Dashboards, reporting and data visualization
Dashboards, reporting and data visualization
This domain tests whether you can turn board data into trustworthy dashboards: source selection, widget choice, aggregation, filters and sharing.
Core rules
- A dashboard is a canvas of widgets fed by one or more boards. Common widgets include Chart, Battery, Calendar, Timeline or Gantt, Workload, Table, Numbers, List and Map. The Main Table view is for editing; dashboards are for reading and comparison.
- In a Chart widget, choose the source board, chart type (bar, stacked bar, pie, line, number), category axis (status, group, person, date) and measure (count, sum, average of a Numbers column or formula output). Split by adds a second dimension, such as status by owner.
- Filters exist at two levels: widget or board filters inside a widget, and dashboard filters that apply across widgets. Use a dashboard filter for a shared slice such as this quarter or business unit; use widget filters for local exceptions.
- Workload widgets need a People column and an effort or numbers column to show assigned load; capacity display depends on plan and configuration. Date-based widgets need clean date or timeline columns and consistent timezone.
- Sharing and board access are separate controls. Share a dashboard with the intended viewers and confirm they should see the source data; dashboard view access does not grant edit rights to source boards.
Worked example
A delivery dashboard uses a Projects board. Widget 1 is a stacked bar of active projects by Status, split by Owner. Widget 2 is a Workload widget using Owner and Effort. Widget 3 is a Battery of milestones. A dashboard filter sets Status is not Done and Quarter is current. Reasoning: the filter is global because every widget should report the same active slice; the stacked bar shows volume and ownership; workload is meaningful only with an effort measure, not a raw item count.
Traps
Counting items when the question asks for total effort; summing a mirror column that repeats values across multiple connected items; forgetting that filters hide data and change totals; assuming every widget includes subitems; using a date chart without checking granularity, such as day versus month.