Data stories with dashboards

Power Pivot in Excel

Nick Edwards

Analyst at Roofstock

What is a dashboard?

A dashboard is a visual presentation of metrics that provides insights

Image showing the dashboard of a car

Power Pivot in Excel

Data storytelling

Image of a teacher reading a story to children

Data storytelling uses data and visualizations to communicate insights.

  • Make insights more understandable and engaging
    • Use visualizations
    • Highlight key findings
Power Pivot in Excel

Best practices

  1. Define clear objectives
    • Clearly answers a question
  2. Know your audience and scope
    • Different people have different needs

example of a bad dashboard

1 https://citydashboard.org/london/
Power Pivot in Excel

Best practices

  1. Define clear objectives
    • Clearly answers a question
  2. Know your audience and scope
    • Different people have different needs

example of a bad dashboard

1 https://citydashboard.org/london/
Power Pivot in Excel

Best practices

  1. Define clear objectives
    • Clearly answers a question
  2. Know your audience and scope
    • Different people have different needs

example of a bad dashboard

1 https://citydashboard.org/london/
Power Pivot in Excel

Best practices

  1. Define clear objectives
    • Clearly answers a question
  2. Know your audience and scope
    • Different people have different needs
  3. Keep it simple and focused
    • Use the defined objectives and scope as guidelines

example of a bad dashboard

1 https://citydashboard.org/london/
Power Pivot in Excel

Best practices

  1. Define clear objectives
    • Clearly answers a question
  2. Know your audience and scope
    • Different people have different needs
  3. Keep it simple and focused
    • Use the defined objectives and scope as guidelines
  4. Balance aesthetics with functionality
    • Easy to read
    • Ability to explore data

example of a bad dashboard

1 https://citydashboard.org/london/
Power Pivot in Excel

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

  • Used to measure performance and set goals
  • Tells the story of achieving goals

Image of a fairground game strength game

Power Pivot in Excel

What's trending

a column chart with a trendline

Power Pivot in Excel

What's trending

a column chart with too many trendlines

Power Pivot in Excel

Let's practice!

Power Pivot in Excel

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