I’ve built dashboards that executives ignore, and dashboards that become the single slide CEOs refer to in boardrooms. There’s a clear difference between the two: one tries to surface every possible metric, the other is designed to answer the questions the C-suite actually asks — and to do it in under 60 seconds. Here’s the pragmatic approach I use to get there.
Start with the questions, not the data
If you design a dashboard around available data, you’ll end up with a data catalogue. If you design it around questions, you’ll end up with decisions. When I work with leadership teams I ask — and make them prioritise — three to five core questions they need answered weekly or daily. Examples:
These questions become the backbone of the dashboard. Every element you add must map to one of them. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t belong on the executive view.
Design for fast perception
Executives rarely read dashboards — they scan them. Your goal is to enable instant interpretation. I use three visual design rules:
For me, the single-number card with a delta and a small sparkline is the most effective component for executive dashboards. It communicates current value, trend and context in one glance.
Keep hierarchy shallow
Executives want a fast decision, not a deep investigative tool. I build dashboards with two layers:
That separation keeps leadership focused and gives analysts the space to investigate without cluttering the headline view.
Which KPIs actually belong on the exec view?
Not every metric is a Key Performance Indicator. Here are the categories I always consider for the executive layer:
A simple table mapping questions to KPIs is useful when aligning stakeholders. Example:
| Executive Question | KPI | Visual |
|---|---|---|
| Is revenue on track? | Quarter-to-date revenue vs. target | Single-number card + sparkline + % to target |
| Are customers churning? | Net churn rate (gross churn - expansion) | Line chart (90-day rolling) + threshold colour |
| Is acquisition cost sustainable? | Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) vs LTV ratio | Single-number + bar for cohort CAC |
Tell a single story per row
Each horizontal row of the dashboard should answer one question. I place a headline (short sentence) to the left of each row summarising the answer — e.g., “Revenue: Slightly behind forecast, but enterprise deals offsetting mid-market weakness.” That sentence primes the viewer and reduces cognitive load.
Use signals, not raw numbers
Executives want to know status and urgency. Replace raw counts with contextualised signals:
For instance, instead of showing “Website visitors: 123,456”, show “Traffic: 123k (-12% MoM) — Watch”. That format answers “so what?” immediately.
Make the dashboard speak the exec’s language
Not every executive thinks in the same terms. I tailor wording and metrics to the audience — CFOs want cash and margins; CMOs want funnel metrics and LTV; COOs want operational throughput. Use their vocabulary and benchmark against what they care about.
Data quality and governance — non-negotiable
A beautiful dashboard with unreliable data is worse than none at all. I insist on three governance practices before shipping an executive view:
When leaders see a freshness timestamp and a confidence flag, they trust the dashboard more — and they know when to follow up with analysts.
Interaction patterns that work
Executives want to consume quickly, but sometimes they demand a little context. I build minimal interactions:
Avoid large menus, endless filters or date pickers that invite tinkering. Keep it focused.
How I validate a 60-second dashboard
I run a simple usability test: invite three executives, give them 60 seconds, and ask them to answer the pre-defined questions. Record whether they can:
If they can’t do that reliably, iterate. I usually need two or three rounds to strip out noise and tighten language. In one engagement, removing three non-critical charts increased clarity so much the CEO started every meeting by reading the dashboard aloud.
Tooling and practical tips
You don’t need a custom product to deliver this. I’ve built effective executive dashboards in Looker, Power BI, Tableau and Google Data Studio. The choice depends on your stack, but the design principles remain the same. A few tips from the trenches:
If you run a distributed team, integrate an automated anomaly detection that flags the dashboard owners via Slack when thresholds breach. That prevents surprise conversations in leadership meetings.
Common pitfall: trying to predict every follow-up
Teams often overdesign dashboards to answer every hypothetical question. Don’t. Your job is to reduce ambiguity for the execs, not to preempt every analysis. Provide clear links to the analyst team and the investigative layer — that’s where nuance belongs.
Designing an executive dashboard that delivers answers in under 60 seconds is about ruthless prioritisation, clear visual hierarchy and trustworthy data. I apply these principles in every project I take on, and they consistently turn dashboards into decision tools rather than decoration.
