We all like to look at supermodels, no matter their gender. It’s very pleasing to look at them as they look perfect. However, things can get a bit out of control after a while. We feel frustrated with ourselves and try to copy those photoshopped ideals. Some of us go wild and take plastic surgeries or cover our faces with makeup or expensive creams to get close to the photoshopped artificial hyperrealism thrown at us from all channels imaginable.
Beauty comes from the insight
For me, there is a similar thing going on when we see highly celebrated information graphics. We tend to glorify it. We don’t dare to question it. After all, it won a prestigious prize, and its author is a big name. It has many views and favourites. In sum, it has a hell of a lot of social confirmation. As a result, we try hard to come very close to our ideal.
While beauty over information can work on information graphics, it’s a problematic approach for information dashboards. And this trend swaps over from information graphics to information dashboards as practitioners report. As more and more developers try to get as close as possible to those supermodel infographics with their information dashboards. They neglect that beauty comes from the inside (or insight in information graphics). They get lost in decorations.
Not much time for information left
As a result, developers spend hours and hours on decoration instead of putting the information value into the centre of effort. If the saying is correct that 80% of the time is spent on data preparation and 80% of the remaining 20% is spent on decorations, not much time is left for the most essential part of every information dashboard: the information. And the users, after the honeymoon is over, find out the dashboard doesn’t cover the necessary information to help them with their tasks. Moreover, they discover that all that glitter hides the natural beauty from the insight.
Natural beauty is the real beauty
So, what’s the moral of this analogy? You might wonder. Well, first of all, we all should acknowledge nobody is perfect. No matter all the glamour, dare to question it. Secondly, it’s essential to stop thinking that efficient dashboards are equal to ugly dashboards. This just is not true. Thirdly, we must try to make the most relevant information the most attention-attractive element on the dashboard. It works best when we reduce the glossy, the glittery and the shiny to an absolute minimum. An information dashboard which supports us efficiently in our daily tasks is more attractive than any supermodel dashboard. Natural beauty comes from the insights.
One reply on “Lost in Decorations”
As an analyst I can resonate with the problem mentioned here. Sometimes we get so involved in making the dashboard pretty that we fail to ponder upon the most critical part of our dashboard that is the insights. To make the dashboard designing simpler and help me with choosing the best KPIs I have been using a dashboard wireframing tool called pen & paper which has reduced my efforts significantly. It’s super easy to use. Give it a try and see if it can be any help of you.