1. Getting an emotional response
One of the most important things which dashboard designers overlook is to invoke emotional response from the audience.
Let's see how this can be done.
2. Have you hit the right audience?
Remember this chart from a previous video? What kind of emotional response does it evoke from you? Probably not a strong one! Let's fix that with some context.
Suppose this chart shows the bore depth on machinery drilled by a press.
We drill to a tolerance. Drill too far, and we damage the product, costing a lot of money in the process.
You are responsible for managing this piece of machinery, watching for and limiting the cost of failure. With this context in mind, we can see the importance of this chart!
3. Emotion engagement
Let's look at two specific emotions: happiness and anger.
Users are happy because everything looks fine. The sales pipeline is full of great prospects, the machinery is in top order, or we have the best players in the league.
Users are angry because something has gone wrong, which is obvious from the dashboard.
Happy users don't always need to act, which makes them even happier.
Angry users are angry in part because they now need to do something.
4. Emotion engagement
The worst-case scenario is if a person has zero emotional response from a dashboard; that's a sign that the dashboard is not relevant to the user. Since emotions build a sense of engagement, you want to avoid this.
5. Our audience
You will now be carrying out some data visualization work for the Product Manager of Threads Ltd. The product manager generally identifies what customers want and how the company can develop its products to meet these demands. One of their main responsibilities is the success of the products, so having clear information about current product performance is vital. The product manager at Threads Ltd has a large team, so any insights or visuals we will be creating for him will be shared with a wider audience. Therefore, we will have to make sure that they are suitable for a general audience.
6. Let's practice!
Let's evoke an emotional response with a drag and drop exercise.