Not for looking at them (even if they are pretty!). Dashboards should behave like your mentor – guiding you to take the right calls. In fact, dashboards should be built just so that you don’t have to look at them. They should be smart and proactive, releasing your bandwidth and not creating an extra task in your to-do list.
Digital dashboards took birth in the 90s. It has been two and half decades; and we are pretty much still looking at the dinosaurs of the digital world. Today’s dashboards are passive, docile and for the most part, static. They present a view. They tell you “Welcome, John. This is how your numbers look today”. Some of them may also tell you “Hey John, this is how they will look three weeks later”.
In the world where businesses are learning consumer personas deeply, predicting behaviours real-time and creating hooks for engagement, dashboards have surely lagged behind. Imagine a world where dashboards are savvy and act like your trusted friend. Your dashboard buddy knows that your Wednesdays are on-the-road days, that traffic goes up on your route between 4-4.45 PM, internet connectivity on the last 15 miles is poor and increasing travel costs are going to hit your bottom line in 6 weeks. And your buddy helps you focus on the impact and outcome of all of your business movements, as opposed to spending time recording, planning and revising.
Enter Minority Report. Move over, Office Space
Mobility and hands-free technology is taking over the world, in huge strides each day. The device in our hands can pretty much make our imagination a reality. While, large enterprises and business are still learning to find the balance between the inertia of change and the compelling need to cross the digital chasm. Different surveys and statistics report up to 32% time being spent in recording and updating business. No doubt, this is a huge and monotonous task. The key ingredient in making a business tools and dashboards smarter – making mobility work (well) for your business.
Now, going back to being the director – dashboards should set up the lights and camera positions, provide you the right crew and understand your angles; so that you can shine through your lines. And make you smile while you are at it.
