From glitter to gold: recommendations for effective dashboards from design through sustainment

Dashboards-tools that compile and summarize key performance data-have become increasingly utilized for supporting data organization and decision-making processes across various fields, such as business, economics, healthcare, and policy. The dashboard's impact is dependent on its use by the individuals for whom it was designed. Yet, few studies measure dashboard use, and of those that do, their utility is limited. When dashboards go unused, they provide little value and impact. We argue that successful and long-term use of dashboards can be achieved using human-centered design and implementation science methods.

In this article, we describe the characteristics of dashboards and provide examples of existing dashboards. We discuss the common pitfalls of dashboards that result in their limited use. Next, we proffer how human-centered design and implementation science can improve dashboard relevance. We provide eight recommendations from across the design to the sustainment phase. To guide dashboard developers and implementers, we organize our recommendations using the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) Framework. Lastly, we raise several cautions when using human-centered design and implementation science methods in dashboard development and implementation.

There is a need for more effective, sustainable, and impactful dashboards. We suggest that incorporating human-centered design and implementation science methods can facilitate achieving this goal.