Dashboards!

Here are some thumbnail images of a few of the asp.net dashboards I've built recently for Source Refrigeration & HVAC.

What is a dashboard? Dashboards evolved from the old EIS, or Executive Information Systems. They're a way to get business intelligence down to end-users, in a graphical format that can be quickly interpreted. These days, the browser (including those embedded in mobile devices) is the most common delivery mechanism.

At Source, the dashboards go beyond simple gauges and colored charts, as these dashboards are used primarily by middle managers who always need a reasonable level of detail, rather than just a quick glance at KPIs. Some of the screens shown below are the dashboards' top screen, while others (generally those with more tabular detail) are drilldown screens. Clicking on virtually any number displayed on the top screens will automatically drill down to the underlying detail.

The goal in dashboard design is to know thy audience. Dashboards designed for the executive staff can be simpler, with less detail, while dashboards used by operational staff will usually have more detail available immediately, allowing a trained eye to scan it quickly while minimizing mouse clicks.