Phase Two: Inventing
In the Inventing Phase, new ideas and potential solutions are generated based on the research and pain points that were identified in the Discovering Phase.
Pain Point 1: Poor Data Visualization: Executives and Directors at Improving express the need for better data visualization tools for the contents of their Balanced Scorecard.
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“There are times where I get confused and don't remember what the different axes are on some of those charts because we are trying to put too much on some of those charts.” - Kevin Baker
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“Data Visualization is not very good for logos and anchors.” - Mark Kovacevich
“Net headcount is not presented in a clean easy read.” - Mark Kovacevich
Insights/Research: How Might We tie a story behind the numbers in a visually appealing manner?
Competitor Analysis: We looked into how other companies use and display their Balanced Scorecard.
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Sisense: A BSC-Focused Data Visualization Software. This platform is commonly used with Balanced Scorecards. It allows the importation of data from most external sources and the set of relationships between various sections/metrics. By creating relationships, you are able to create visuals depicting correlations or relationships between them. Link to Software
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Tableau: Tableau allows users to import data from almost any source, including Excel, and convert it into an understandable format. They provide fast and live data that can be accessed by many members of a company. Link to Software
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Plotly: Plotly works within python to allow users to organize their data into interactive visuals. Making data interactive allows users to attach a story behind the numbers. Link to Software Source
Solution 1.0: Using External Platforms like Sisense to better visualize the data within Excel.
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Based on the competitive research that we did on external platforms. We feel like Sisense had the easiest process for implementing the data from excel and also provided great visuals. Sisense also provides the option to assign relationships between multiple metrics which could help identify lagging indicators.
Improving’s Current Dashboard Layout for their BSC
Updated Dashboard with Sisense
BI Dashboard Examples. Sisense. https://www.sisense.com/dashboard-examples/
Results:
My team decided that the use of a new platform to better visualize their BSC dashboard would still present a learning curve and the same could be achieved through the data visualization options on Excel.
Quick Overview
Yellow Hat: The data visualization on Sisense is easy to interpret.
Black Hat: Some executives preferred their visuals to remain on Microsoft 365.
Green Hat: Could we import Sisense into excel to keep the visuals on the preferred platform?
Solution 2.0: Re-Designing the BSC Dashboard within Excel.
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After my team and I identified the challenges from our first solution, we decided to keep things simple and stay on excel when it came to improving the data visualization within their Dashboard. We were able to decide on our final dashboard layout through a process of 4 levels. At each level, a wireframe of the dashboard would be presented to the team and would go through an extensive evaluation to determine what features are kept or removed for our final design.
My Wireframe - Level One
This is the first wireframe I presented.
Top: provides a view into the entire dashboard.
Bottom: A closer look into one of the individual sections to showcase the insights box.
This is the second wireframe I presented to my team. It showcases a different layout to the insights box.
My Wireframe - Level Two
Based on the feedback from the wireframes that went through the first level, I drafted another version of my wireframes with improvements.
Combined Wireframes from Entire Team - Level Three
At Level Three, we combined all the wireframes from each team member and circled our favorite features for the new Dashboard.
Wireframe → Mockup Design - Level Four
In this last Level, we designed the final layout for the BSC Dashboard. We used features from all the wireframes provided by each team member.
Wireframe → Excel
After deciding on our final dashboard layout, we were able to implement our sketches into excel to arrive at our Final Dashboard
Who, What, Why:
Improving’s senior to mid-level management can access a better-visualized BSC dashboard to facilitate data interpretation within the Scorecard.
Results:
My team decided that the use of a new platform to better visualize their BSC dashboard would still present a learning curve and the same could be achieved through the data visualization options on Excel.
Quick Overview
Yellow Hat: The data visualization on Sisense is easy to interpret.
Black Hat: These new visuals were not passed through the project partners and they could dislike them.
Green Hat: We can improve this design by making the dashboard bigger to avoid having to zoom in.