Stephen Few
(
http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/dmreview/dashboard_design.pdf)
defines a dashboard as
"A dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to
achieve one or more objectives, consolidated and arranged on a single screen
so the information can be monitored at a glance."
Keep in mind that the gauge-like charts in Andy's first two links are very
inefficient, and go against the above definition. (I created my version as a
hoot, to show an interesting style of combination chart, and it has drawn
inordinate attention.) They take up a lot of room to show very few pieces of
information, at one point in time. If all you did was use a line chart, you
could show the same few pieces of information over a period of time, thus
showing trends as well as one-time values.
Stephen Few (
http://www.perceptualedge.com) and Charley Kyd
(
http://www.exceluser.com) show effective approaches to displaying data.
- Jon
