Design dashboards

Dashboards enable you to present data to other Anaplan users. A single dashboard tracks many metrics, often, in real-time. Dashboards should have a consistent and intuitive user experience that provides both meaningful information and cues for activity.

Talk to users to ensure you’ve got a full understanding of the information they need and what they want to do with that information. Understand the associated work and data flows and their relationship to business processes. This will give you a better insight into how the data will be consumed and what level of detail should be built into different dashboards.

The greatest level of complexity is usually required by users who use the data to analyze trends and issues. Generally, the more senior a role, the more summarized the data required.

When you’ve developed your dashboard, talk again with the users. Dashboard design is an iterative process and it can be difficult to get it right the first time.

Different users require different information. Create role-based dashboards that achieve specific goals.

To meet requirements and inform and direct workflow, simpler dashboards, targeted to specific requirements, are most effective. Use a single simple dashboard to make sure the user can scan the data quickly and quickly understand it. Don't overload the dashboard with information that isn’t relevant.

Try to develop dashboards that provide a familiar, consistent interface with the least number of keystrokes to achieve an objective. Develop a standardized layout that users can anticipate. For example, you might always put buttons across the top of the dashboard, charts, and grids in the center of the screen, and navigation at the bottom.