Defining a dashboard

Before we create our dashboard, it will be useful to clarify what a dashboard is. A quick search on Google Images will reveal that there isn't any consistent definition of what a dashboard is. Most of the results are a collection of charts, tables, gauges, and indicators that seem intended to monitor business performance, website analytics, and presence of a brand in social media, among many other things. Stephen Few, a specialist in business intelligence and information design, provides a great definition of dashboards:

A dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives, which is consolidated and arranged on a single screen so the information can be monitored at a glance.

This definition has several implications. First, dashboards are visual displays of information. A dashboard can contain text elements, but it's mainly a visual display. Well-designed graphics and charts are a highly effective medium to communicate...