Dashboard Layout Re-Thought

Having studied data visualization and dashboard design for many years, I had been programmed to regard screen space in a very particular way.

You may have seen something similar to this picture before:

According to this, the upper left part of your screen (or dashboard) should always contain your most important data, or what you hope to emphasize.

Others describe the layout in terms of following the shape of the letter “Z”. The upper left is the most important, followed by the upper right, then the lower left and then the lower right accordingly.

With this in mind, I have always pushed my filters out to the right of my visualizations. This made sense thinking strictly about the approaches above.

Then someone challenged me on this, saying “Go out on the web and find me a site that has the filtering or navigation on the right side of the screen.”

Although there are plenty of exceptions, the majority of websites have these controls on the left side of the screen. Almost as if to say, “Here, Right Here, This is where you tell me what you want to see!!!”

Try it for yourself. Facebook.com, CNN.com, Gmail.com and even most internal corporate sites have the controls placed strategically on the left side of the screen, consuming at least a portion of the “Emphasized” quadrant.

So while approaches like the ones I had read over and over again are still very valuable in terms of where to place each visualization, User Experience should never be overlooked. For this reason, I have started designing most of my dashboards with the filters on the left.

Cheers, 

Kevin Taylor

Never Say Never! Except When...

Sorry “Beiber Nation! This is not a blog about a pop song. Your Welcome to the rest of the world.

A mentor of mine once warned me against using absolute terms like never and always.  In the world of visualization there are a lot of rules and principles, but rarely are there laws that are written in stone, never to be broken…Although some of the purists might wish to argue this point.

While there are some rules that really should be avoided in almost any situation, there are still typically exceptions. The main 2 arguments I tend to hear are :

1. The customer asked for it.
2. My boss asked for it.

Both of these are very valid arguments in the real world. For the former, I’d suggest designing as they have requested but also show them a better alternative. For the latter, good luck!

With that said, I want to raise one design rule/principle/guideline that should never, ever, ever, ever be broken…ever. Do NOT sort your data alphabetically when your intention is to show a trend over time.

The issue here may be obvious, but let’s look at how this can blind one’s analysis:

Looking at the chart below it’s quite difficult to determine what direction the data is trending…at best, it will take some time.

Not so hard in the chart below is it?

So if your boss demands the 1st chart, you might consider a different role.

I saw this recently in a dashboard and I do not believe it was by design…but it was there. So the lesson here is to check your work and when you’re done checking, check it again and they have someone else check it. Otherwise your credibility could be challenged.

In one of my 1^st blogs titled “Do You See What I See” , I suggest that as designers we should have others validate our visualizations. This situation might have been avoided had the designer heeded this advice.

I’d like to know if you all have any “Never-Break” rules? Please leave a comment.

Cheers,

Kevin Taylor

If Data is the New Bacon, How Can We Prepare?

It’s no secret that more and more and more data is becoming available. When I got started working with data in 1999, Terabyte was very rarely heard word. Today we’re speaking an entirely different language: Exabytes and Zettabytes and, before too long, Yottabytes (May the force be with you).

What there’s not necessarily a lot of…people with the skills and “know-how” manage the new landscape or to transform the data from data to information to insight.

"There is a shortage of big data experts," said Michael Rappa, director of advanced analytics and distinguished professor at North Carolina State University. "I don't see the gap narrowing. Universities aren't producing enough. We have 80 grads per year" with master's degrees in analytics. "We could be producing 800 per year and still not meet demand. With each class, the demand goes up."

The Advanced Analytics program referred to above is gaining a lot of attention from the corporate world and thus, admissions has become extremely competitive. However, there are alternatives.

One such alternative is the 1^st Associates Degree Program in Business Analytics. Offered at Wake Technical Community College, the program is now in its 2nd class which includes over 70 students, most of which already possess Bachelor and Master degrees in various fields.

In addition to the degree program, the school also offers 2 different  certifications (Business  Intelligence Certificate & Business Analyst Certificate). To meet the demands of the modern world, classes are offered both in-person as well as online.

If you or one of your colleagues is interested in the program, please don’t hesitate to ask questions and be sure to check out the program website below:

 http://www.waketech.edu/programs-courses/credit/business-analytics/program-information

Cheers, 

Kevin A. Taylor