Dashboards have become popular in recent years as uniquely powerful tools for communicating important information at a glance. Although dashboards are potentially powerful, this potential is rarely realized. The greatest display technology in the world won't solve this if you fail to use effective visual design. And if a dashboard fails to tell you precisely what you need to know in an instant, you'll never use it, even if it's filled with cute gauges, meters, and traffic lights. Don't let your investment in dashboard technology go to waste.

This book will teach you the visual design skills you need to create dashboards that communicate clearly, rapidly, and compellingly. Information Dashboard Design will explain how to:

• Avoid the thirteen mistakes common to dashboard design

• Provide viewers with the information they need quickly and clearly

• Apply what we now know about visual perception to the visual presentation of information

• Minimize distractions, cliches, and unnecessary embellishments that create confusion

• Organize business information to support meaning and usability

• Create an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience

• Maintain consistency of design to provide accurate interpretation

• Optimize the power of dashboard technology by pairing it with visual effectiveness

Stephen Few has over 20 years of experience as an IT innovator, consultant, and educator. As Principal of the consultancy Perceptual Edge, Stephen focuses on data visualization for analyzing and communicating quantitative business information. He provides consulting and training services, speaks frequently at conferences, and teaches in the MBA program at the University of California in Berkeley. He is also the author of Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten. Visit his website at www.perceptualedge.com.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 63 Ratings

Changed how I design dashboards - 2010-05-27
Reviewer Rating:
You can, as the adage goes, judge a book by its cover. Take, for example, the spartan cover of Stephen Few's Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data. Designed by the author himself, it sets the tone for a book dedicated not to a specific tool or performance management methodology, but instead improving how dashboards can most effectively present information.

Dashboards are currently the "in" thing to have. You're simply uncool if your organization doesn't have one. But let's face it. Dashboards are often designed and built by IT geeks (of which I am one). And like the wagon wheel coffee table in When Harry Met Sally... (Collector's Edition), many of our dashboard designs should be hauled out to the curb.

"Above all else, this is a book about communication", writes the author. And Stephen Few delivers, taking the reader on a journey through an unlucky "thirteen common mistakes in dashboard design" (see Chapter 3). Based on research on how humans process visual information (see Chapter 4: Tapping Into the Power of Visual Perception), he lays down principles that shun the "bling" features that look cool in software vendor demos but fall short in actual use. Who knew that sometimes the best way to present numbers is in a, sigh, table instead of a bunch of space hogging speedometers (see Chapter 6: Effective Dashboard Display Media).

In my role of consultant, I am frequently handed a cocktail napkin (less frequently a requirements document) that already lays out the design. So my job is more about following directions, not offering constructive guidance. However, this book has strongly influenced how I approach my work. Though not specifically about Xcelsius (although it is mentioned), I recommend this book and Xcelsius 2008 Dashboard Best Practices to all of my students. I believe its insights will change how you too can improve your dashboards by striving for the effective visual communication of data.

Excellent resource for dashboard designers - 2010-04-16
Reviewer Rating:
I highly recommend this book for anyone responsible for designing or developing a dashboard. It not only provides excellent recommendations on good dashboard design heuristics but also provides insight into how the brain processes information and the best way to exploit that to make your dashboard more intuitive and effective. Well done.

Tufte Territory - 2010-07-18
Reviewer Rating:
A beautiful and thoughtfully written book, but how much of its content is specific to dashboards, vs. visual display of information in general? I can only think of the discussion of "gauge plots" and their alternatives. Secondly, how does the book address dashboards being presented on a PC screen, vs. on paper? (An interactive multi-screen application vs. an arrangement of plots and tables on a print-out). Finally, as already noted, the book is not concerned with implementation: informing you how your dashboard should or should not look, it will not tell you how to actually create one.

Visual and to the point - 2010-05-06
Reviewer Rating:
A good introduction to dashboard design and the particular UI issues that attend this type of application.

While it doesn't go into alot of depth (many of the explanations can be found at length in Tufte's "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition") seeing principles applied in full-color visual examples adds a concreteness which is helpful.

The numerous visuals inflate the page count (in a good way) so it's a relatively quick read. While many of the suggestions may seem like common sense, it's amazing how many instances in real-life ignore them.

Key takeaways: simplicity, clarity, and the appropriate level of detail. Again, these may seem like common sense, but you really have to see to believe.

Good overview of dashboard visual design - 2010-05-05
Reviewer Rating:
This book provides sound advice for the design of dashboards. The chapter on common design mistakes is especially good for demonstrating why NOT to follow certain design practices. It is quite a fast read, and the illustrations are very helpful.

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