DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

WithapologiestoBillyJoel,inExcel,thedifferencesbetween buildingadashboardandcreatingstandardtable-driven analysesareasgreatasthedifferencesbetweenCalifornia andNewYork. Shallwecounttheways?
BUTFIRST,beforewecount,somedenitions… GetYourselfintoaDashboardStateofMind BestPracticesforExcelDashboards&Reports DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

DeningDashboardsandReports Itisn’tdifficulttousereport anddashboardinterchangeably. Infact,thelinebetweenreports anddashboardsfrequentlygets
muddied.Itiscommontosee reportsinaccuratelyreferredto asas“dashboards”justbecause theyincludeafewcharts. DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Reports •Adocumentthatcontainsdatausedforreading orviewing. •Assimpleasadatatableorascomplexasa subtotaledviewwithinteractivedrilldowns,similar
toExcel’sSubtotalorpivottablefunctionality. ••Oftenallowfortheenduserstoapplytheirown judgmentandanalysistothedata. DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

ExampleofaReport
ThisreportshowstheNationalParkovernightvisitorstatistics
byperiod;notethatitisn’tsteeringthereaderinanypredened
judgmentoranalysis.Itsimplypresentstheaggregateddata.
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

AndWhat’saDashboard?
Avisualinterfacethatprovidesat-a-glanceviewsintokey
measuresrelevanttoaparticularobjectiveorbusinessprocess.
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Dashboardshave3MAINATTRIBUTES They... 1Typicallygraphicalinnature,providingvisualizations thathelpfocusattentiononkeytrends,comparisons, andexceptions
2Oftendisplayonlydatathatarerelevanttothegoalof thedashboard 3Containpredenedconclusionsthatrelievetheenduser ffromperforminghisownanalysis(giventhatdashboards aredesignedwithaspecicpurposeorgoal) DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Here’sabestpracticesexample
ofadashboard.
Seethedifference?Good!You’reeasingintoaDashboardState
ofMind.Now,PREPAREFORGREATNESS!
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Simplify!
Howmanytimeshassomeonetoldyouthatyourreportslook“busy”?
StephenFew’smantra:“Simplify,Simplify,Simplify”
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

BeAnti-Clutter Don’tturnyourdashboardintoadatarepository! Admitit.Youincludeasmuch informationontoareportaspossible, primarilytoavoidbeingaskedfor
additionalinformation.Wealldoit. ButinthedashboaButinthedashboardstateofmind, youhaveto ghttheurgetoforce everypieceofdataavailableonto yourdashboards. DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Avoidusingcolorsorbackground llstopartition yourdashboards. De-emphasizeborders,backgrounds,andother elementsthatdenedashboardareas.
Avoidapplyingfancyeffectssuchasgradients, pattern lls,shadows,glows,softedges, andotherandotherformatting. Don’ttrytoenhanceyourdashboardswithclipart orpictures. KeepitClean Avoidthefancyformatting DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

LeanonLayout Uselayoutandplacementtodrawfocus Insteadofusingbrightcolorsor exaggeratedsizingdifferences, leveragelocationandplacement
todrawfocustothemostimportant componentsonyourdashboard. AAFASCINATINGANDTRUEFACT: Studiesshowthatuserspay particularattentiontothe upper-leftandmiddle-left ofadocument. DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Alwaysusecommastomakenumberseasiertoread. SHOWTHIS:2,345NOTTHAT:2345 Onlyusedecimalplacesifthatlevelofprecisionisrequired;there’s rarelyabenetforshowingthedecimalplacesinadollaramount. SHOWTHIS:$123NOTTHAT:$123.45
Likewiseinpercentages,useonlytheminimumnumber ofdecimalofdecimals. SHOWTHIS:43%NOTTHAT:43.21% Formatverylargenumberstothethousandsormillionsplace. SHOWTHIS:17MNOTTHAT:16,906,714 FormatNumbersEffectively ShowThis,NotThat DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Onlyusethedollarsymbolwhenyouneedtoclarifythat you’rereferringtomonetaryvalues.Ifyouhaveachart ortablethatcontainsallrevenuevalues,andthere’sa labelclearlystatingthis,youcansaveroomandpixels byleavingoutthedollarsymbol.
FormatNumbersEffectively ShowThis,NotThat DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Alwaysincludeatimestamponyourreportingmechanisms. Alwaysincludesometextindicatingwhenthedatafor themeasureswasretrieved. Usedescriptivetitlesforeachcomponentonyourdashboard. TightenTitles
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

Lightlycoloredlabelsgiveyouruserstheinformation theyneedwithoutdistractingthemfromtheinformation displayed. Idealcolorsforlabelsarecolorscommonlyfoundinnature: softgrays,browns,blues,andgreens.
Itmayseemcounterintuitive,but:de-emphasizelabelsbyformatting themtohueslighterthantheonesusedforyourdata. LabelEffectively DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

LearnMore
Pickupacopytoday
www.wiley.com/buy/9781118842249www.wiley.com/buy/9781118842249
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports