Table of content

Introduction: What are data dashboards??

1.Understanding the target audience needs

2.Visual Designs

3.Narrative

Conclusion

Introduction:

As data analysts, scientists or even tech savvy people, dashboards can be a very effective way to communicate insights and that ability to effectively communicate a story or insights through dashboard is a highly sought after skill and a challenge that we all face. Now, before i get into the nitty gritty of how to captivate your audience and compel them with your dashboards some of you who aren’t in the field of data analysis or business analysis might be wondering what are dashboards??? well don’t worry I got you covered ,Dashboards are graphical or visual interfaces that display important information and contains real time or near real time over view of key metrics and performance indicators ,it may consists of graphs, charts ,tables and sometimes widget ,so the next time you hear dashboards think visualization ,Data, insights. And so here are some ways you can tell compelling stories with your dashboards:

Understanding the audience needs :One of the best way to do this is by having a well-designed dashboard , now don’t get me wrong you could create a very beautiful dashboard but the story behind the dashboard might still not be communicated properly ,whether you’re using excel, power BI or other data analysis or visualization tool dashboards can provide a very appealing and interactive way to present a very complex matter in a clear and brief way and like I said before the way the story of a dashboard can be effectively communicated depends solely on the designer of the dashboard or the person telling the story who I like to call the story teller, the story teller need to be able to understand the target audience needs and tailor the narrative of the dashboard properly and accordingly , you need to know what the target audience needs to know? What decisions can be taken from the dashboard?? With this in mind you the story teller can be able to structure your dashboard in a way that provides valuable insights.

Visual Designs: Visual designs can be a very important factor in capturing attention, you have to choose colors, fonts, and layout that aligns with the brand, you could also put charts, graphs, and other visual elements that shows patterns, trends or comparison within the data while also ensuring readability, by leveraging on this visualization tools you can turn dry statistics into a dashboard that grabs attention and provides actionable insights.

Narrative: Structure your data in a logical sequence begin with an introduction, an overview and let it be followed by details and conclusions that build upon each other ,go beyond the numbers and the charts and provide meaningful context by explaining what the data means and why it matters and find insight that supports your narrative .

And finally ,the next time you want to create a dashboard don’t just make it beautiful go beyond that ,allow the users to drill down into the specific datasets for deeper analysis this would increase user engagement and also empowers users to derive their own meaningful conclusions from the data ,by following this principles of effective story telling through dashboards i.e understanding your audience needs, proper visual designs and providing narrative , context and interactivity, you would create a compelling dashboard that can turn raw data into actionable insight which could be used for proper decision making. So don’t let the perceived complexity of dashboards deter you from telling a compelling story, with the right tools, mindset and techniques you can leave a lasting impression on your audience.