What Makes a Dashboard Actually Useful?

Dashboards are everywhere. But how many are actually useful?

Let’s be real: in today’s data-obsessed world, dashboards are the default answer to every business question. Performance reviews? Dashboard. Customer insights? Dashboard. Operations tracking? You guessed it—dashboard. But here’s the dirty secret: most dashboards are just eye candy. They look slick, but do they actually help anyone do anything?

Rule #1: Start With the Real Question

When someone asks for a dashboard, don’t fire up your favorite BI tool just yet. Hit pause. Ask: What’s the real question behind this request?
“Dashboard” is just the word people use when they want data, but what they really want is a solution to a business problem. Maybe that “customer engagement dashboard” is really about finding out which segments are underperforming. That’s not a dashboard problem—it’s a business problem. The dashboard is just one possible answer.

From Pretty Charts to Real Action

A dashboard that’s actually useful does more than inform—it drives action. Here’s the test:

• Can you look at the dashboard and know what to do next?
• Can you take action and measure the result?

If you can’t, it’s not a dashboard. It’s just a data display.
A real dashboard helps you spot an underserved segment, launch a campaign, and track the ROI. Or maybe it helps you find wasted software licenses, reassign them, and see the savings. If it doesn’t lead to action and measurable impact, it’s just noise.

Build With Your Stakeholders, Not For Them

Here’s where most dashboard projects go off the rails: building in a vacuum. Don’t do it.
Work with your stakeholders. Watch how they use the dashboard. Ask what decisions they’re making. Iterate based on their feedback.
When users see their fingerprints on the dashboard—and their decisions supported by it—they’ll actually use it. That’s how dashboards become indispensable, not ignored.

The Only Test That Matters: Tangible Value

Here’s the ultimate litmus test:
Can someone take action from this dashboard that leads to a measurable improvement?
If yes, you’ve built something powerful. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

Final Thought: Dashboards Are a Means, Not an End

Great dashboards don’t start with charts. They start with curiosity, business goals, and collaboration. And when you finally deliver real value? Congrats—you’re now on the hook to keep it running. But hey, that’s a story for another post.

Discussion Prompt

What’s the most valuable dashboard you’ve ever used or built? What made it actually useful? Drop your stories below!

Pro Tip

Before you build your next dashboard, run a “dashboard design interview” with your stakeholders:

• What decision are you trying to make?
• What would you do differently if you had this information?
• What’s the business impact of that action?