Simple is a decision, not a default
Dashboards get complicated because saying yes is easy. Every stakeholder wants their metric on the home screen. The discipline of a good dashboard is deciding what not to show as carefully as what to show.
Start from the job, not the data
The wrong question is "what data do we have?" The right question is "what decision is this person trying to make?" A dashboard is a tool for action, not a report. If a number does not change a decision, it does not earn a place on the primary view.
Design for roles
An admin, an analyst, and an executive want completely different things from the same product. Trying to serve all three on one screen serves none of them. Role-aware defaults — with the ability to customize — respect everyone's time.
Progressive disclosure
Show the answer first, the detail on demand. The top level answers "is everything okay?" One click down answers "what specifically?" Another answers "why?" Users who need depth can reach it. Users who do not are never overwhelmed by it.
