Dashboard Design Best Practices

Follow these best practices to create consistent, user-friendly dashboards.

  • Consider your audiences when building dashboards.

  • Use Summary reports that highlight areas of concern for high-level users.

  • Use Team reports for mid-level users who manage teams.

  • Use work queues, and tasks to frequently performed tasks for individual users.

  • Ensure that the same color palette is applied across all charts and reports to maintain a consistent and professional look. This improves user experience and helps users in quickly understanding and interpreting the data.

    Different colors across the dashboard may reduce the overall impact of the dashboard.

  • Group related reports together as this allows users to find related information more efficiently and compare data across similar contexts.

    Unrelated reports grouped together can result in an unorganized dashboard thereby reducing user experience.

  • Place the links at the top of the dashboard, preferably the top left corner as this improves user experience by providing easy and predictable access to different sections and functionalities.

    With the placement of links at the bottom of the dashboard, users may miss the important links, leading to decreased user satisfaction.

  • Add 6 to 12 widgets per dashboard to avoid overcrowding. Overcrowded dashboards can overwhelm users, making it difficult to focus on important data.

    Limited number of widgets allows users to focus on key metrics and insights that provide the most value, ensuring the dashboard remains clear and actionable.

    With Multiple chart widget it is recommended to add up to 15 reports on a widget.

  • Adding a legend to a chart depends on the purpose of the dashboard. For interactive dashboards, it is advisable to include a legend, as it can also function as a filter. However, for dashboards intended to be exported, adding a legend may not be necessary. Additionally, the legend should be positioned at the bottom of the chart.

  • Archer dashboards provide default recommended widget sizes for each chart type. These recommendations ensure a balance between visibility and usability, making sure each widget is both readable and useful.