Building a BI Dashboard That's Actually Useful

A dashboard is an answer to a recurring question, not a pile of charts. Start from the decision, pick metrics that change minds, and design something people actually open.

1. What BI Actually Is Business intelligence is helping people make decisions with data. A dashboard is an answer to a recurring question, not a pile of charts - so start from the decision and work backward to the metric.
2. Metrics That Inform vs Vanity Metrics A useful metric changes a decision; a vanity metric only feels good. Choose the right aggregation, the right denominator, and add the context - comparison, target, trend - that turns a number into meaning.
3. Designing One People Actually Use Lay out the most important answer first, pick the chart that fits the question, and dodge the traps that mislead even with good data: bad axes, wrong aggregation, no context, and the dashboard with no owner.