5 Steps to Create an Excel Dashboard That’s Actually Useful

Introduction

An Excel dashboard is a powerful data visualization tool that displays key performance indicators (KPIs) in a summary format. It allows users to quickly learn and interpret data trends, often using graphical elements such as charts, tables, and gauges. Excel dashboards provide a quick and effective way to monitor the health of a business, track progress on a project, or provide meaningful, visually appealing reports.

The benefits of using an Excel dashboard are numerous. It simplifies complex sets of data into easily understandable visuals, which provides a snapshot of a situation and enables you to act quickly. An Excel dashboard also helps you save time by automatically updating with the latest data from your various sources, making it easier to stay on top of changing trends. Finally, an Excel dashboard can be shared with colleagues, allowing them to be informed and up-to-date with the data.

2. Preparatory Steps

Before getting into the process of dashboard creation, it’s important to take certain preparatory steps. These will help you gather all the relevant information, create an accurate view of what you are hoping to achieve, and set up a strong foundation to build your dashboard. The following sub-sections will provide an overview of the preparatory steps you should take.

a. Determine what information you need

The first step is to determine the type of information you need to inform your dashboard. This should include what metrics are important to track, what data should be pulled from your data sources, and any other relevant information. When analyzing your data, observe the trends, outliers, and correlations to gain a better sense of what should be put on display. Once you have a clear idea of what information you want to include, you can move on to the next step.

b. Design precisely what you want to achieve

The second step is to consider the overall goal of your dashboard. Take a step back to understand the context behind your dashboard and which key elements or components you want it to include. Make sure to find a way to effectively balance your requests. It’s important to remember that the purpose of a dashboard is to be visually engaging and thought-provoking, without being overwhelming. As you make decisions on the types of elements or data you want to include, consider the impact they’ll have on the resulting dashboard.

3. Gather Data

All dashboards rely on data to drive the visuals. To ensure an accurate and up-to-date dashboard, you need to ensure the data you are working with is reliable and of the highest quality. Here's what to keep in mind when gathering data for your Excel dashboard.

a. Data Sources

Your data sources will depend on the type of dashboard you are creating, but some common sources include internal databases, spreadsheets, industry reports, consumer feedback, and third-party APIs. Examine the sources of the data, evaluate the reliability and accuracy of the data, and implement any data-cleaning techniques necessary.

b. Structure your data for compatibility

Once you have gathered the necessary data, you need to structure it in a way that is compatible with Excel and your dashboard design. This could mean anything from organizing and sorting the data into columns and rows, assessing the quality of the data, or combining multiple data sets into one.

While structuring your data can be tedious, it is a crucial step for creating a dashboard that is both reliable and visually appealing. Take the time to ensure your data is properly structured and organized, as this will simplify later steps in the dashboard-building process.

Create the Dashboard

With your data collected and organized into an Excel spreadsheet, the next step is to begin creating the dashboard. This process begins with selecting an appropriate type of graph or chart to represent the data and its meaning. This is a crucial task as the choice of graph will influence user understanding and should facilitate analysis of the data.

Select the Appropriate Excel Graph/Chart

When selecting the right Excel graph to use, consider the type of data you are working with, the message you want to convey, and the desired outcome. Depending on your needs, the following chart types can be chosen:

• Bar charts: For comparing categorical data.
• Pie charts: For displaying the composition of values.
• Histograms: For displaying frequency distribution of data.
• Line charts: For tracking changes over a period of time.
• Scatter charts: For exploring relationships between two variables.

Format the Chart

After selecting your graph or chart, ensure you format it in a visually appealing manner so that the data is easier to understand. Adding a title, axis labels, and legends can all make the dashboard easier to interpret and create a more professional aesthetic. Additionally, consider customizing colors, adding animation and transitions, or data labels to provide users with more comprehensive and engaging experience.

Analyzing the Dashboard

Once the dashboard is created, the next step is to analyze the consequences of the data. This helps the user to understand the data better and draw the required conclusions. It is essential to identify any trends, correlations, or outliers in the dashboard. Through analysis of the dashboard, more efficient and accurate decisions can be made.

Analyze the Consequences of Your Data

The gathered data can be analyzed to draw conclusions on how different factors in the data are connected or related to each other. To analyze the data further, one must identify correlations or outliers within the dashboard in order to get a better understanding of the gathered data. By closely analyzing the data, the user can create a plan of action based on the results obtained through the dashboard.

Identify Trends, Correlations and Outliers

Identifying trends, correlations and outliers helps the user to make more informed decisions based on the data presented. Trends are seen in data as repeating patterns over time, correlations are seen when two factors influence one another, and outliers are seen as data points that don’t fit the trend or pattern in the data. Through spotting trends, correlations and outliers, the user can draw more consistent and proficient conclusions from their data.

Share the Dashboard

Once the dashboard is complete and tailored to the data currently available, it is ready to be shared with key stakeholders. The following steps will ensure a smooth and organized introduction of the dashboard:

Create a Dashboard Presentation

Creating a presentation or document outlining the dashboard, its purpose, and its contents can help to legitimize the dashboard in the view of key stakeholders. The presentation should be professional and visually appealing, include a summary of the dashboard, and include an introduction to any details that might not be evidently clear. It is recommended to also include report snippets and graphs to emphasize the dashboard’s capacity to present complex data.

Present the Dashboard to Key Stakeholders

Presenting the dashboard to key stakeholders can be a rewarding experience; it provides an opportunity to make the case for the dashboard and emphasize its potential to become a useful tool for everyone. The following tips should be taken into account when presenting the dashboard:

• Set a goal for the presentation. It is important to remember what points need to be highlighted and to make sure that the key stakeholders understand how the dashboard could benefit them.
• Familiarize the audience with the data. Taking the time to explain the data sources involved and their synthesis into the dashboard helps stakeholders to better understand the dashboard.
• Demonstrate the interactive capabilities. Showcasing the interactivity of the dashboard is a great way to ensure that stakeholders understand the different visualizations and how they can be used to analyze data.
• Allow time for questions. Ensuring that there is time to answer any questions or concerns that stakeholders may have is essential in ensuring a successful presentation.

Conclusion

Creating an Excel dashboard that is genuinely useful doesn’t have to be difficult. All it takes is an understanding of your data, a clear purpose for the dashboard, and an eye for good design.

This blog post outlined five steps to building an effective dashboard:

• Step 1: Gather Your Data
• Step 2: Decide on the Purpose of the Dashboard
• Step 3: Choose Important Metrics
• Step 4: Design and Format the Dashboard
• Step 5: Test and Finalize the Dashboard

Using these five steps as a guide, you are now capable of creating an Excel dashboard that will serve as an effective tool for data visualization.

Whether you’re a business leader seeking to track key metrics, an educator tracking student performance, or an analyst trying to crunch data to make more informed decisions, Excel dashboards can provide a wealth of insights. So go ahead and start building your dashboard today.