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3.07-05 Stacked Column/Bar Charts
Stacked Column Charts are best used to display part-to-whole relationships with multiple series e.g. revenue split into margin and expenses by time. Use contrasting colors so that users can easily differentiate stacked data Related to Rule: 3.07-03 Column Charts Best Practices article: Column Charts
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3.07-04 Bar Charts
Bar charts are great for comparing values across different line or list items e.g. FY actuals vs forecast. They shouldn't be used for comparing values over time. Bar charts are sometimes preferable over column charts if data labels are too long to fit on the X-axis Best Practices article: Bar Charts
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3.07-03 Column Charts
Column charts are great for comparing values across different line or list items e.g. FY actuals vs forecast. Column charts are also useful for comparing items over time e.g. revenue by month Best Practices article: Column Charts
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3.07-02 Line Charts
Line charts are best for seeing trends over a continuous timeframe e.g. revenue by month. They're especially useful for comparing multiple categories of data e.g. revenue of different products by month. Use contrasting colours so that users can easily differentiate series. Display a legend to make it clear what each series…
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3.07-01 Grids of data
Grids are best for presenting data when it's useful to see large sets of specific values and understand their meaning e.g. sales figures against products and time. Grids shouldn't be used for visualising high-level trends or comparisons between sets of data
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3.06-03 Tool Tips
Use customizable tooltips to help describe the visualizations and give a user better information about what they’re seeing
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3.06-02 Instructions
Use text and instructions where possible, although keep it simple and don't overwhelm the user with verbose language
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3.06-01 Guidance
Provide users with easy access to help on how to use the model
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3.05-04 Colors
Use consistent colors for the same metrics shown in different places
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3.05-03 Placement
Use consistent placement of those elements, by placing the same information in the same spot across pages
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3.05-02 Naming convention
Name the same elements across different pages with the same name, keep links to pages and target page names consistent, so that users aren't confused when moving between pages
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3.05-01 Consistency is key
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Use consistent forms (e.g. images, naming, words) and colors to communicate
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3.04-04 Use Contents
Use the contents panel to place links that are useful to navigate to and from the current page but aren’t necessary to see on the same page
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3.04-03 Detailed Analysis
On detailed pages users can do more granular tasks, such as perform detailed analysis, and manipulate and edit the data. Ideally, the driving grid of the page should represent a more detailed view of the previous page
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3.04-02 Summary
Rather than put everything on a page, provide key information and link to another page to provide users with more detail Related to Rule: 3.03-02 Summarize data
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3.04-01 Principle
Present data in digestible chunks. start simple and expose complexity when needed and not before Best Practice article: Top 5 Design Best Practices for UX—Desktop and Mobile
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3.03-04 Split it up
Consider using multiple pages instead of putting all elements on one
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3.03-03 Keep it clean
Limit the use of color in charts and graphs, and keep the page as clean as possible
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3.03-02 Summarize data
When working on your landing pages, try to minimize or summarize the data on these pages and provide links through to more detailed pages via the contents Related to Rule: 3.01-03 Summaries first
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3.03-01 Hick’s Principle
Fewer items on a page enable faster decision making Best Practice article Top 5 Design Best Practices for UX—Desktop and Mobile
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3.02-03 Group like content
Group related and/or connected data together
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3.02-02 Contents page
Split content up using categories in a way that makes sense to your users e.g. functional areas. Consider the story, and group and order you pages accordingly
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3.02-01 Gestalt Principle
The mind tends to group items together to simplify input. Grouping your pages together visually helps the user to make sense of what they’re seeing, and find what they’re looking for quicker Best Practice article Top 5 Design Best Practices for UX—Desktop and Mobile
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3.01-04 Order of importance
Consider what’s most important, and place that at the top of the page, e.g. KPIs
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3.01-03 Summaries first
Place summary information first within a category, with detailed data pages afterwards. Add instructions that guide and explain what users are to do
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3.01-02 Tell a story
Use a landing page to provide key summary information. This is useful as it orients new users around the model's contents, provides a summary as well as navigation to more detailed pages
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3.01-01 Principle
Done well this makes the content easy to read. It creates a path for the viewer’s eye to follow through the page/screen
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2.04-04 Nested Views
If possible, nest the dimensions in order of size (largest to smallest)
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2.04-02 Filtering on views
Filter on a Boolean and only have one filter per dimensional tab Related to Rule: 4.03-01 Use efficient filters Best Practice article: Filter Best Practice
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2.04-01 Naming convention
Give the view a meaningful name (e.g. Dashboard Grid, Filtered View, Export etc.) There is no need to add the module name within the name of the view Best Practice article: Naming Convention
