3 essential steps in dashboard design that I learned from a baseball scoreboard
Data visualization best practices from the sports field
Baseball games are long. As a result, when watching our teenage son play, we often grab snacks from concession or have to leave for a bio break before the game is over. I love how a good scoreboard helps us catch up quickly with the game’s state of affairs when we make it back to the stands (as long as there aren’t too many burnt-out bulbs or yellowed plexiglass cover obscuring the lights).
In a bit of an ode to the simple scoreboard, here’s a brief summary of what dashboard developers (whether using Power BI, Tableau, Qlik Sense or something custom built) can learn from studying a sports scoreboard.
Step 1: Know the rules of the game.
A baseball scoreboard doesn't fully make sense unless you know the basics of the game. Nine innings, three outs per team per inning. Guests up to bat first. Three strikes is an out. Four balls is a walk. Some scoreboards show the number of pitches by each team. Some display the number of the player who is up to bat. Some show the number of runs per team across all the innings... which is all pretty useful! But my favorite is this basic scoreboard here.
It is clear, concise and frankly, elegant.
Your dashboard likely does not have to explain the rules of the game. But it does have to present the data according to the game parameters. In other words, you want your dashboard to align with the mental model of your audience, so that they can quickly and effectively parse what you've presented and translate it into meaning. You can’t do this unless you know the rules of the game your audience is playing.
Step 2: Figure out how the game is won.
In most cases, your dashboard audience is trying to win at something. Maybe they are sales managers trying to acquire new customers and move the needle on revenue. Maybe they are a project manager who needs to show that she is meeting milestones on time and on budget. Maybe they are a public health unit working to drive down rates of communicable disease.
The aim for your audience might not be as obvious as “getting more runs than the other team”, but there is usually some kind of metaphorical battle being waged. To create a great dashboard, you need to understand what your audience is hoping (or fearing) to see.
Step 3: Make it easy to-see who is winning, and by now much.
Once you've understood the parameters and the goals in your audience’s context, it's your job to present the data in such away that they can clearly see who is winning, and by how wide a margin. Is it a close game? Does a comeback look likely? Or is the game all but over? This essential information is what your audience needs to adjust their plan of attack.
If you’re wondering how easy your own “scoreboard” is to read, I recommend putting it in front of naïve users (people who haven't seen it before) and ask them questions like “When you look at this dashboard, how well do you think our team is doing with respect to {enter the subject/program/initiative}?” Ask them to walk you through their reasoning as they navigate the dashboard, and if there’s anything else they would need to know to draw their conclusions.
If they can’t tell whether they are “winning,” you might need to rethink your design, or what KPIs are included, or both. Remember, your audience isn’t in this just to look at some pretty charts and figures. They are in this to win!
Reflection exercise:
Look back at any reports or dashboards you created recently. Can you tell who is winning, and by how much? Do the metrics in your report reflect the parameters of the “game”? If not - now you know what to do!