Copyright©2016Splunk Inc.

HaiderAl-SeaidyGlobalSalesEngineer,Splunk

DashboardDesignandDataVisualizationBestPractices

Disclaimer

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Duringthecourseofthispresentation,wemaymakeforwardlookingstatementsregardingfutureeventsortheexpectedperformanceofthecompany.Wecautionyouthatsuchstatementsreflectourcurrentexpectationsandestimatesbasedonfactorscurrentlyknowntousandthatactualeventsorresultscoulddiffermaterially.Forimportantfactorsthatmaycauseactualresultstodifferfromthose

containedinourforward-lookingstatements,pleasereviewourfilingswiththeSEC.Theforward-lookingstatementsmadeinthethispresentationarebeingmadeasofthetimeanddateofitslivepresentation.Ifreviewedafteritslivepresentation,thispresentationmaynotcontaincurrentoraccurateinformation.Wedonotassumeanyobligationtoupdateanyforwardlookingstatementswemaymake.Inaddition,anyinformationaboutourroadmapoutlinesourgeneralproductdirectionandissubjecttochangeatanytimewithoutnotice.Itisforinformationalpurposesonlyandshallnot,beincorporatedintoanycontractorothercommitment.Splunkundertakesnoobligationeithertodevelopthefeaturesor

functionalitydescribedortoincludeanysuchfeatureorfunctionalityinafuturerelease.

Agenda

What’smypoint?,Whydoesitmatter?,HowtoachieveitBaddashboardsandvisualizationsexamples6dashboardanddatavisualizationsdesignmistakestoavoid

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What'smypoint?– We’reinanagewhereeverybusinesseventiscaptured,storedandcanbereportedon.– We’reinanageofeasytousedashboardinganddatavisualisationtoolswhereanyonecanbuildandshare

content– Butnotanyonecandothiswell…...– Youshouldpayextraattentiononhowtopresentandvisualiseyourdatatoyouruserstoensureitservesits

intendedpurpose

Whydoespresentingdataintuitivelymatter?– Thevalueofthedataisseverelydiminishedifpresentednon-intuitively.– Confusingpresentationmayresultinusersmisinterpretingthedataandmakingbaddecisions,adversely

affectingyourbusiness– Confusingpresentationmayinhibitadoptionofdatadrivendecisionmaking– Yourcompanywillnotbenefitfromtheinvestmentmadeinthetoolnorfromthevaluehiddeninthedata

How…...

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What,Why,How

Whydoespresentingdataintuitivelymatter?

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Visualizationdonewrong!

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● 4setsofX&Ypairs● EachsetofX&Ycolumnshave

thesame:● Count● Sum● Mean● Variance

Anscombe’sQuartet

Anscombe’sQuartet

How?

6CommonDashboardingandVisualizationMistakestoAvoid

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“Simplicityistheultimatesophistication”

- LeonardodaVinci

Mistake#1– AvoidNotUsingComparisons

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ComparisonValuesandSparkLinesGiveContextandMeaningUse:• Rates• Averages• Percentages• Ratios

andcomparisonvalues:

• ActualThisWeekvs.ActualLastWeek• ActualvsBudget• ActualvsForecast• ActualvsPredicted• Avg.vsAvg.ofthepast30days• %Margin

Mistake#2– AvoidMakingsUsersdotheMath

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Lookstypicalright?Whichmonthswerebelowtarget?Whichmonthswereabovetarget?Andbyhowmuch?

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ShowsActualsShowsGoodandBadmonthsQuantifiesgoodandbadUsesandOverlayanddualYAxis.

Gotheextramiletomakeitgreat

Mistake#2– AvoidMakingsUsersdotheMath

Mistake#3AvoidColorControversyWhyshouldwebothchangefromourhomekits?

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HomeJerseys

Wales Portugal

Mistake#3AvoidColorControversy1in12Malesand1in200FemalesareRedGreenColourBlind

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WalesvsPortugalCroatiavsPortugalNormalVision Color Blindness NormalVision Color Blindness

Mistake#3AvoidColorControversyUsecoloursANDsymbolstodealwithcolourblindness

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EnhancementRequest?

Mistake#3AvoidColorControversyDefineyourpaletteandoverridethedefaults

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ReportName:MySearch

sourcetype=access_combined|eval redCount=if(status>400ANDstatus<600,count,0)|eval greenCount=if(status<400ORstatus>=600,count,0)|sortcountdesc|fields- count

SimpleXML

<chart><searchName>MySearch</searchName><title>HTTPStatusCount</title><optionname="charting.chart.stackMode">stacked</option><optionname="charting.fieldColors">{"redCount":0xFF0000,"greenCount":0x73A550}</option>

</chart>

Mistake#4AvoidSloppyLabelling

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Makeitidiotproof,Imean“selfexplanatory”!• WhatistheunitofmeasureontheYaxis?• Areyouusingalogscale?(Ifso,mentionit)• ArethenumbersshowninK’s,M’sorB’s?• IfCurrency,whichcurrency?• NetRevenueorGrossRevenue?• Howlongistherollingwindowbeingshown?• Howlongdoeseachbarrepresent?

RealTimeGrossRevenue($)last1hourin4minutebuckets

RealTimeRevenue

Mistake#5AvoidBadPerformance

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TooManyObjectsCanCausePerformanceIssues

Considerthefollowingtoboostreduceloadtimes:• Limitthenumberofobjectsonasingle screen• Limitreal-timesearches• Limitthetimewindowforsearches• Specifyfilterstoreducethedata• Lookforlong-runningsearchesandschedulethem• Lookforsearcheseligibleforreportacceleration• Usesummaryindexestoreducethesearchloadofthedashboard• Lookforcommonalitybetweensearches.Whenfound,combineseveralsearchesintoone

andusepost-processing todriveseveralpanelsoffonesearch.http://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/6.0.2/AdvancedDev/PostProcess

WaitTime

Mistake#6AvoidBadLayout

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• Researchshowsthatpeoplereaddashboardslikeabook- toplefttobottomright.

• Keymetricsshouldbeatthetopleft

PrimeRealEstate

DashboardFlow

Mistake#6AvoidBadLayout

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• Landscapemodeonamobilewillrequirescrollingtoseecontent

• Areyourkeymetricsatthetop?• Sizestothewidthoftheapp

Orientation

AndFinally

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“Youcannotsayanythingabouthowdashboardsoughttobedesignedwithoutfirstspecifyingthe

purposeofthedisplay”- StephenFew

THANKYOU