Tiny Tactics
How to Get Out of Designing Another #@!%ing Dashboard
Disclaimer: If you enjoy dashboards, this article isn’t for you.
If you are like the rest of us UX designers who have often been quoted, “It’s the interaction that matters more than the visuals,” then this article is for you.
This is for the other 99% who are more interested in getting out of designing that dashboard your product manager so desperately wants.
But first, why the hell do people want dashboards in the first place?
They are the most literal representation of BIG data possible
Remember when the term “big data” came on the scene? Personally, I thought it died, but lo, a quick Google Trends search shows it’s alive and well.
What companies are still figuring out is how to make sense of all the GIGANTIC data they are collecting. The best ones are doing amazing things with machine learning or bots, but by and large, it’s still a field just hitting its stride. And while designers (like myself) like to whine that dashboards aren’t useful, they do give a nice insight into data that was previously opaque to most users.
They look sexy
I am the first to admit, good UI does not always mean “sexy”. Even in the days of skeuo-mania, the best interfaces were visually simple.
So when you’re designing a new product, it’s hard to elevate your work to become screen-grab ready (incidentally I think this is what has driven the trend to more illustrations and blockframes in product marketing sites).
They are the showroom for products
It’s really easy to use a dashboard to convey a lot of functionality. You can put little graphs, some lists with people on them to show collaboration, a mini-calendar. It’s like the first floor of IKEA.
But let’s be honest. This is a safe space here. Dashboards terrify most of us. All the colors and spacing, and constant bombardment of mortifying Dribbble shots from designers halfway across the world. It’s too much. Never fear, here are some tactics to help you get out of designing that next dashboard.
1. Punt it to developers
This is the least ethical of the approaches. But, it can be helpful to all parties involved. Whatever you design by way of graphs is going to have to be built, and usually, developers will be using a kit or library. So all that Dribbble nonsense you want to do will be cut immediately when you get to scoping. Instead, work with developers on having them build the graphs and charts live in code. You can advise on sizing and colors. The important stuff.
2. Do some research and establish key use cases
I’m sure you read that and got offended because what self-respecting designer hasn’t already done this? Again, this is a safe space. All honesty here.
From time to time, even the best of us forgets The Fundamentals. Dashboards are typically born out of development or marketing which means they often haven’t been properly researched. Don’t believe me? Go interview 6 users and ask what they are trying to achieve, what their goals are, and what are their biggest challenges. I guarantee none of them will say, “I just need to view more graphs and charts.”
3. Design an email report
Your main objective when asked to design a dashboard is to deliver some sort of metrics to some sort of important person. You can easily get out of this by (rightly) convincing your stakeholder that important people shouldn’t have to login to an app. But you need a better option.
Enter the email report. It has stats but it’s easier to design and much more effective because it’s delivered to an important person’s inbox rather than relying someone logging into a URL they will definitely ask a subordinate for.
4. Design a Slack bot!
Speaking of Slack, an even simpler way to deliver data to a user is to use the plethora of messaging platforms people are already using. I get most of my analytics delivered through various slack channels. It’s a lot easier, and has a bit more novelty than a graph-heavy dashboard that nobody will visit.
5. Use UX Power Tools
Shameless plug time, but you’ve made it this far so I owe you one method that basically amounts to doing no work but still delivers a dashboard. Our kit comes with a bunch of pre-made charts. Just plug in some colors, and change some chart labels. Voila, a brilliant, CEO-worthy dashboard.
When I’m not helping you get out of doing your job, I’m working on Sketch design tools at UX Power Tools to make you a better, more efficient designer.
