Composing a dashboard

A dashboard answers “how are we doing, and what needs me” in that order: figures first, then how they move and divide, then what to act on. Compass’s sales dashboard is the worked example.

Compass’s sales dashboard: window buttons and two filters, three figure cards with a comparison and a trend line, and a chart of bookings by month.

Always, lead with a strip of three or four metrics of equal width; a strip that does not divide leaves one card alone on a row — compass/dashboard.ts:4.
When a figure has a before, compare: 'previous period' with better, and spark for its trend — dashboard.ts:13.
When the board is read by period, windows on the dashboard and over on each section they narrow — dashboard.ts:74.
When a figure moves over time, a chart by month (by day only over a short window) — dashboard.ts:26.
When a total divides by a vocabulary, a breakdown at half width, beside a donut of another division — dashboard.ts:30.
When two divisions cross, a matrix — dashboard.ts:37.
When there is work waiting, rows of it with a limit, two to a row — dashboard.ts:47.
When a number needs a sentence, a note last — dashboard.ts:62.

The sections are in Dashboards.