10 questions toincrease tableaudashboardadoption

Have you ever been involved in a project to develop adashboard that promises to answer everyone’squestions, takes months to develop, meets all

requirements...

...and then fails to be adopted?

It’s all too common that users don’thave a clear vision of what they want in

a dashboard.

Asking the following 10 questions will help you todesign your dashboard for your users' needs, and

clarify what those are.

What is ThePurposeof ThisDashboard?01

This should define the scope. All dashboards should have a singlepurpose. Don’t let scope creep destroy your project. If a user can’tsuccinctly describe what the dashboard will be used for in onesentence that probably aren’t going to use it.

What is The Purpose of This Dashboard?

What is TheName of TheDashboard?02

Naming the dashboard right up front will help to solidify thepurpose and begin the branding process. Try to be as specific asyou can in naming the dashboard. A generically named dashboardwill be ambiguous to users and may lead to confusion down theroad.

What is The Name of The Dashboard?

WhatDecisions WillYou MakeBased on ThisDashboard?03

Analytics is all about making better decisions. Just seeing results ina pretty picture does not add any real value. Understanding whatdecisions the dashboard will drive will help to inform you about thelayout (guide them through the decision process) and it will put thecustomer in the right mindset for the next questions.

What Decisions Will You Make Based onThis Dashboard?

What AreThe Top Measurements?04

A dashboard with 20 KPIs is destined to be too complicated andwill inevitably be too broad to provide real value. Limiting thenumber of metrics will aid in the simplicity of the design, as well asfocusing the visualizations to provide specific actionable insights.

What Are The Top Measurements

How Will YouSegment TheseMeasurements?05

The segmentation that the customer provides in this initial meetingare going to be the most important. As time goes by they may wantto add more, but inevitably this initial list informs you what they willbe using the most. Common examples are geographic regions,product types, and customers.

How Will You Segment TheseMeasurements?

Do You Need toSee Trending?06

The answer to this question is usually yes, but discussing this upfront will let you know, how much history you need to pull in. Youcan save yourself a lot of refactoring by knowing this information inadvance.

Do You Need to See Trending?

Do You HaveTargetsEstablished?07

Context around a number is critical to getting any meaning from it.A dashboard without targets needs to have some measure of goodor bad. Start this conversation with the customer now because itwill inevitably come up.

Do You Have Targets Established?

How Many UsersWill It Have?08

A dashboard with 500 users will likely have more high-level peoplethat need provide input and will have a broader scope. Keep inmind that a larger user base may indicate that it will be used formultiple purposes.

How Many Users Will It Have?

HowSophisticatedAre The Users?09

Knowing the technical abilities of the user base will help youdetermine the level of complexity. This will also give you anindication of how much training is needed. If you have a non-technical user base and a complicated dashboard adoption maysuffer.

How Sophisticated Are The Users?

Will This SunsetReporting ThatCurrentlyExists?10

Management loves this question. Being able to eliminate orconsolidate current reporting, especially if that reporting includesmanual effort to compile, can increase the value of the delivery. The#1 way to increase adoption is to remove alternatives.

Will This Sunset Reporting ThatCurrently Exists?

thank you!

Arkatechture is a full-stack dataconsultancy based in New England.

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