Dashboard Design & Data Visualization Requirement

Sample Dashboard Requirements Questionnaire

Sample Dashboard Requirements Questionnaire

Created by InfoCepts

InfoCepts Process Document

InfoCepts

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Sample Dashboard Requirements Questionnaire

This is a sample questionnaire used for collecting requirements for dashboard projects. This questionnaire will be used by the Business Analyst to collect dashboard requirements from end users. This is not an exhaustive set of questions. Business Analyst can add more questions to accommodate the requirement of a particular project. It is highly recommended that anyone who will be using this questionnaire is trained on the InfoCepts Dashboard Design Guide and has a thorough understanding of MicroStrategy’s dashboard capabilities. They should also be well versed with data visualization principles in order to be able to ask the right follow up questions and interpret the answer appropriately.

HIGH LEVEL BUSINESS OBJECTIVES The purpose of this section is to understand the business domain of the organization and the subject area for the analysis. The idea is to initiate the requirements gathering session and let the end users discuss about their objectives. 

What are the objectives of this project? What are you trying to accomplish? What are your top priority business metrics? Tip: This is a high level question to identify broad organization level metrics which can lead to the identification of useful measures needed for analysis.

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How do you currently do the analysis that is expected from the dashboard? How is the dashboard expected to alter this in future? Tip: This is to identify the current pain points because of which the dashboard requirement has come up. By asking further probing questions you can figure out what will be success criteria for the project.

DASHBOARD READINESS ASSESSMENT The purpose of this section is to assess the readiness of the organization in the use of Dashboards and related technology. It also identifies delivery options (MHT file versus direct MicroStrategy web), frequency, technical environment etc. 

Have the users seen or used dashboards before? Tip: This is to judge the readiness of acceptance of dashboard technology. end users are new to dashboards then some effort needs to be spent upfront in educating the end users. It will be best to create a quick prototype and have a demo session with the end users. Introduction to InfoCepts’ dashboard library will also be beneficial.

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Is there a need for looking at the dashboards offline? Tip: This is to decide the mode of delivery of the dashboard.

InfoCepts Process Document

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Sample Dashboard Requirements Questionnaire

ANALYSIS AND CONTENT REQUIREMENTS The purpose of this section is to have a detailed understanding of the type of analysis required. The focus is to identify the major dimensions and measures to be included, deciding the panel structure, chart types, widgets to be used and other technical requirements. 

Which Reports/ KPI’s are considered the most important? Why? Tip: This is to prioritize the reports for deciding their placement on the dashboard.

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What are the major dimensions to be used for analysis? Tip: For each of the reports identified above, identify the output level. This also helps to identify suitable widgets or chart types.

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Is there a need for doing “what-if” analysis? If yes, using what measures and dimensions? Tip: This is to identify if there is any need for carrying out “sensitivity analysis” or otherwise known as “what-if” analysis. Typically this is achieved through rigorous use of prompts. Since usage of prompts in a dashboard is restrictive, there is a custom widget which can be used for such analysis.

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Can you think of a scenario where you may be interested in comparing various attribute values in two KPI dimension at the same time? Tip: This will be a good candidate for a Heat Map widget.

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Is there a need to export the dashboard to either HTML or PDF? Tip: The page setup requirements for HTML and PDF mode are different than Flash and hence minor changes will be needed to make them look good in other modes.

LOOK AND FEEL REQUIREMENTS 

Do you have any logo or tagline that you want to include on the dashboard?

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Do you have any preferred color palette of choice? Like Web 3.0 colors? Or company specific colors? Tip: This is to obtain information about color preferences or themes prevalent in the organization. This will be used in designing the dashboard color palette.

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What is the most commonly used screen resolution used in the organization? Tip: This is to identify the optimal resolution for which the dashboard should be developed for. The recommendation is that there should not be any vertical or horizontal scrolling while viewing the dashboard.

InfoCepts Process Document

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