What is a dashboard: concept, purpose, types, installation and configuration of the program

Without a dashboard, an airplane will not fly and a car will move. Likewise in business: without navigation and analysis of results, never become successful. In order to understand what a dashboard is in the modern world and why it should be used, it is necessary to consider the basics. Dashboard is an electronic interface that collects and displays data from several sources, such as databases, locally accepting files and using web services. Dashboards allow you to track business performance by displaying time trends, available data and information in real time.

Definition of a digital panel

Definition of a digital panel




A digital control panel is a tool for monitoring information that is used to track key performance indicators and other important data related to a business, department or a specific process. That's what, in a simple sense, means what a dashboard is.

Thanks to the use of data visualization, dashboards simplify the creation of complex information sets, allowing users to understand at a glance the current productivity and effectiveness of the process.





There are usually four types of presentation media:

  • dashboards;
  • visual analysis tools;
  • evaluation cards;
  • reports.

They help people identify correlations, trends, deviations (anomalies), patterns and conditions of doing business, and have their own unique attributes.

Thus, the instrument panel is a visual display of valuable information required to achieve the program goals located on one screen for visualizing information.

Visual tools

You cannot correctly understand what a dashboard is without looking at the panel's working tools. They allow you to select different date ranges and types of analyzes or move on to more detailed data, showing them in panels.

Here are the main features of the visual analysis tool:

  1. All visualizations are viewed simultaneously on one computer screen.
  2. Scroll to see all the information on a small screen.
  3. The dashboard setting is used to search for correlations, trends, emissions (anomalies), models and business conditions in the data.
  4. Controlled performance indicators.
  5. Interactivity, in the form of filtering and reversal.
  6. Automatically update data without user assistance. The frequency of updates depends on the organization and purpose. The most effective dashboards update data daily.

Dashboard Data

Dashboard Data




They are usually well-known data and are often analyzed in real time. This helps determine performance indicators for use in dashboards. They are referenced by tech-savvy users who know what a dashboard is, as well as analysts and researchers.





Data Types:

  1. Dashboards and dashboards are often used interchangeably.
  2. A scoring map is a tabular visualization of tasks and their respective goals with visual indicators to see the result at a glance.
  3. The evaluation card contains data and a visual indication of the status. For example, a circular traffic light in each line: green for good, yellow for warning and red is dangerous. It can be used in the dashboard, but it should not be interactive, contain scroll bars, but may contain columns that show trends in problem lines.
  4. Reports contain detailed data in a tabular format and usually display only numbers and text, but can also use visualization to highlight key data.

Dashboard input contains visualization, but is used only for registered users. The panel is optimized for printing and exporting to a digital document format, such as Word or PDF, and is aimed at people who prefer to watch data, for example, lawyers and accountants who are more comfortable working with unprocessed databases in a visual form.

Dashboard Design Requirements

Dashboard Design Requirements




A well-designed toolbar should provide the necessary requirements, then it can help identify key problems and speed up the decision-making process for users. Before you create a layout, after learning what a dashboard is, you also need to familiarize yourself with the experience of experienced users.

Best practices for creating effective panels:

  1. Use the most viewed spot on the monitor screen. Most viewers view web content starting at the top left of the web page. Therefore, they place the most important element in this part of the toolbar.
  2. Monitor parameter. Create a visualization with a size that will be fully visible on the screen. And you can also set the “Size” parameter to “Automatic”, which allows you to automatically adjust the image size of the table depending on the diameter of the screen. If the user creates a panel of 1300 x 700 pixels, the size on smaller displays may change, and sometimes this will result in scroll bars. The range selection function on the panel helps to avoid this.
  3. Create special device mockups so that on tablets and phones the panel contains one set of views and objects.
  4. Limit the number of views. In general, it is a good idea to limit them to just two or three units. If the user adds too many views, visual clarity and the big picture may be lost in the details. It may also interfere with the operation of the toolbar after its publication.
  5. Provide the required security. A dashboard can include not only views, but also objects, including embedded web pages. If the user includes web page objects in his toolbar, you should consider: using HTTPS (https: //) in the URL, installing plugins on the computer, enabling JavaScript support on the web, blocking pop-ups.
  6. Set a filter for different types of data.
  7. Mount the highlight and marker on the toolbar to customize the selection of data types.
  8. Save time by setting a short menu that helps you quickly complete basic tasks.
  9. Concealment of information and sheets, which can facilitate navigation in the workbook.

Create Toolbar

Create Toolbar




Consider a typical example of creating a dashboard. Once one or more layouts are created, you can drag them to the toolbar, adding interactivity and much more.

The procedure for creating a dashboard leader:

  1. Open the dashboard.
  2. Add views.
  3. Objects
  4. Add interactivity.
  5. Editing a web dashboard (internet only).
  6. After creating the toolbar, you can add views and objects.
  7. To open a new control panel sheet and start creating a control panel, click the “New panel” icon at the bottom of the book, the “Panel” appears on the left and shows its sheets.
  8. On the tableau toolbar of the dashboard, the “Use as filter” parameter can be applied so that one of the views appears as a filter in all other views on the control panel.
  9. To do this, select the filter button to edit the control panel with device layouts, load the dashboard into Desktop and make changes.

