What Is a Dashboard?

作者：Coursera Staff • 更新于 Oct 11, 2024

Explore the essentials of data analytics dashboards, including what they are, how they work, and their importance in visualising data for informed decision-making.

[Featured Image] A data analyst looks at a dashboard on her laptop to keep track of live data.

A dashboard is a tool for monitoring and displaying live data. It is typically connected to a database and features visualisations that automatically update to reflect the most current data in the database.

Dashboards are highly customisable and used across many business functions. They’re typically designed to translate data into easily understood visuals, such as charts and graphs, enabling stakeholders to stay informed about current metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) at a glance without necessitating individual analysis or complete analytics reports.

People who work in data visualisation commonly create dashboards using programs such as Tableau and Power BI. These dashboards may monitor website traffic, marketing performance, financial metrics, or public health data.

Related terms

Data analyst
Data visualisation
Power BI

Get started in data analytics.

A dashboard is a digital tool that displays live data through visualisations like charts and graphs. Designed to be easily understood, dashboards allow you to monitor key metrics and make data-driven decisions at a glance. They are used in many fields to track website traffic, marketing performance, and more.

Learn more about how to process and analyse data, use key analysis tools like R programming, and create compelling visualisations with the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate on Coursera. Develop skills for an in-demand career in data analytics while you learn at the pace that works for you.