🚀 Tips for dashboard developers

💜 This weeks news: R Tables Contest Winners, Hidden Tableau functions and 20 visualizations of one dataset

Tip of the week

Best practices for dashboards development

This week, I spent a couple of hours reverse engineering my own dashboard because I was too lazy to document it the first time (and it was a while ago). Documentation is not always the best way, and it’s much easier to use these best practices:

1. Use consistent and clear naming
   Add information about what's inside to the calculation's name. Ensure this naming is consistent across all calculations: “Sales (2)” → “Sales Last Year”
   If you use a parameter inside the calculation, add something like “Metric w param” to denote parameterized metric choices. Agree internally of the most popular names for calculations and parameters (MoM/YoY; Split by; etc)

2. Split complex calculations 
   If your calculation feels too long, consider splitting it into several smaller ones, especially if you are reusing parts of the calculation elsewhere.

   Use tabs inside to divide big parts of calculation.

3. Group fields into folders

4. Number folders and calculations
   If the calculation logic is long and complex, consider numbering them.

   

5. Add comments to your calculations
   Use // for short and /* */ for long comments.

6. Add chart type and used metric/dimension to the worksheet names

7. Use color for tabs navigation
   Color your sheets with the same color your dashboard tab is colored

   

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