Power BI Toolbar

Power BI Toolbar




The Power BI Control Panel can be a single page, known as a canvas. It is used as a visualization to inform the history of the process. Due to the limitations of at least one page, a well-designed toolbar contains extremely important components of this story, called tiles.

This tile area module is connected to the report toolbar. Visualization on the control panel demonstrates the report, relying on one set of information, and allows you to get sets of information from basic reports.

BI Table Work Tabs

There are 3 tabs in the corner on the BI desktop interface. The first of them is visible by default, uses the area for reporting. The second tab of information is used to check the data sets. The latter provides the relationship between completely different variables in a more complex set of formations, if they are well defined.

You can simply import datasets into Power BI by clicking on the Get Info tab. In the right corner of the screen there is a visualization department. All of its various types, which are indicated in this section, can be customized according to user requirements. In the tab “Visualizations” there is a department “Fields”, which provides all data fields.

Interface Basics:

  1. Menu section in the BI toolbar. After importing an information set, the interface may offer a choice for loading or editing information.
  2. The navigator can travel forward and visualize information.
  3. The drag and drop process.
Power BI Toolbar




The program has templates for examples of power bi dashboards.

Xbox 360 System Software

Dashboard New Xbox Experience (NXE)




It is updatable software, located in a 16 megabyte file system and has access to 32 MB of its memory. Updates can be downloaded from Xbox Live directly on the Xbox 360 and installed afterwards. Microsoft also provided the ability to download freeboot dashboard system software updates to a PC and then to the system.

The Xbox 360 gaming system allows users to download applications that add to the functionality of the toolbar. Most applications required that a user be signed into a valid Xbox Live Gold account in order to use the features advertised for this application.

In update 2.0.16756.0, most applications do not require an Xbox Live Gold subscription to access them, although the application may have its own subscription in order to be able to use it. With the exception of a few early applications, Microsoft has added partners to develop them for the Xbox 360 system since the Dashboard New Xbox Experience (NXE) update in 2008.

Following the success of the Xbox One preview program, launched in 2014, in March 2015, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 preview program for the public.

Free software

Business Intelligence Software




Internet users have compiled a list of the best free dashboard programs to simplify beginner’s business intelligence initiatives.

Some best practices for creating dashboards:

  1. Arcadia With this program, all data can be run in Hadoop. The advantage is that users will have a control panel that works at constantly improving Hadoop speed. Arcadia comes in Mac and PC versions.
  2. Bittle. The free Bittle plan has no expiration date. The number of KPI key performance indicators and dashboards is not limited. KPI data can be the difference between success and failure. And they also allow you to select two connectors (data types for connecting from three file options: csv, Excel or google spreadsheet files) and up to 50 views per month. Chat and support are also part of the package, so if the user wants to start creating dashboards, this additional help can make Bittle a great option.
  3. ChartBlocks The basic version is free and gives up to 30 active charts, which are available for viewing in general. And can also export graphics like .png image files. ClicData Personal is only suitable for one user, it is a flexible solution that benefits any SMB. You can download Excel or text files and get one gigabyte of memory per month. And also the user receives ten data updates per month.
  4. Cyfe has powerful features: there are many different data sources with which it is synchronized. It maintains this level of depth in its other functions, which is not like a free program. Along with the usual functionalities: monitoring KPI, monitoring performance over time, storing all useful information in one convenient place, it has some interesting additions, such as the ability to send e-mails and “TV Mode”, which automatically rotates between panels.

Huawei dashboard performance

Huawei dashboard performance




The Dashboard tab displays information about the work, so setting up the panel for users is not difficult. The Dashboard tab displays various status windows.

Device Information displays NGFW indicators and status interface. The system resource window displays the icons of the processor, memory, Hda1 and disk usage. The System Information window displays basic information, including the serial number, software version, and operational status.

Traffic History Window

It displays information about the data: the transmitted interface flows within the specified huawei periods. The License Information window displays the status of the license and the amount of available resources.

The Alarm Information window displays alarms. The latest alarm is displayed at the top. In the list of system logs, you can check the latest actions of the device. All of them are ordered by generation time with the last log located at the top. In this window, you can check the latest device errors and the percentage of disk space used to store each type of log.

The visual control window shows how to use it. On the “Dashboard” tab, various status windows are displayed and you can specify which ones to display or move to the desired position and set the interval for updating the window. If the “Device Information” button in the navigation list is gray, the “Device Information” window is already displayed on the “Dashboard” tab.

Toolbar in Excel

Excel dashboards are powerful tools for visualizing information and can dramatically improve the way they are used. The order of creation with Dashboard in Excel:

  1. Perform structure planning.
  2. Prepare data for input.
  3. Bring data to the Excel standard using their sources.
  4. Prepare, consolidate, clean and standardize the source data.
  5. Use effective data analysis methods.
  6. Create an interactive toolbar.

Dashboard templates in Excel are excellent for a variety of tasks and not only to show the achievements of the company, they can be found in sufficient quantities on the Internet, selecting parameters for custom tasks.

For example, a call center performance template.

Call Center Performance Template




It has an unusual arrangement and design, the creators tried to use the opportunities provided by infographics, which is popular today. This client analytics template is nothing more than a statement of client tasks from a relatively large Excel data source.




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