This blog is the second part of a short summary of key messages from the "Thirteen Common Mistakes in Dashboard Design" section of Stephen Few's book, Information Dashboard Design.
“Using poorly designed display media”:
The goal is to communicate clearly and straightforward, without distractions. Every component on the screen should have a purpose. If a chart or a visual element isn't making things clearer, it probably shouldn't be there.
Labeling the data directly instead of making people look for a legend or hover over all existing bars means you should just put the numbers right where they need to see them. It makes things so much faster when people are looking at the data.
The order of elements matters. You want to tell a story and guide the viewer's eyes from the most important information to the less critical stuff. A logical flow makes a dashboard so much easier to understand.
A couple of color can be great for highlighting something important, but a bunch of different shades just looks distracting and makes it harder to see what's going on. Therefore you should use colors sparingly and with a clear purpose.
And make sure to avoid 3D charts. It’s almost impossible to compare values correctly when they are all skewed in 3D space.
“Encoding quantitative data inaccurately”
When the y-axis doesn't start at zero, it can make small differences look way bigger than they actually are. It can affect the real story your are telling. Therefore, always double-check that your bar charts (and other similar visuals) have a zero-baseline for the y-axis. If the data are being inaccurately encoded, it can lead to inaccurate insights.
“Arranging the data poorly”
If certain data points need immediate attention, we need to make them stand out. You could use a bolder color, a larger font size, or a different kind of visual element to make them “special”. The goal is to make sure the key information are impossible to miss.
When comparing different data points, you should arrange and visually design them specifically for comparison. You can think of placing charts next to each other, using the same scales, and making sure the elements you want to compare are super easy to see side-by-side.
“Highlighting important data ineffectively or not at all”
When looking at a dashboard, the eye should be immediately drawn to the most important information. To achieve this, you should use visual cues like bolder color, larger text size or borders to highlight key metrics or data points. The goal is to effectively guide the user's focus without making them search for information themselves.
“Cluttering the display with useless decoration”
Useless decorations means extra graphics and elements that only provide visual interests and don’t support real purposes such as helping people understand the data. Using them for your dashboard only to make it “pretty” is unnecessary and only distracts viewers.
“Misusing or overusing color”
You should think carefully about choosing colors for your dashboard design. Colors can evoke emotion and highlight differences and important data points, which can be a huge advantage when you use them correctly. The goal is to use them with clear intention and in a reasonable amount.
“Designing an unattractive visual display”
An attractive dashboard is about being effective and without adding anything that distracts from data. It means no crazy backgrounds, no weird 3D effects, or a ton of different colors.Follow the design principle of simplicity and give every element on your dashboard a purpose. If it's not helping people understand the data better, it's probably hurting the design.
I hope you could find some key takeaways for yourself from this blog. See you on the next one!