The Design Challenge
Introduction
On day 3 of our Dashboard Week, we are given something different. Instead of analyzing complex datasets like we did yesterday, we need to create a well-designed dashboard using the sample superstore dataset. The dashboard should show sales, profit, profit ratio and number of orders. Also, we need to select any logo and use it as a basis for our dashboard design. Lastly, we have to use uncommon fonts.
My Logo and Fonts
I chose a rainbow-coloured childcare logo. That way, it would be easy for me to select a colour for the graphs and texts. Since I will be creating a report for a childcare, I want my dashboard to look childish. I downloaded fonts that resemble writing on a chalkboard. I also added cartoonish images to help add the childish feel.
The logo and fonts I used.
Dashboard Elements and Negative Space
I tried sizing the elements of my dashboards based on the importance and contents. There are four main parts of my dashboard that are layered on top of each other: title, overview, graph 1 and graph 2. I gave the title the smallest size but big enough to quickly read what my dashboard is about. The overview part is a little bigger than the title and enough to almost fill up the width of the dashboard. The remaining space were assigned to the two graphs equally. The sizing is easy to implement using containers.
Since they are placed on top of each other, I made sure that the negative space between them are enough to show boundaries. It’s very easy to do so by adjusting each container’s paddings.
The F-Pattern
I stacked my dashboard elements on top of each other to take advantage of the F-Pattern. That way, it is aligned to how most people read.
Use of Contrast
One of my graphs is a scatter plot for profit vs. number of orders per sub-category. To give emphasis on the sub-categories that have negative profit, I coloured them orange. The rest are coloured grey.
The Final Product
Here’s a preview on my colourful Data Kids Childcare dashboard and you can always view it in Tableau Public:
If you feel moody today, here’s a dark version:
Author: JB Reyes
JB hails from the Philippines where he was an anti-malware engineer for 5 years. After moving to Australia in 2017, he worked his way up in a school supply company starting with a role as a despatcher and then taking on roles in IT support and bookkeeping. His passion for data is so deep that he can spend hours exploring and analysing data without tiring or getting bored. When JB is not all over data, he spends his time playing basketball, Pokémon cards with his daughter and building robot plastic models. If there is one dish that he would have to eat for the rest of his life, it would be Lechon, a Filipino delicacy (roasted pig) that reminds him of home.