Cambridge
Academy
In London

Introduction

Great dashboards help leaders understand performance quickly and make better decisions. This practical program builds core skills in choosing the right visuals, designing clean layouts, applying best-practice dashboard standards, and delivering dashboards that are accurate, consistent, and easy to use across stakeholders.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

·        Select the right chart for the message and audience

·        Apply dashboard design principles for clarity and focus

·        Build consistent KPI visuals with targets and trends

·        Improve usability with simple navigation and filtering

·        Quality-check dashboards for accuracy and governance

Target Audience

This course is designed for:

·        Senior reporting specialists and analysts

·        Corporate planning and performance reporting teams

·        BI and dashboard developers (Power BI/Tableau/Excel)

·        KPI owners preparing executive dashboards

·        Anyone responsible for dashboards and management reports

Course Outlines

Day 1: Visualization Foundations and Common Mistakes

·        Why dashboards fail: clutter, unclear purpose, wrong visuals

·        Audience and decision questions (what users need)

·        Chart selection basics: line, bar, waterfall, scatter (when to use)

·        Data integrity basics: definitions, time periods, comparability

·        Activity: Critique a sample dashboard and list improvements

Day 2: Dashboard Layout and Information Hierarchy

·        Page structure: overview first, details next

·        Visual hierarchy: what to put top-left and why

·        Using whitespace, alignment, and consistent formatting

·        KPI tiles: target, actual, trend, and status (simple format)

·        Workshop: Sketch a dashboard wireframe (paper prototype)

Day 3: KPI Visualization Best Practices

·        Showing targets and thresholds (RAG rules)

·        Trend and variance views (what to include)

·        Comparing categories: ranking, top/bottom, Pareto basics

·        Avoiding misleading visuals (scales, baselines, too many colors)

·        Activity: Redesign KPI visuals for clarity and comparability 

Day 4: Interactivity, Filtering, and User Experience

·        Filters and slicers: keep them simple and meaningful

·        Drill-down vs drill-through (simple usage)

·        Tooltips and definitions for KPI understanding

·        Accessibility basics: labels, legends, readability

·        Case study: Improve a dashboard’s navigation and usability 

Day 5: QA, Governance, and Delivery

·        Dashboard QA checklist: data, logic, refresh, formatting

·        Version control and change approval process

·        Performance considerations: reducing complexity (high level)

·        Publishing and feedback loops with stakeholders