Stop 04 · Data & Metrics for PMsTopics · 10/12

Building Dashboards

In short

A good dashboard answers a question in five seconds. A bad one is forty charts nobody opens. Learn to build the first kind.

Turning raw metrics into a small, focused view that a team can check in seconds — the discipline is choosing what NOT to include as much as what to include.

The purple blob presents the weather, pointing at a board with sun and cloud symbols.

Think of it like this

The TV weather report

The weather presenter doesn't show every sensor reading. Temperature, chance of rain, maybe wind. In ten seconds you know whether to carry an umbrella. A dashboard should help a team decide just as fast.

Watch it happen

A dashboard laid out top to bottom

Weekly dashboard

North Star

Input metrics

Health checks

Activation rate

Week-4 retention

Crash rate

1/4Start with the question: "Is the product healthier than last week?" Every chart must help answer it.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Start with a question

Write the decision the dashboard supports. If a chart doesn't help that decision, cut it.

Most important on top

People read top-left first. Put the main metric there, big and clear.

Show trends, not just totals

A number without last week's value is hard to judge. Add comparisons.

Define every metric

Add a short note on how each number is calculated, so nobody argues about meaning.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Adding every chart someone asks for.

Do this instead

Keep the dashboard focused. Put one-off questions in separate explorations.

Oops

Using fancy charts like 3D pies.

Do this instead

Line charts for trends, bars for comparisons, a big number for the headline. Simple reads fast.

Your mission

Build a one-page dashboard

~40 min

Quick check

What should usually sit at the top of a product team's weekly dashboard?

Go deeper

1Design a 5-metric dashboard for a product you use, on paper first.
2Critique a real dashboard you've seen for clutter or misleading charts.
3Practice writing a one-line 'so what' takeaway to accompany a dashboard.