“Any product that has an information dashboard as one of its key offerings should keep the psychological needs of its end users in mind.” (Source: UX Magazine)

A well-designed dashboard provides users quick access to their data on a regular basis. However, user research of dashboards is often overlooked during the design phase.

In order to promote user productivity, dashboard interfaces should be designed to provide quick access to crucial content in a clean, concise and intuitive fashion.

In a recent remote and moderated user research of a complex customer dashboard, real users of the product expressed their pain points in trying to find information they needed. Users expressed how it took them multiple clicks to get to a piece of data they needed on a daily basis. We found that difficulty in use of the existing dashboard had resulted in poor perception of a well-known product.

What Dashboard Users Really Want
The user research uncovered a considerable number of user research issues and resulted in a list of actionable recommendations to improve user research of the dashboard. We found that most users needed quick access to the same data on a daily basis. They wanted that information to be displayed using large font size on top of the page. We also found that users did not find it easy to look through a large amount of unorganized content to find what they needed.

Utilize an intuitive dashboard visual design to prominently display information that most users need regularly, no more or less.

Data Organization and Prioritization
Each dashboard is unique in terms of data and users. Once you have identified your dashboard target users’ needs, prioritize the top 3-5 pieces of information and prominently display them on top of the page. Use graphs, icons and color to differentiate each data. This will help users find what they need at a glance. It is important to display high-level information here. Details may be accessed by expanding each section or graph.

Alerts and notifications need to be given prominence on the face of the dashboard as well. Anything that requires immediate attention needs to be displayed within the user’s main visual field. Organize the rest of the content into meaningful categories and provide access to those from the dashboard. Always make sure your dashboard design is responsive as many users access it on the go.

Customization and Personalization
As user needs may be different based on their roles or preferences, allow for customization and personalization. In many cases, users have expressed an interest in customizing the information displayed and personalizing access to different sections of the site. A usable dashboard design is flexible enough to accommodate unique customer requirements.

Similar to any other interface, find out what your users need and design a dashboard that is usable across all platforms. As always, test regularly to improve user experience of your interfaces. This will result in customer satisfaction, engagement and loyalty.

When all is said and done, good dashboard design works to overcome the limitation of the user’s short-term memory. Read more about Short-Term Memory and Web User Research.