Information Visualization: Getting Dashboards Right

100% booked
Intermediate
Closed for enrollment

How This Course Will Help Your Career

What You’ll Learn

  • An introduction to dashboard design
  • Key considerations when you design for dashboards, such as using the pre-attentive attributes of color, form, orientation, and spatial location
  • How principles of visual perception—encompassing how, what, and why we see what we do—can be applied to your dashboard designs
  • Key concepts related to dashboard design, such as the “data-ink ratio,” summaries and exceptions, the benefits of customization, and how to promote insight
  • Some of the psychological aspects of dashboard use, including attention, short-term memory, and problem solving
  • Examples of good and bad design to help you avoid common mistakes
  • The importance of viewing experience over aesthetics

Dashboards are everywhere—in enterprise software, Google Analytics and Facebook Ads Manager, and even popular blogs such as WordPress and Medium. Dashboards are going to become increasingly important—Accenture found that 79% of executives think that companies will lose their competitive position if they do not embrace big data. But how do you pack increasingly huge amounts of data into increasingly streamlined, tiny dashboards?

“Information Visualization: Getting Dashboards Right” will lead you through some of the key considerations when designing dashboard displays. Some design choices may seem arbitrary, such as the color of the background display or the size of the company logo, but almost every decision can potentially make, or ruin, the viewing experience. Through this course, we help you identify many of the design pitfalls your competitors have already fallen into. We will equip you with a deeper understanding of your users, so you know how to reduce their burden of responsibility as well as promote insight—the main reason for using dashboards as the chosen display method.

By the end of the course, you will have a clear understanding of how to design the right dashboards for your intended users, saving yourself the effort of endless edits. You will also be able to avoid the common faults blighting your competitors' designs by being equipped with the necessary information to design products that provide your users with the best possible viewing experience and, in turn, generate an increase in sales.

Gain an Industry-Recognized UX Course Certificate

Use your industry-recognized Course Certificate on your resume, CV, LinkedIn profile or your website.

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Our courses and Course Certificates are trusted by these industry leaders:

Our clients: IBM, HP, Adobe, GE, Accenture, Allianz, Phillips, Deezer, Capgemin, Mcafee, SAP, Telenor, Cigna, British Parliament, State of New York

Is This Course Right for You?

This is an intermediate-level course suitable for students and professionals alike:

  • UX designers interested in learning the key considerations, design pitfalls, and how to promote insight when designing dashboards
  • Project managers looking to create dashboard displays that are relevant and effective to users
  • Software engineers interested in the best practices for designing dashboards
  • Entrepreneurs who want to create dashboard displays that are relevant and that will increase sales
  • Students and newcomers to design who are considering making a switch to UX, UI, or web design

Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.

Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers

You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.

Lessons in This Course

  • Each week, one lesson becomes available.
  • There's no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
  • Estimated learning time: 18 hours 15 mins spread over 8 weeks .

Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 47 mins.

Lesson 1: Information Visualization: An Introduction to Dashboard Design

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 35 mins.

Lesson 2: Dashboard Design: Key Considerations

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 43 mins.

Lesson 3: Dashboard Design: Visual Perception and the Gestalt Principles

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 7 mins.

Lesson 4: Dashboard Design Considerations: Practical Application

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 26 mins.

Lesson 5: Common Display Methods

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 51 mins.

Lesson 6: Further Dashboard Display Methods

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 38 mins.

Lesson 7: Dashboard Design: Think of the Users!

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 57 mins.

Lesson 8: Dashboard Design: Applying and Summarising

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 11 mins.

Lesson 9: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up

To be scheduled.

How Others Have Benefited

Prashant Katrabad

Prashant Katrabad, India

“The course has taken my understanding of dashboard to the next level. I hope to design better dashboards in future.”


Eric Azares

Eric Azares, United States

“This gave me a lot of principles I can immediately apply to dashboard design. Now that I know the principles, I have a more critical eye for dashboards I see on a daily basis. I can view all my dashboards not just as a consumer but as a designer. Time to go organize information!”


Sharon Kruskopf Sens

Sharon Kruskopf Sens, United States

“This course has certainly underscored the challenge of designing an effective dashboard. I find that I analyze every dashboard I now see!”

How It Works

  1. Take online courses by industry experts

    Lessons are self-paced so you'll never be late for class or miss a deadline.

  2. Get a Course Certificate

    Your answers are graded by experts, not machines. Get an industry-recognized Course Certificate to prove your skills.

  3. Advance your career

    Use your new skills in your existing job or to get a new job in UX design. Get help from our community.

Start Advancing Your Career Now

Join us to take “Information Visualization: Getting Dashboards Right”. Take other courses at no additional cost. Make a concrete step forward in your career path today.

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