Michael Alexander: Excel Dashboards & Reports For Dummies

But what if you can’t fit all the data on one sheet? First, review the measures on your dashboard and determine whether they really need to be there. Next, format your dashboard to use less space (format fonts, reduce white space, and adjust column and row widths). Finally, try adding interactivity to your dashboard, allowing users to dynamically change views to show only those measures that are relevant to them.

As I discuss earlier in this chapter, only measures that support the dashboard’s utility and purpose should be included on the dashboard. However, it should be said that just because all measures on your dashboard are significant, they may not always have the same level of importance. In other words, you’ll frequently want one component of your dashboard to stand out from the others.

Instead of using bright colors or exaggerated sizing differences, you can leverage location and placement to draw focus to the most important components on your dashboard.

Various studies have shown that readers have a natural tendency to focus on particular regions of a document. For example, researchers at the Poynter Institute’s Eyetrack III project have found that readers view various regions on a screen in a certain order, paying particular attention to specific regions onscreen. The researchers use the diagram in Figure 1-4 to illustrate what they call priority zones. Regions with the number 1 in the diagram seem to have high prominence, attracting the most attention for longer periods. Meanwhile, number 3 regions seem to have low prominence.

FIGURE 1-4:Studies show that users pay particular attention to the upper left and middle left of a document.

You can leverage these priority zones to promote or demote certain components based on significance. If one of the charts on your dashboard warrants special focus, you can simply place that chart in a region of prominence.

Note that surrounding colors, borders, fonts, and other formatting can affect the viewing patterns of your readers, de-emphasizing a previously high-prominence region.

There will undoubtedly be lots of numbers on your dashboards. Some of them will be in charts, and others will be in tables. Remember that every piece of information on your dashboard should have a reason for being there. It’s important that you format your numbers effectively to allow your users to understand the information they represent without confusion or hindrance. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when formatting the numbers on your dashboards and reports:

Always use commas to make numbers easier to read. For example, instead of 2345, show 2,345.

Use decimal places only if that level of precision is required. For instance, there’s rarely a benefit to showing the decimal places in a dollar amount, such as $123.45. In most cases, the $123 will suffice. Likewise in percentages, use only the minimum number of decimals required to represent the data effectively. For example, instead of 43.21%, you may be able to get away with 43%.

Use the dollar symbol only when you need to clarify that you’re referring to monetary values. If you have a chart or table that contains all revenue values, and there’s a label clearly stating this, you can save room and pixels by leaving out the dollar symbol.

Format very large numbers to the thousands or millions place. For instance, rather than display 16,906,714, you can format the number to read 17M.

In Chapter 5of this book, you explore how to leverage number-formatting tricks to enhance the readability of your dashboards and reports.

It’s common sense, but many people often fail to label items on dashboards effectively. If your manager looks at your dashboard and asks you, “What is this telling me?” you likely have labeling issues. Here are a few guidelines for effective labeling on your dashboards and reports:

Always include a timestamp on your reporting mechanisms. This minimizes confusion when distributing the same dashboard or report in monthly or weekly installments.

Always include some text indicating when the data for the measures was retrieved. In many cases, the timing of the data is a critical piece of information when analyzing a measure.

Use descriptive titles for each component on your dashboard. This allows users to clearly identify what they’re looking at. Be sure to avoid cryptic titles with lots of acronyms and symbols.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, it’s generally good practice to de-emphasize labels by formatting them with hues lighter than the ones used for your data. Lightly colored labels give your users the information they need without distracting them from the information displayed. Ideal colors for labels are colors commonly found in nature: soft grays, browns, blues, and greens.

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