The big thing you’ve asked for is a range of alternatives.

Consider these:
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/2008/04/12/bad-graphics-stacked-pyramid-chart/
http://www.perceptualedge.com/examples.php

And some useful guidance on colour is given here:
http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/visual_business_intelligence/rules_for_using_color.pdf
http://www.enterprise-dashboard.com/2008/03/13/when-a-dashboard-goes-red/

Mr Tom – We do appreciate everyone’s comments, in fact; the Pyramid was taken off the Demo the second day the post came out based on everyone’s comments.

We have used the pyramid in a couple of implementation and customers seem to like it a lot (One to show Audience Distribution and product qty distribution in another occasion). I agree that is misleading (as mentioned on my first comment in this post) but telling the customer that he needs to read the chart from top to bottom seems to be enough for them.

In Regards to my quote, the point I was trying to illustrate was simple; we need to move on and start talking about alternative and solutions instead of criticizing for the sake of criticize. I admitted at the beginning of the post that I was not a big fan of the Pyramid but a couple of people just kept talking about it. Then I explained thoroughly why gauges make sense for some implementation and the reaction was similar so the conversation was not being constructive.

This posts are very interesting and I am sure we can all learn from each other; but we seem to be the only ones willing to expose their work so everyone can talk about it. If one feel so passionate about their implementation, let’s look at some example, talk about the pros and cons and their experience/results with customers.

Thanks
Andres

That’s a phrase I struggle with as the comments related to the content presented - surely very relevant.

Also, whilst I appreciate this is a one off demo, if the likes of pyramid charts are not part and parcel of the ongoing offering then why are they in the demo.

My challenge is this:
Name one occasion in which this sort of chart is actually useful.

A couple of comments.

1) Let’s not get into a “my dashboard is bigger than your dashboard” contest. Different dashboards appeal to different audiences - end of story. What one group pays for is simply their taste and interest, not necessarily a blanket endorsement from the whole BI community.

2) Remember that we are in a dashboard buying rush. Dashboards are hot right now. Lots of dashboards are being built - some by very talented people and others by not so talented people. Getting contracts from companies (Fortune 100 and otherwise) is not a guarantee of being “right” in terms of one’s opinion of business intelligence dashboarding best practices. Besides, bragging about contract awards is, well, gauche.

3) You’ve got some great looking dashboards and an open mind about what’s appropriate or not in terms of information visualization. That’s great. Let’s not be combative.

4) I’m enjoying these discussions. Thanks all.

In regards to all the critics around the demo, let’s keep things in perspective and remember that it’s a demo. Somebody called it a “One time impact” well it is a marketing tool and that is what it supposes to do. I think the original point of the post was to talk about the platform and how to translate business requirements into insight instead of a gauge’s degree.

For the persons that are quoting books and presenting themselves as expert on the subject, just a word of advice from someone who has implemented many dashboards, I will be very careful around best practices in the BI business as every customer is completely different.

Since we are in the move of posting quotes, here is one of my favorite “Your Opinion, although interesting, is irrelevant” – We have done a lot of work with usability groups and test our solutions many times so our direction is not based on opinions but on facts.

I wish I could share some of the latest projects that we have done with a Fortune 100 Company (Can’t due to privacy), this solution includes interesting graphical component (Lines, Bars, Pie, Maps etc) merged with OLAP Browsers and drill down capability that provides great insight to both Power and Standard users.
We were called to replace an Access/Excel/VBA solution that has been in place for 8 months, the number of users accessing the tool (at least 1 time per week) was 23. We installed our solution 3 months ago, the number of users accessing the tool (at least 1 time per week) and therefore getting insight = 127; over 5x lift and the number just keep growing. We just recently got the contract to expand the solution to a couple of European subs so we must be doing something right.

So let’s talk based on facts instead of assumptions, please let us know your proposed solutions or else “Your Opinion, although interesting, is irrelevant”

Thanks
Andres

This statement ignores the fact that a pile of research has been done to determine how and what is required to effectively communicate data visually. It is part science and part art. It is in the user’s interest to understand the basic principles involved and apply these principles in his/her work. I disagree that the user rules, unless the user is the sole consumer of the message. The same applies to any form of communication. You have to know your audience and fashion your message accordingly. Have you never listened to a speech or read a report from a poor communicator? In both the foregoing cases, to be truly effective, the communicator must learn to deliver a speech or write an effective report.

<<These “pretty” dashboards are what will win users over and tip the balance for business intelligence.<<

The problem is that you see the world only from the creator’s perspective and not the consumer’s perspective. Alan Cooper wrote a book called “The Inmates are Running the Asylum.” The book details the poor decisions designers routinely make in UI design that results in applications that are difficult to use. These designers are similar to the unrestrained chart creators that you champion. Designers make decisions that make sense to them but not necessarily to the consumers of their applications. Microsoft spends millions of dollars in a lab designed to test how well users can navigate and perform actions in their apps and then they modify the apps IUs accordingly (it’s true that Microsoft sometimes get things wrong but the point is that they appreciate the need for such tests). The notion that willy-nilly laying effect upon effect on a chart makes that chart somehow “better” is simply wrong.

<<Guys - these dashboards don’t have to be “right” - they just have to be used.<<

Yes, they’ll get used by the dashboard creators but not the dashboard consumers. And then we’ll see a backlash against all these silly apps, which are driven purely by marketing and not good science.

Although the users don’t pay the bill, the IT or Finance Director does, and will often make the final decision.

My point is this:
The dashboards are pretty
The dashboards are very misleading

If they can address the latter point, then they can actually add value.
If they can address the latter point whilst retaining (or keeping in balance) the former, then they have the potential to do very well indeed.

It is easy to say that UberBI can do well regardless of how poor their product is simply because it is pretty, but that ignores an already saturated market.

The truth is that there are a lot of products out there which have a great reputation for facilitating good decision making and which have also got some pretty hot graphic designers, i.e. they are already learning how to both pass on good information and to make it visually appealling.

Uber BI must up their game.