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Introduction

Last updated 3/06/2024

What is a Dashboard?​

A dashboard is a way of displaying various types of data in the one place. It provides a graphical user interface that can give an overview of key information, metrics, and data points. It can act as a central location for monitioring, analyzing, and intrepreting data sets in a visual manner to easily digest the information. Dashboards can be a crucial part of your application as they provide a real-time overview of vital metrics to aid your decision making.

You can use dashboards for many reasons:

  • Marketing
  • Social Media
  • Financial
  • Sales
  • Web Analytics
  • Data Analytics
  • Logistic
  • Market Research
  • Project Management

And this is just to name a few.

In Five, you can add dynamic dashboards and collect data as well as display data, as any action in Five can be added to a dashboard. Multiple actions can be added on the one view to give richer insight by connecting and visualizing your data in minutes.

Five's Actions​

The following actions, are the recommended actions that you can add to a dashboard:

  • Charts
  • Data Views
  • Forms
  • Mail Merges
  • Processes
  • Reports

Best Practices for Designing Dashboards​

Use the tips below to help you create a well-designed dashboard to suit your organization requirements.

Know Your Audience and Purpose​

Think about who will be using your dashboard and understand their specific needs and goals. What will you be trying to say and who are you trying to say it to. For example, a sales department might need to compare sale conversion rates while management needs to track business performance across all departments in real-time.

Examine Your Data​

Ensure your data is reliable and up to date. Your data needs to be relevant to the goals of the users using your dashboard.

Select the Right Type of Charts​

Select the right type of charts for what you are trying to visually display. Gantt charts are useful for an overview of a project's activities and progress while line charts are useful for comparing lots of data all at once to show changes and trends over time.

Include Diverse Perspectives​

Combine historical data with current performance and future projections to provide a well-rounded view to aid decision making.

What Type of Actions Should You Add​

Think about what you want your users to do. Do you want to visually display data such as a chart or a report? Or maybe you require data from them and may need to add a form or process to your dashboard.

Maintain Your Dashboard​

Keep your data up to date in your application for this information to be reflective in your dashboard.