Weeks are spent building a beautiful dashboard, full of charts — and three months later nobody opens it. It is one of the most common wastes in BI. The problem is almost never the data; it is the design. These are the five mistakes that kill a dashboard.
1. Trying to show everything
A dashboard is not a 40-page report squeezed onto one screen. When everything is important, nothing stands out. Each view should answer a few clear questions; the rest distracts. Fewer charts, more focus.
2. Answering no question
Many dashboards show numbers with no purpose. Before designing, ask: "which decision does this help make?" If there is no answer, the dashboard will be pretty and useless.
3. Wrong charts for the data
- Pie chart with 12 slices: nobody compares similar angles — use bars.
- Trends in tables: change over time calls for a line, not a grid of numbers.
- Too much color: when everything is colorful, color stops meaning anything.
4. Ignoring context
"Sales: €1.2M" says nothing on its own. Good or bad? Compared to target, last month, last year? A number without a reference does not inform — it just takes up space.
5. Not thinking about who will use it
An executive wants three indicators and a trend; an analyst wants detail and filters. The same dashboard for both fails both. Design for the real audience, not to impress everyone.
In practice
Before adding one more chart, remove one. Always ask which decision each view serves and for whom. A used dashboard — simple and clear — is worth more than ten impressive views nobody opens. Which of your dashboards would pass the "which decision does it help make?" test?
