Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data by Stephen Few
This book is a helpful guide on how to create dashboards that don't just look good, but actually work well to help people understand data. Stephen Few states that the main goal of a dashboard is to communicate clearly. Every design choice should make the information easier to understand and give you insights, not hide them. He breaks down the steps of making a good dashboard, from understanding how people see things to picking the right ways to show data, and how to avoid common mistakes.
Chapter 1: Clarifying the Vision
This first chapter starts by explaining what a dashboard really is and its story: it's a visual display of the most important information needed to reach goals or objectives, all put together on one screen so to be seen quickly. Few explains why good dashboards are different from just a bunch of charts. He highlights their key role in watching performance, analyzing information, and communicating findings. He introduces the idea of checking information "at a glance," meaning a good dashboard should give you quick answers without needing you to dig deep or click around a lot.
Chapter 2: Variations in Dashboard Uses and Data
This chapter helps to understand that not all dashboards are the same. Few explains that dashboards can be put into different groups based on their main purpose. For example, some dashboards are for tracking operational tasks (like what's happening right now in a factory), others are for analyzing performance (looking at trends and deeper reasons for numbers), and some are for strategic goals (watching high-level progress towards long-term aims). Each type of dashboard typically deals with different kinds of data: some need real-time data, while others might use historical data or averages. Understanding these different types is key because it helps to know what kind of information should be on a dashboard and how often it needs to be updated.
Chapter 3: 13 Common Mistakes in Dashboard Design
This crucial chapter dives into a very common problem: designers making easily avoidable errors. Few identifies and explains 13 widespread mistakes that can ruin a dashboard's usefulness and clarity. These mistakes often include showing too much information (overloading the user), using poor visual designs (like confusing colors or messy layouts), not putting the most important information in the best spot, using wrong chart types for the data, or simply making the dashboard too hard to understand or use. He states that these errors are often not just cosmetic; they actively prevent users from quickly grasping insights and making good decisions. This chapter is a warning sign, guiding designers on what not to do, by detailing common pitfalls that undermine effective data communication and make dashboards less helpful than they should be.
Chapter 4: Tapping Into the Power of Visual Perception
Here, Few takes an interesting journey into how human eyes and brains naturally see and understand visual information, and how this knowledge should be used when designing dashboards. He talks about how brains instantly process certain visual things, like color, size, position, shape, and direction, without even trying. These are called "preattentive attributes". This chapter powerfully argues that by designing dashboards in a way that matches how the brains natural sees and understands visual data, displays that are easy to grasp right away, work very efficiently, and don't make the user think too hard can be created. It's about using the brain's natural ability to see things quickly to make the important data stand out clearly and make sense instantly, so users can get insights with very little effort.
Personal Conclusion
I really liked the history of the dashboard. It felt quite nostalgic to see those ugly late 90’s, early 2000’s designs again, with their pseudo 3D design. The usage of sharp edges, shadows and lighting were all the craze back in the days. Luckily it is over now. Compared to the current clean designs it feels so outdated. Also 3D pie charts were hard to read, even back then, but everyone used them anyway. The frequent usage of gauges to imitate automobile dashboards seems so old fashioned now. If I wanted to build an old school, retro dashboard, I now have ideas on how to design them.
I enjoyed the chapter about visual perception. It is quite interesting to learn about the brain and all its default settings so comprehend stuff, without us even realising. Definitely a chapter I keep in mind whilst designing new dashboards. As well as the common mistakes.