Definition
Dashboard
Also called: data dashboard, BI dashboard.
A dashboard is a single screen that shows the key metrics and charts for a topic, so you can read the state of things at a glance.
A dashboard is a single screen that surfaces the key metrics and charts for a topic — sales, marketing, finance — so you can read the state of things at a glance instead of digging through raw rows.
What a good dashboard has
- A small set of headline KPIs (three to six), not a wall of numbers.
- One or two charts that show trend or breakdown.
- A supporting table for the detail behind the summary.
The most common mistake is showing raw counts instead of the rate that matters — conversions instead of conversion rate, for example. The second is letting it go stale: a dashboard is only useful if it reflects current data.
You can build one from a file in one step with a CSV-to-dashboard tool. Keeping it current means connecting the source so it refreshes on a schedule, rather than re-pasting an export each week.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a dashboard and a report?
- A dashboard is a live, at-a-glance screen you scan; a report is a structured, often scheduled document with narrative and detail. Many workflows produce both from the same data.
- How many metrics should a dashboard show?
- Usually three to six headline KPIs. Beyond that, the screen becomes a data dump and stops helping anyone make a decision.
Related terms
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)
ETL stands for Extract, Transform, Load — the three steps of moving data from a source, cleaning and reshaping it, and writing it to a destination.
Read definition → DefinitionData Pipeline
A data pipeline is an automated sequence that moves data from a source through cleaning and transformation to a destination, usually on a schedule.
Read definition → DefinitionPivot Table
A pivot table summarises a larger table by grouping rows and aggregating values — counts, sums, averages — so patterns become visible.
Read definition →