Dashboard Psychology: Effective Feedback in Data Design

How the psychology of feedback explains, “What you measure you improve” (+6 examples of commitment and contrast in data design)

Hypothetical sales dashboards comparing different types of feedback. The left speaks to viewers’ commitment. The right highlights the contrast between users’ current and target states.

“What you measure, you improve.” You’ve heard this a million times. It sounds nice. It seems plausible. There’s a bunch of evidence supporting it.

But how does this actually work?

What is it about seeing numbers that nudges people to action? What separates an admirable, “actionable” dashboard from all the B.I. “data vomit?”

To understand effective, motivational data design, you need to understand the psychology of feedback. So let’s look at a few examples of (quantitative) feedback in information design.

• Tufte v.s. Robinhood. Two very different charts demonstrate the opposing forces of feedback.
• Indiegogo and Fundraising Progress. Is positive or negative feedback better? Depends on the audience.
• Dynamic Speedometers. How just two numbers create contrast (and safe drivers).
• Atom’s Meditation Forrest. Why counting things feels good.
• Withings’ Weight Graph. Balancing contrast and commitment for difficult health behavior interventions.