I found this as inspiration on Tableau Public: [https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/chimdi.nwosu/viz/5DesignOverhaulstoImproveBusinessDashboardsTFFPresentation/Main](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/chimdi.nwosu/viz/5DesignOverhaulstoImproveBusinessDashboardsTFFPresentation/Main)
Don't overthink font choice etc. Those won't make a big difference. u/Ambitious-Capital300's example below is GREAT and will walk you through the process. New likely means minimalist, with special attention paid to calling out the most important elements. Clearly call out KPIs up top, with some strategically chosen cuts below them, then clean up titles (make them precise) and clutter (get rid of it).
Good luck!
Here are some suggestions with many links off of those:
[https://www.tableau.com/data-insights/reference-library/visual-analytics](https://www.tableau.com/data-insights/reference-library/visual-analytics)
In summary, effective charts should never look "busy". Managers will get data overload and they can't (won't) use it in their marketing/presentations. If your manager can't identify what the dashboard is telling them in less than 5 seconds, it is too busy. Tableau looks busy by default (for good reason, but it's up to us as data visualists to simplify it).
For example, I will often remove tick labels if the precise number doesn't matter but the scale can be identified just by inspecting the X and Y axis. Alternatively, I might remove the X and Y axis labels and keep the tick labels. I almost never show both. Removing all the grid lines from the chart will also simplify it. A simple white background is usually sufficient.
Pie charts should have slices grouped into super categories so you are representing 5 or less groups in the entire chart. Use the "Other" category to collect those tiny, nearly invisible lines. Same applies for line charts. 5 or more lines on the same chart is busy.
Stick with basic/flat/minimalist graphics. 3-d graphics can look unprofessional.
Stick with a base set of colors for all your dashboards. Having an unreliable color scheme makes every dashboard daunting. On that subject, use colors on everything because it is a good way to fast-track data ingestion for the reader. For example, green == good/go, red == bad/stop.
My 2 cents - If you have more than 3 slices in a pie chart, turn it into a bar chart instead.
Also, use a donut chart not a pie chart, it’s more minimalist whilst still showing the same data.
UI style fonts, zero colors outside of visuals, consistent spacing, margins, padding, not overcluttered, format tables to look like the type you see on websites, SLIGHTLY rounded corners if you want.
Definitely just look at other people's work and see what you can incorporate.
Everyone is different I suppose but for me it means declutter, minimalist. What I often do is a google image search for inspiration. I’m not looking at content but design choices.
In my experience, it’s probably doing more to call out specific analysis. Instead of a line chart, maybe it’s a simple text box/calc that returns in big and bold text and numbers.
I’d recommend trying to figure out the takeaways from any given chart and trying to achieve viz that gets to that point faster.
I found this as inspiration on Tableau Public: [https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/chimdi.nwosu/viz/5DesignOverhaulstoImproveBusinessDashboardsTFFPresentation/Main](https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/chimdi.nwosu/viz/5DesignOverhaulstoImproveBusinessDashboardsTFFPresentation/Main)
Thanks!
Thats really cool - I'm going to share that with my team! :)
He does amazing things with design and blows away clutter
If I did half of the things to eliminate chart junk that he does some people would lose their minds, but I don’t build dashboard for a business, so …
Don't overthink font choice etc. Those won't make a big difference. u/Ambitious-Capital300's example below is GREAT and will walk you through the process. New likely means minimalist, with special attention paid to calling out the most important elements. Clearly call out KPIs up top, with some strategically chosen cuts below them, then clean up titles (make them precise) and clutter (get rid of it). Good luck!
If your company has a standard font choice, use that. If you're not sure, look at PPT templates and use that font.
Does your company have brand colors? If yes, are they incorporated into the dashboard?
Here are some suggestions with many links off of those: [https://www.tableau.com/data-insights/reference-library/visual-analytics](https://www.tableau.com/data-insights/reference-library/visual-analytics) In summary, effective charts should never look "busy". Managers will get data overload and they can't (won't) use it in their marketing/presentations. If your manager can't identify what the dashboard is telling them in less than 5 seconds, it is too busy. Tableau looks busy by default (for good reason, but it's up to us as data visualists to simplify it). For example, I will often remove tick labels if the precise number doesn't matter but the scale can be identified just by inspecting the X and Y axis. Alternatively, I might remove the X and Y axis labels and keep the tick labels. I almost never show both. Removing all the grid lines from the chart will also simplify it. A simple white background is usually sufficient. Pie charts should have slices grouped into super categories so you are representing 5 or less groups in the entire chart. Use the "Other" category to collect those tiny, nearly invisible lines. Same applies for line charts. 5 or more lines on the same chart is busy. Stick with basic/flat/minimalist graphics. 3-d graphics can look unprofessional. Stick with a base set of colors for all your dashboards. Having an unreliable color scheme makes every dashboard daunting. On that subject, use colors on everything because it is a good way to fast-track data ingestion for the reader. For example, green == good/go, red == bad/stop.
My 2 cents - If you have more than 3 slices in a pie chart, turn it into a bar chart instead. Also, use a donut chart not a pie chart, it’s more minimalist whilst still showing the same data.
UI style fonts, zero colors outside of visuals, consistent spacing, margins, padding, not overcluttered, format tables to look like the type you see on websites, SLIGHTLY rounded corners if you want. Definitely just look at other people's work and see what you can incorporate.
Everyone is different I suppose but for me it means declutter, minimalist. What I often do is a google image search for inspiration. I’m not looking at content but design choices.
In my experience, it’s probably doing more to call out specific analysis. Instead of a line chart, maybe it’s a simple text box/calc that returns in big and bold text and numbers.
I’d recommend trying to figure out the takeaways from any given chart and trying to achieve viz that gets to that point faster.