5Q’s to Design Great Enterprise Dashboards

Dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives; consolidated and arranged on a single screen so the information can be monitored at a glance — Stephen Few

Designing functional dashboards for each persona that uses them is critical — for the user consuming information and for the organization that depends on this user reaching his/her objectives.

When using a dashboard,

Users must cognitively make sense of the graphical representation used to bring the data to life

and decode the data being represented

and quickly uncover the most important information to her

So, then; how do we design dashboards that are easy for the users and effective for their organization?

The 5 Q’s

We start by answering these 5 questions, ideally before the design starts.

1. Who is the user?
2. What are they responsible for?
3. What are the most important things for them to know?
4. What do they need to take action on?
5. What will cause a problem for them if it does not go well?

A good way to uncover answers to these questions is through a collaborative ideation/solutioning workshop that involves various stakeholders, designers, the research team, and importantly, the user.

The answers to these questions should be a good starting point for the experienced team to design the initial set of wireframes.

There you have it! Looking at the dashboard design through the lens of these questions allows us to truly step into the user’s shoes and design products that help people do their job better.

Thanks for reading!

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