Dashboard Screenshots published on March 03, 2006. This screen shot is from http://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/interactive_dash_main.shtml. The enterprise dashboard shown is a sales dashboard. In terms of the technology, it is Ajax-powered (as NetSuite has now fully switched over to AJAX techinques for their front-end interactive power). If you go to the dashboard link, you'll see that the demo is set up as a "pop-up" story. The number circles on the dashboard screenshots are annotations from the netsuite website and pop up explanations when hovered over. They are not part of the dashboard functionality. This is not a bad way to explain to dashboard users how the dashboard acts during the wireframe process, or even for training. Keep this in mind as a possible way of storyboarding or explaning the functionality of your screens.
Note the top row of buttons indicating roles. They probably exist only for demo purposes as there should be role-based security.
Dashboard Type: This enterprise dashboard would go under the main category of Divisional Dashboard and sub-category of Sales Dashboard if we follow the dashboard classification system used in the book, Enterprise Dashboards: Design and Best Practices for IT. As stated by the author, Malik, there are six major categories of enterprise dashboards, with each having varying numbers of sub-categories. The main categories are: Enterprise Performance Dashboards, Divisional Dashboards, Process/Activity Monitoring Dashboards, Custom Applications Dashboards, Customer Dashboards and Vendor Dashboards.
Homework: AJAX has become a hot "new" thing for web-based interactivity. Don't feel bad, however, if you need a little background on the technology. It's basically the modern way to use javascript and the browser to make things more interactive for the user. Less waiting on the server means a better user experience for the enterprise dashboard user. Here are some books on AJAX
So what or who is The Dashboard Spy? As his about page states, The Dashboard Spy is just a guy interested in the design of enterprise dashboards. He could not find any executive dashboard design source books (or even screenshots of real business dashboards) and so set about creating his own. Finally convinced to post his extensive collection of dashboard screenshots online, he was amazed to find how popular it has become. If you have a nice screenshot of a digital dashboard, balanced scorecard, or any business intelligence graphic to share, please send an email to info _at_ dashboardspy.com. Also check out The Dashboard Spy's favorite books.
Keep up on the latest products and services for digital dashboards. A wide knowledge of the landscape is critical when it comes to the technology and vendor selection phase of your dashboard project.
