Should Dashboards Be Designed from the Bottom Up or Top Down?

Abstract

Gonzales (2009) considers 'metrics'1 and KPIs2 as the building blocks of dashboard visualizations and consequently the means by which users are alerted of their distance viz-aviz their objectives. The issue enters however into fluid territory due to the commonly3 blurred demarcation4 lines between 'scoreboards' and 'dashboards'.

Scorecards exist at the highest echelon of a firm whilst dashboards pertain to a level lower. The former are primarily used to help align operational execution with business strategy whilst the latter focus on the operational goals themselves5 (Gonzales, T, 2009).