The Data Dashboard Dilema: How design-driven organizations will win the AI race.
The business world is drowning in data.
Every interaction, every click, every purchase, a constant stream of numbers is screaming for attention and analysis — and are the key to business success. To them every small percentage can mean millions. The problem? That they have TOO much of it, a lot more that they can usually manage.
Throughout the years we’ve seen how all kinds of organisational models use their data, but overall a very common way to use it is by building dashboards. However, over the years we’ve seen that some companies outshine others — these are the ones with design methodology in its core. But why? In short, design is a key path that connect resources with user problems which is key in every area but especially when it comes to data.
Today, we want to focus on the big corporate company. Within these we have the ones that are design-driven and the ones that are not. For the purpose of this article lets call them Type A: Shortcut Seekers and Type B: Design-driven.
Shortcut Seeker: Speed is their middle name.
These types of companies tend to work with generic tools available such as Microsoft Power BI, a common standardised dashboard system. These tools are strong, customizable, reliable and much quicker to implement — hypothetically the perfect solution. The reality? They tend to carry too much information, everyday use is slow, it’s complicated and not user-friendly and on top of that, it relies on third-parties to update new functionalities. This leads to always having to create short-term solutions for urgent unique needs resulting in things getting very complex, very fast.
Design-driven: Slow and steady wins the race.
These companies understand the value of design and that designing how this data is organised is crucial to making right decisions. This type of organisation normally invests in custom tools that in the long run save time and money. Ones that are perfectly tailored to their objetives and workflows, creating intuitive experiences for both employees and customers. It also means a higher initial investment in the short term, but they will have the capacity to customize their data more accurately and faster than competitors. In summary: efficiency will soar, errors will plummet, and you’ll be ahead.
We see this consistently when working with one of the largest textile companies in the world. For instance, because they understand what information they need from the different production factories, they are able to track patterns that help them prevent similar mistakes from happening over and over again. You can also see it in how they track sales by shop location that help them create the best possible offering by store. This system is applied through most departments.
So far, we’ve talked about platforms that manage data but now most tools are being tested to be powered with AI. This means AI is able to flag problems as they happen and will analyse them for you. This is why dashboard personalisation is key, as each person in their role has different problems to solve. This next generation of dashboards are even including recommended solutions for these potential problems. Teams will be a lot more proactive way and less reactive.
In this scenario, how will Design-driven and Shortcut Seekers companies react with the inclusion on AI in their data dashboards? And who has the advantage? The design-driven will win as their investment in customized tools has given them a deep understanding of their data, we are seeing them adapt seamlessly. But this doesn’t mean that the Shortcut Seeker won’t get there, they will but by the time they do, will everything had already changed?
This article was written in collaboration with Dani Ruiz & André Mendes.
