Creating Intuitive Dashboards for B2B Users

✈️ Most dashboards are designed like airplane cockpits…when what you really need is a Control Tower. Too many BI dashboards try to show everything at once: KPIs, segments, raw data — all mashed together. It overwhelms users and kills decision speed. Instead, think about your dashboards as a Control Tower. The top of the tower offers a clear, panoramic view. You’re scanning for major movements and disruptions. When needed, you can zoom in with instrumentation or speak directly to pilots, but that's not your default. By managing your information hierarchy in layers, you can start simple and progressively reveal complexity. Here’s how it works: 📊 L1: The Tower View – high-level KPIs, trends, and alerts. What’s happening? 🔍 L2: Segment View – explore segments and categories. Where is it happening? 🧾 L3: Transaction View – detailed records and raw data. Why is it happening? Each level is built for a specific cognitive mode. Mixing them forces your brain to multitask and that’s where insight gets lost. 🧠 Rule of thumb: Dashboards should optimize for low cognitive load at entry. Users should never have to reconcile different zoom levels simultaneously. Control Tower dashboards allow users to scan, zoom, and act without overwhelming them. By designing dashboards to reflect human cognitive modes and information hierarchy, you create tools that are not just insightful but usable. #dataviz #dashboards #BI #uxdesign #analytics #productivity

Dashboards should be designed for action, not data. Most dashboards contain plenty of data. Dozens of metrics and pretty charts. We've been taught that data drives action, but in practice, it rarely does. As you build your dashboards & and reports, consider the question: What is the user's "next best action"? Then, build solutions to prompt (or enable) that action. Some examples of "next best action": 1.) More Data Sometimes, the user will have more questions. That's ok! We build in self-service filters, segments, and drill-downs to dive in deeper. Self-service > fewer questions for the data team > faster time to action. 2.) Related Data Most businesses will have dozens of reports, often fragmented and disjointed. We can build links to bridge between the reports. Additionally, those links can be dynamic to carry through important filters (date ranges, segments applied) and help users keep their contextual flow. Less time hunting for reports > faster action. 3.) Sharing the data Once users find interesting data, they want to save it or send it to a coworker or client. Enable sharing via email, slack, raw export, etc. Sharing > More distribution > more action. 4.) Actions in another platform (Shopify, Meta, Salesforce, etc) Based on the data, users will need to make a change in another tool. Take someone in merchandising. They see product reports showing that certain products have low conversion rates, likely due to dwindling inventory levels. We can build a link in the dashboard that takes them DIRECTLY to the Shopify admin portal to the product setup and re-merchandise their collection. With one click, they've gone from data > to action. Fewer clicks > faster action. 5.) Alerts Users may see a number and wish they knew about it sooner. For this we setup alerts (email, slack, sms, webhook, etc.) Faster alerts > faster action. Our goal is to transform data-heavy dashboards into tools for action. Consider: - Can we make them more self-service? - Can users set up alerts? - Can they export and share the data easily? - Can we link tools and reports together to avoid context switching? - Can we automate the data to drive action? Are there any tricks you're using to make your dashboards more actionable? #businessintelligence #looker #ecommerceanalytics #measure

Data is everywhere. But clarity? That’s designed. We took a messy spreadsheet of HR metrics and turned it into a decision-making dashboard powered by UX thinking. Here’s the breakdown for anyone designing smart dashboards (or hiring someone who can): 🔹 Start with real user goals Don’t just show stats. Show what matters. HR health score, attrition trends, satisfaction drops — all surfaced where action happens. 🔹 Design for action, not attention We don’t want users to scroll endlessly. So we crafted micro-prompts — “Schedule wellness check,” “Audit onboarding” — right when they’re needed. 🔹 Hierarchy > Visuals Looks matter, but flow matters more. We used space, tone, and layout to guide the eye — not overwhelm it. 🔹 Make AI feel human AI dashboards often feel robotic. Ours talks like a teammate. Clear language, zero fluff. Dashboards aren’t just for showing data. They’re for shaping decisions. Design like it matters, because it does. Want a second pair of UX eyes on your product? Happy to take a look. #AIUX #DashboardDesign #UIUXDesign #ProductDesign #UXThinking #Founders #UXStrategy #16Pixel #HRTech #SaaSDesign #UXTips #EnterpriseDesign