

5. Arranging data poorly

It’s a mistake to arrange the data and visual elements on a page or screen randomly. This can result in information clutter that has no logical sequence. The information should be arranged with a sequence in mind.

The most important data should be the most prominent, and data that should be compared ought to be arranged side-by-side. In the same way that this text draws your eye from left to right, a well-designed dashboard should draw your attention to the various elements in a logical way.

6. Too much colour and decoration

As most dashboard software comes equipped with a variety of visual elements, it can be tempting to indulge. However, you should not treat dashboard design as an abstract art piece by adorning it with decorations and superfluous colour. In this case, less is definitely more.

There is no need for over designing, adding textured backgrounds, shadows, or clip art. It’s a good idea to use some colour to highlight the important elements, but using too much colour just overwhelms the senses and detracts from the core purpose of a dashboard, which is to highlight the key performance indicators of your business.

7. Not involving advisory partners

Many businesses jump into dashboard design without consulting with their advisory partners. Advisory partners and boards are there to offer professional perspectives and skills and many of them will likely have had experience with KPI reporting and dashboard design.

Part of their role is to monitor, review, and challenge your business strategy, while asking management about the direction the business is heading and the risks and opportunities along the way. Involving your advisory partners in your dashboard design process may help to eliminate a lot of these common mistakes altogether.

Learn more about using KPIs to maximise your business performance in our free ebook!