Make it Pretty
February 15, 2011 6:59 AM Subscribe
Where can I find more creative examples of status charts dashboards like the Panic dash(only web based)?
I need to put together much more detailed status reports for the team and client than I have previously (web product management) and would love a more fun way to present this information. Googling dashboards makes my head spin. If anyone can point me toward more examples of beautifully designed status charts and dashboards (that can easily be updated), that would be great! Thanks.
I need to put together much more detailed status reports for the team and client than I have previously (web product management) and would love a more fun way to present this information. Googling dashboards makes my head spin. If anyone can point me toward more examples of beautifully designed status charts and dashboards (that can easily be updated), that would be great! Thanks.
Response by poster: It's very simple data, just project timelines, risks, resources, budget -- Right now I have it in a Word document.
posted by sweetkid at 7:12 AM on February 15, 2011
posted by sweetkid at 7:12 AM on February 15, 2011
do you have a webserver to create an application, or do you want something already online?
posted by fozzie33 at 7:13 AM on February 15, 2011
posted by fozzie33 at 7:13 AM on February 15, 2011
Response by poster: already online definitely. Or even a cool template.
posted by sweetkid at 7:18 AM on February 15, 2011
posted by sweetkid at 7:18 AM on February 15, 2011
Response by poster: These are project management software, I'm looking for status reports.
posted by sweetkid at 7:24 AM on February 15, 2011
posted by sweetkid at 7:24 AM on February 15, 2011
I think people are linking you to project management software because you'll need to get your data into a more structured format before you have any hope of making it pretty in a sustainable way. Most dashboards draw data and reports from a database backend. Of course you could probably build a dash you manually update, but do you really want that extra workload?
posted by Alterscape at 7:59 AM on February 15, 2011
posted by Alterscape at 7:59 AM on February 15, 2011
Dashboards are meant to summarize the data your company collects into databases routinely. I don't see how the complaint about PM vs status reports applies. A project status dashboard would hook into project management software, which is keeping track of what needs to be done by when, and who has actually done what. These things change with time, whereas "project timelines, risks, resources, budget" all seem to be static and planned in advance. IMO, both are necessary; a good status report compares the plan against reality.
Atlassian, who sells many enterprise software development tools, organized a wallboard contest. Every company is different, there should be enough examples in there to get your brain flowing.
posted by pwnguin at 8:03 AM on February 15, 2011
Atlassian, who sells many enterprise software development tools, organized a wallboard contest. Every company is different, there should be enough examples in there to get your brain flowing.
posted by pwnguin at 8:03 AM on February 15, 2011
I was looking for the Carbonmade one I'd seen before, and stumbled across this link that has a few:
Business Porn - the Company Dashboard
posted by backwards guitar at 8:03 AM on February 15, 2011
Business Porn - the Company Dashboard
posted by backwards guitar at 8:03 AM on February 15, 2011
One of the coolest examples I have seen is Stephen Few's CIO Dashboard. While the actual items may not apply to you, the graphical elements are really good. The Dashboard is here.
The chart mainly consist of sparklines (available as standalone components for Excel in 2003 and 2007 and will be available by default in Office 2010). You may have to hunt for web based representations for these.
As far as I know, there is currently no web-based solution (you want self-hosted, because I wouldn't trust company data to the cloud) that has a database where you upload data and it generates pretty graphs. Most solutions come packaged with BI Tools or PM software.
I have and am still looking for this kind of solution...
posted by theobserver at 8:10 AM on February 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
The chart mainly consist of sparklines (available as standalone components for Excel in 2003 and 2007 and will be available by default in Office 2010). You may have to hunt for web based representations for these.
As far as I know, there is currently no web-based solution (you want self-hosted, because I wouldn't trust company data to the cloud) that has a database where you upload data and it generates pretty graphs. Most solutions come packaged with BI Tools or PM software.
I have and am still looking for this kind of solution...
posted by theobserver at 8:10 AM on February 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh, sorry for the linkfail. Ultimate wallboard contest. I think you'll be able to pull a few common themes from the entries, like burndown charts and calendars. Just make sure you sort the list by hot or votes, since the default is random =(
posted by pwnguin at 9:53 AM on February 15, 2011
posted by pwnguin at 9:53 AM on February 15, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by fozzie33 at 7:00 AM on February 15, 2011