Just wanted comment on some of the patterns of the dashboards from variety of sources.

Lack of personalization and customization of dashboards by the end users is a huge road block to gettig them to be really useful.

Althoug security is a big concern, we do have let end users customize their dashboard’s contents – not just type of graphs getting displayed or look/feel. This is espically true for business end users.

It seems to me that only a left-brained person could make this comment with bias. We must keep in mind that the whole professional occupation of Information Architecture was an invention of the right-brained author Richard Saul Wurman who emphazed the importance of organizing the patterns inherent in data, making the complex clear. Almost all his work was visual in nature. I resent you left-brained writers thinking that there is no place for visualization.

What am I talking about? The theory of the structure and functions of the mind suggests that the two different sides of the brain control two different “modes” of thinking. It also suggests that each of us prefers one mode over the other.

Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres, of the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking.

Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.

It is a blanket statement to say that ALL “…busy executives, quick comprehension outweighs a pretty picture every time.” Most intelligent people are equally left and right brain balanced and welcome a clear visual in contrast to a sea of words.

All you left-brained people need to remember that if you are going to call yourselves Information Architects, you need to credit the fact that this profession originally stemmed from Information Graphics. And that includes the incredibly effective medium of 3-D visualization. Your not going to steal that away from us too.

Don’t take the line you quoted about the “pretty picture” out of context. Using graphics, design and illustration to connect the left-brain data to the right-brain asthetic is important. Alex obviously knows this, as illustrated by his reference to Robert L. Harris’ book.

Alex’s comment pretty specifically refers to the 3-D options offerred with most charting software. I have lost count how many times I have brought to a data presenter’s attention how easily a well-intentioned and properly chosen chart can be rendered almost useless by mindlessly clicking the 3-D option. The chart has suddenly become a work of modern art, ala Paul Klee, with the click of a radio button. Clear, needed divisions between bar clusters or even the proper dimensional representation of a pie-slice become hard to distinguish or distorted. It is eye catching and visually ‘cool’ to be sure, but the accuracy or effectiveness of the delivery of the data is lost.

I think your heart is in the right place, ji. I have been ranting in corporate circles for years about the importance of sound design principles in Information Architecture. It is a fight worth fighting. But don’t be so quick to jump on one of your fellow crusaders. Alex was merely exposing a common blunder that I have personally witnessed a thousand times over: The inherent evils of the 3-D option.

I think you meant to address “William”….but the UI in this thread is little confusing.