The Dashboard Design Brief
What you’ll get every Tuesday A series of sharp visuals that decode common mistakes in analytics and dashboard design. Fast to read. Easy to apply. Hard to forget.
I think most companies don’t really have an Analytics Operating Model. Do you?
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Most data team efforts never translate into actual business decisions.
Not because they don’t inv...
Apr 07, 2026
The 48 recurring mistakes in the Data Design Process
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Late issue… but still more timely than most dashboards.
For 12 years, I’ve worked with data teams...
Mar 31, 2026
What could go wrong during 'Deliver'? - Part 4
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The final delivery is often treated as the finish line.In reality, it’s where most dashboards qui...
Mar 24, 2026
What could go wrong during Design? - Part 3
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By the time teams reach the design phase, patience is already gone.
Discovery took longer than ex...
Mar 17, 2026
What could go wrong during Definition? - Part 2
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I think a Data Design Process encourages teams to approach dashboards with methodology instead of...
Mar 10, 2026
What could go wrong during Discovery? - Part 1
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If you’ve been following me, you know how much I work on refining the methodology I call the Data...
Mar 03, 2026
How many KPIs are too many?
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It depends. (ahah!)
KPIs are everywhere.Across dashboards.Across reports.
We use them constantly....
Feb 24, 2026
The "slide" I’m presenting to a CDO next week
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Data teams don’t have a dashboard or report problem.They have a meaning and methodology problem.
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Feb 17, 2026
Beautiful. Useless. Shipped + The Analytics Talent Spotlight
Most analytics teams are skilled.Few are positioned to solve business problems.
The more dashboards we produce, the fewer decisions are made.
The visible symptom:
Strong technical delivery.
Clean models.
Fancy colors.
Solid SQL.
The real problem is posture
Analytics is approached as a technical...
Feb 10, 2026
Your requirements are lying
Stakeholders don’t bring requirements.They bring conclusions. And they call them "needs".
The symptom looks harmless:
A stakeholder asks for a
KPI
A dashboard
An extraction
A report
We don’t have time to challenge the request.We’re drowning in tickets.So we deliver exactly what they asked for.
...
Feb 03, 2026
Training Isn’t Enablement
Most companies don’t have a skills problem.They have a training illusion.
They train people. Then they expect capability.
The real problem
The symptom is easy to spot.
Business users start saying:
"That’s not what I asked for"
"It’s too late now"
"Not another workshop…"
That’s not feedbac...
Jan 27, 2026
The Hidden Cost of Audience Sprawl
In BI-Analytics, audience sprawl is still seen as a success.
More users.More teams.More personas.More workshops.
In reality, it’s often the opposite.
When dashboards are built "for everyone" they slowly stop being useful for anyone.
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The intention is usually good.One dashboard to align everyone....
Jan 20, 2026