Best Practices

Before you even start building reports, it is important to know who the target audience or end user is. Meeting with them to know about their specific requirements is crucial to build comprehensive reports that display complete and accurate information.

The right chart or graph can help you display your data most efficiently and effectively. Pie charts can be used for fewer data points, while bar graphs can be used to show comparison among categories. Line charts, on the other hand, are most useful for showing changes over a period of time. Choosing the wrong chart can create confusion and the data might even be interpreted incorrectly. The Reports module offers seven different chart types to choose from.

Using colors to highlight key areas is a powerful way to guide the end users to important data. However, the choice of colors is crucial and overuse of colors in your reports may be distracting. The Reports module offers color code mapping for pie charts, donut charts, bar charts, and stacked bar charts.

It is important to group related metrics together to help the end user quickly make connections between the data on a dashboard. The Reports module has a provision for moving widgets around on the dashboard so that you can keep related widgets/reports in one place.

Using the Chart Drilldown feature in the Reports module is a great way to ensure that your reports are interactive. Displaying high level data first and allowing the user to drill down for further details keeps the user engaged.

Last, but not least, keep your reports simple. Do not clutter it with too much information and avoid using too many colors. Prioritize readability by making them visually appealing and easy to understand.