In previous executions of informational dashboards they have all suffered from allowing people to add too much information or functionality that is non-relevant to a single display. We’ve also seen the impact of designs that compete for our attention. Ultimately these products seem to get ignored and become useless to you.

It is my dashboard, shouldn’t I be able to make it display whatever I want?

No, I don’t think so. You’ve already experienced that.

We’re going to make the number of data points you can add to  single display finite. At least at first. While you can have multiple Dashboards and you can have different data points organized differently. I believe by making the number limited it will force the user to pick the more important information to display by priority. We’ll have ti get creative when it comes to delivering powerful information succinctly in a limited space.

What’s the magic number of data points?

 I don’t know yet. Maybe more than 3, less Than 12 per display.

The limitation will benefit the user by providing both simplicity and clarity that will make getting a real-time update both quick and dependable. We want to make a dashboard for everyday life that will really works. Not just another pile of widgets and feeds that just don’t matter at this moment. You’ll have to prioritize.

What’s the problem with competitive design of different data points?

Visual clutter.

While these things look super cool. I believe we need the data to stand out more than a brand or container does. I am all for having Dashboard themes that help the user quickly see difference when switching contexts but the data points need to adhere to that theme not compete with it. Branding might be okay if it is done in a tasteful way and it doesn’t compete with information.

These are just a few of the principals that are shaping our direction for DashReady. If you have something that you think breaks the norm of what dashboards have notoriously been Tweet us.