Why Does Your Dashboard Deserve a Makeover?

Within the realm of information visualization, there is a well-known saying {that a} image is value a thousand phrases, and so is knowledge. However what if these thousand phrases could possibly be distilled into just a few fastidiously chosen ones to amplify the story your knowledge is aiming to inform?

On the planet of dashboards, the place each pixel is treasured actual property, the search to condense the essence of huge datasets right into a single display screen typically leaves us with dense layouts filled with nothing however charts and numbers. It is easy to neglect that generally, inserting a splash of wealthy context can remodel this complicated mosaic right into a compelling narrative, enhancing not simply the readability however the very understanding of the dashboard for its customers.

The Fundamentals of Markdown: A Fast and Enjoyable Primer

Enter the unassuming hero of our story: markdown. With its easy syntax and highly effective capabilities, markdown is about to show your dashboard from a mere assortment of graphs into a fascinating, informative storybook. Let’s embark on a journey to discover how having enjoyable with markdown in your dashboard can elevate your knowledge storytelling to new heights.

All that is obtainable as a Wealthy Textual content widget, which supplies you management over the place in your dashboard the content material ought to be displayed.

What are you able to do with this new characteristic?

GoodData at present helps the fundamental markdown syntax, often known as CommonMark. Sooner or later, we’ll develop the supported syntax to provide our dashboard builders much more management, however even with this core performance, you possibly can introduce just a few important enhancements to your dashboards.

You’ll be able to add extra textual content to your dashboards with paragraphs and headings (a number of ranges). This was already obtainable in GoodData earlier than the introduction of the Wealthy Textual content widget, however putting your textual content right into a widget can provide you extra flexibility in its placement.

You may also format components of textual content utilizing daring, italic, or underscore. That is an intuitive solution to spotlight info that helps customers rapidly discover the main points they want. You’ll be able to even format total paragraphs utilizing block quotes or code blocks. Code blocks can describe any MAQL question that calculates an vital metric that you just need to talk again to dashboard customers.

One other helpful characteristic is to make use of the horizontal line as a divider. This may be particularly helpful when you’ve an extended dashboard or a dashboard that makes use of a extra complicated structure.

Final however not least, you should use markdown syntax to embed pictures, flip textual content into hyperlinks, or embody lists or bullet factors, supplying you with lots of choices to construction your info in a approach that’s helpful to your total storytelling method.

You’ll be able to learn the main points about every of the syntax choices within the public documentation.

Reworking Knowledge into Tales: The Energy of Wealthy Textual content

Now, let us take a look at a sensible instance.

I’ll try to enhance the readability of the next dashboard. Utilizing this dataset, we have constructed some insights trying into what books are normally rated among the many high 100 books over the previous 40 years. Already at first look, you’ll discover that it is inconceivable to derive some key findings with out actually zooming into the main points.

So let’s examine what we are able to do to enhance it.

Step 1: Begin with context

It is good follow to supply visible clues to assist customers perceive the information instantly. We will add the Goodreads emblem along with a brief description all the way in which to the highest. With out dropping an excessive amount of house, we are able to present fast context for the remainder of the dashboard.

Since fundamental markdown language would not enable many formatting choices, I’ve entered two textual content widgets subsequent to one another: one with the brand and one with a brief description and a hyperlink to the Goodreads website.

Step 2: Spotlight key findings

There are lots of methods to method this. We might add a textual widget and describe key findings in bullet factors. In my instance, I opted for a special technique. There are lots of charts on the dashboard, so I wished to interrupt the circulation by fastidiously putting a visualization representing the important thing findings. With this method, I do not need to drive the customers to review the chart to see the highest merchandise rapidly.

I used the same method for the “Genres” part, however this time, I additionally included a second widget to explain the findings. I selected this method as a result of the completely different charts offered completely different outcomes, and I wished to verify the illustration helped not simply visually but in addition with understanding.

Within the case of particular books, the picture of the e book is sort of self-explanatory. Right here, I felt like extra context is required. Particularly since comedian books and fantasy have the same visualization, I felt a short description might assist make clear the context.

Admittedly, this method has some limits with the present implementation. The wealthy textual content widget, in its present type, would not will let you use dynamic values. This isn’t wanted for this dashboard, which is not prone to obtain new knowledge fairly often. In different real-world use circumstances, nonetheless, this is probably not the case.

With picture URLs saved within the database, changing the values dynamically primarily based on the present execution outcomes would additional scale back the necessity to preserve the wealthy content material whereas nonetheless having the ability to present related info. We’ll certainly add this feature in future releases.

Step 3: Abstract or helpful info

It is potential that you just need to add some details about your dashboard. I imagine it is best to try this on the finish. In my instance, I wished so as to add details about the dataset, an summary of wealthy textual content options I used for this explicit dashboard, and lastly, an evidence for the metric I used for choosing the top-scoring genres, because it features a situation that isn’t communicated wherever else.

A Wealthy Textual content widget can also be useful right here in order that I can construction all this info in a really concise approach.

Ideas and Tips: Markdown Mastery for Dashboard Wizards

On this part, I wish to point out just a few ideas to make sure your wealthy content material is built-in nicely into your dashboard.

Tip 1: Preserve simplicity and consistency

Including wealthy textual content can introduce extra colours and design components (fonts, pictures, or iconography). It is best to at all times attempt to align these visible components with the remainder of the dashboard and preserve them to an inexpensive minimal. You must also use pictures sparingly and ensure they don’t overpower the precious info that’s included within the knowledge visualizations. Do not forget that the aim of wealthy content material is to counterpoint the consumer expertise, to not overpower it.

In case your dashboard is embedded in a mum or dad utility, that is one other design context it is best to take into account when including wealthy content material to your dashboards.

Tip 2: Optimize picture sizes and codecs

Dashboard efficiency is one other fastidiously maintained end result. When inserting wealthy content material and visuals, it is vital to maintain this facet in thoughts, particularly in case your dashboard is meant for sensible gadgets or distributed to areas with typically poorer community connections.

Tip 3: Much less is extra

If what’s written above is just not clear, it is best to use pictures and wealthy textual content formatting solely once they ship the specified worth to the reader. It is very straightforward to go overboard, and the result’s the precise reverse of the meant state—a extra chaotic dashboard that makes it tougher to discover.

Conclusion: Your Dashboard, Your Story

All in all, the wealthy textual content widget is a superb addition to your knowledge storytelling toolbox. Along with theming/styling and responsive design, you possibly can construct and construction highly effective dashboards which might be straightforward to learn and fast to scan by to get precious insights as rapidly as potential.

Under, you possibly can evaluate the before-and-after states of the pattern dashboard. Whereas I needed to compromise a bit on the actual property, the improved readability and further context for the dashboard readers greater than make up for it.

Markdown, being an simply approachable syntax, provides a straightforward studying curve whereas offering a lot of alternatives for what you possibly can obtain with a single widget.

Please additionally notice that this text ought to be the primary in a brief sequence describing some new storytelling options we’re introducing to the GoodData Cloud platform to provide dashboard builders extra flexibility. If you’re considering studying extra, be certain to observe our weblog or the GoodData Developer medium channel.

Final however not least, we’d be very completely happy to find out about your expertise with this characteristic. Please share your improved dashboard or your classes realized with the remainder of the neighborhood in our Slack channel.