Context
Wireframes and hero metrics are table stakes. The dashboards that stick pair narrative, diagnostics, and ritual. Etterby Analytics developed this approach while leading analytics for Subway franchisees and Vita Mojo operators.
Practice
- Interview the people opening the dashboard each morning so their questions shape the first tiles, comparisons, and alerting rules.
- Keep performance and trust high by investing in dbt models, caching, observability, and finance-aligned definitions across ThoughtSpot, Power BI, and Hex.
- Launch with release notes, walkthroughs, telemetry, and a request playbook so adoption feels like a product, not a deliverable.
Takeaways
- User interviews translate into interfaces that replace spreadsheets rather than add another report.
- Operational excellence on the data platform side is inseparable from dashboard success.
- Enablement and feedback loops turn dashboards into decision engines for distributed teams.