Building Effective Dashboards For Technology

Management

ITMGMT500

Welcome and Agenda

• What is a Dashboard?• Guiding Principles• Key Measurement/KPI’s• Good and bad Dashboards• Why should you use Dashboards• Conclusion• Sources

What is a Dashboard?

“A Dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives. Key information is arranged on a single screen so it can be monitored at a glance.”

•

How can a Dashboard help me?

• “Trying to improve something when you don’t have a means of measurement and performance standards is like setting out on a cross-country trip in a car without a fuel gauge. You can make calculated guesses and assumptions based on experience and observations, but without hard data, conclusions are based on insufficient evidence.”

Mikel Harry, an author of a good book on “Six Sigma.”

Or as one Famous Philosopher said

“You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going because you might not get there.”– Yogi Berra

Even Dilbert Agrees

To Design Effective Dashboards

Keep them Simple

Think of your Car

Guiding Principles in Dashboard Design

1. Focus on the User2. Display the most important information3. Must be well organized on a single screen4. Can be monitored at a glance

Dashboard Best Practices

Key Dashboard Measurements/KPI’s

• Key Indictors– Project scope– Stability– Progress

• Requirements to spot trouble • Identify what you need to know for quick

decision making

For example – Monitor actual versus Planned

Good Dashboards

Is this Effective?

Why should you use Dashboards

• Measurement is important, and measuring the important things is most important. “Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like

measuring aircraft building progress by weight.” Bill Gates

• Managers who use effective measurements can spot trouble before a project slows to a death march.

• Dashboards can help you communicate project status.

Summary

Effective Dashboards can help you:– Measure key data– Provide quick insight to a project status– Direct your efforts to key areas– Help you communicate status to your team– Document efforts– Determine directional change“You can observe a lot just by watching.” Yogi Bera

Effective Use of Dashboards

Thank you for your participation –Any Questions?

Sources

• Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few

• Noteix/Dashboard – “Dashboard Development and Deployment A Methodology for Success

• Telelogic Dashboard - IBM