Get yourself into a dashboard state of mine with these best practices for Excel dashboards and reports. Content from Excel Dashboards & Reports For Dummies by Michael Alexander. Learn more: http://bit.ly/FDExcelDashboards and SalesForce.com For Dummies by Tom Wong, Liz Kao, Matt Kaufma. Learn more: http://bit.ly/ForDummiesSF

1. DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13. 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

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

15. Alwaysincludeatimestamponyourreportingmechanisms.
Alwaysincludesometextindicatingwhenthedatafor
themeasureswasretrieved.
Usedescriptivetitlesforeachcomponentonyourdashboard.
TightenTitles
DesignPrinciplesofExcelDashboards&Reports

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

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