Excel Reports as Information Dashboard Prototypes

I've built a lot of scorecards and dashboards over the years - for public and private sector organizations and even a Business Intelligence vendor. The projects can be long and costly; the requirements complex and highly contentious. It takes forever, and the results never really change the way the organization behaves.

The most successful implementations I have seen began with an Excel spreadsheet. Not that a dashboard project should end with Excel - that is not my point at all. Excel has many failings that make it totally inappropriate as a long-term dashboard solution. But starting with Excel is a really good idea.

Excel gives you the flexibility to change your mind - fast. And that is crucial in the early days of a dashboard initiative. If things are going well, you should expect new requirements and changes every single day. Your users should be reacting with their likes and dislikes every time you release a new version. This iterative process should never end, but it will slow down.

As your users come to some sense of clarity about what their business is about and how to measure it, it is time to begin a full-scale dashboard or scorecard implementation using either a commercial off the shelf product, or your own development team.

Prototype with Excel. Iterate fast. Then deliver a solid solution. But don't ever expect the change to stop. If it does, your dashboard project has failed.

Learn how to make your dashboard project a success: DashboardSuccess.com