The 7 questions to ask yourself before creating your dashboard
1 • What information is really important for my future business?
When creating a dashboard, it is necessary to focus on the essentials. We are always tempted to want to integrate as many KPIs, data and functionalities as possible into our new dashboard. However, it is essential to keep in mind that it will always be possible to imagine new iterations in the future and thus to implement new indicators once the first version is put online. Identify the KPIs necessary to achieve your short-term goals and integrate them into your project as a priority.
2 • What are my essential KPIs?
KPIs are the basis for dashboards. The end user must have in front of them the indicators that allow them to make fair and informed decisions. Without KPIs, the dashboard is struggling to perform at full capacity.
3 • What are the actions to be implemented?
The question of actions allows us to consider KPIs from a different angle. Instead of “Why,” we ask ourselves “How.” This approach makes it possible not to forget important KPIs in the construction of the interface. If you want to integrate a key KPI into the dashboard, ask yourself questions about its data source and its construction: what calculations will have to be implemented? Where is the data available? This should allow you to list all the actions necessary to create your dashboard.
4 • Who is responsible?
This question should of course be asked for any project, not only for creating a dashboard. However, the aim here is to identify both the persons responsible for each data set, and then the person or persons who will be responsible for maintaining the dashboard once it is put online. The objective is to be able to obtain quick answers to any question or anomaly concerning the data integrated into the dashboard.
5 • What are the specific goals?
This question is in line with the notion of hierarchy. Many managers have to deal with their KPIs but also those of their management. It is therefore essential to take into account the concept of sharing when creating the dashboard, especially when it is intended to be made available to several groups of people.
6 • What are the essential alerts?
The vast majority of KPIs may include an alert threshold. This threshold can be symbolized by a value not to be crossed or a ceiling for which it is important to be alerted. It is necessary to identify them and then define their form (notification, email alert, SMS, sound,...) before integrating them into the construction of the project.
7 • What source to get the right information?
It is the concept of data source that is highlighted here. The source of the data must be clearly identified if you want to estimate the feasibility of the dashboard. Once this source is defined, a subsidiary question must also arise, that of the method of retrieving this data: do you have at your disposal a raw file (CSV, XLS), an API feed, an online database? Answering these two questions will allow you to report on the feasibility of integrating certain KPIs, or even the possibility of creating the dashboard itself.
We recommend that you answer all of these 7 questions in writing. This will help you formalize your project and define the KPIs necessary for the success of your dashboard. Therefore, the project manager has every interest in defining his role in this set as well as the role of the users of the future dashboard. Once the objectives, the action plan and the indicators are formalized, all that remains is to produce your dashboard and of course: use it!
