Why your dashboards confuse everyone (and how to make them actually useful)

Original: Top 5 Dashboard fails (and how to fix them)

May 29, 2025

10 min read

Guide

Beginner

Analyst Skill Stack

Visit Original Article

Top 5 Dashboard fails (and how to fix them)

Summary

Dashboards are meant to guide decisions, not create confusion. This guide covers best practices for dashboard design, including layout, chart selection, cognitive load optimization, and narrative techniques to effectively communicate insights.

Who This Is For

Business Analysts

Marketing Analysts

Product Analysts

Key Takeaways

Start with the decision you need to make, not all the data you have available
Match your chart types to what you're actually trying to show (trends vs comparisons vs parts of a whole)
Reduce cognitive load by limiting the number of elements competing for attention
Create a clear visual hierarchy so viewers know where to look first
Build dashboards that tell a story rather than just displaying metrics

Tools & Technologies

Metabase Dashboard tools (general) Chart types (bar charts, line charts, pie charts, histograms)

Topics Covered

dashboard-design data-visualization data-storytelling cognitive-load ux-patterns

Ready to dive deeper?

Read Full Article on www.metabase.com

Related Resources in Analyst Skill Stack

Why your favorite metrics might be lying to you (and what to track instead)

Learn about vanity metrics - what they are, how to identify them, and how to replace them with more meaningful KPIs that drive business impact. Understand the difference between vanity metrics and actionable metrics, and get tips for choosing the right metrics to track.

June 2, 2025

Intermediate

Making sense of metrics that actually matter

Overview of key performance indicator (KPI) fundamentals, including definitions of leading vs. lagging, input vs. output, and actionable vs. vanity metrics. Discusses best practices for creating a consistent metric taxonomy and documentation.

June 2, 2025

Beginner

Why analytics tools make us feel things (and what that tells us)

This article explores the emotional experiences of users during the usage of three popular analytics platforms - Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, and Piwik Pro. By examining the author's emotional state while using these tools, the article provides a unique perspective on the user experience and decision-making process when selecting an analytics solution.

Lukas Oldenburg June 2, 2025

Intermediate

Topics

dashboard-design data-visualization data-storytelling cognitive-load ux-patterns