How to Create a Stunning Excel Dashboard in 8 Easy Steps

Step 7: Test and Evaluate Your Dashboard

The seventh step in creating a stunning Excel dashboard is to test and evaluate your dashboard. Test and evaluation is the process of checking if your dashboard is functioning properly, accurately, and according to your goals and audience. By testing and evaluating your dashboard, you can find and fix any errors, flaws, or problems that may exist in your dashboard.

Here are some ways to test and evaluate your dashboard:

• Use test data to check that your visualizations, measurements, and data models are working correctly and producing the expected values. You can use the Data Validation, Formula Auditing, or Error Checking features to help you test your data.
• Use test scenarios to check if your dashboard is interactive and responsive to user input or action. You can use the Test Mode, Debug Mode, or Step Through features to help you test your interactivity.
• Use evaluation criteria to check if your dashboard is effective and meets your goals and audience. You can use Feedback, Survey, or Rating features to help you evaluate your dashboard.

Example: In the case of a sales dashboard, the ways to test and evaluate the dashboard are:

• Use test data to check whether the line graph displays monthly sales trends correctly, the bar graph displays sales per product, category, and region correctly, and the pie graph displays the target achievement percentage and annual sales growth correctly.
• Using test scenarios to check whether the slicer can filter data by selected product, category, or region, form controls can control desired sales targets, hyperlinks can move to worksheets containing sales data, and macros can refresh dashboards with the latest data.
• Use evaluation criteria to check whether the dashboard provides an overview of the company’s sales performance, answers key questions related to sales, tracks important sales metrics, and matches the needs and preferences of sales managers and company executives.

Step 8: Share and Update Your Dashboard

The eighth and final step in creating a stunning Excel dashboard is to share and update your dashboard. Sharing and updating is the process of distributing and maintaining your dashboard to keep it relevant, accurate, and useful. By sharing and updating your dashboard, you can reach a wider audience, improve collaboration, and increase the value of your dashboard.

Here are some ways to share and update your dashboard:

• Use the appropriate file format to store and send your dashboard, such as XLSX, PDF, or HTML. You can use the Save As, Export, or Publish feature to help you share your files.
• Use the appropriate platform to share and display your dashboard, such as email, website, or app. You can use Share, Embed, or Link features to help you share your platform.
• Use the appropriate schedule to update and refresh your dashboard, such as daily, weekly, or monthly. You can use Refresh, Schedule, or Automate features to help you update your dashboard.

Example: In the case of a sales dashboard, the ways to share and update the dashboard are:

• Use the XLSX file format to save and send dashboards to sales managers and company executives by using the Save As and Email features.
• Use the website platform to share and display dashboards to the public using Publish and Embed features.
• Use a monthly schedule to update and refresh dashboards with the latest sales data by using Refresh and Schedule features.

Conclusion

Excel dashboards are a very useful tool for displaying important data visually and concisely. With Excel dashboards, you can track performance, identify trends, measure targets, and make better decisions. Excel dashboards can also be customized to your needs and preferences, so you can create dashboards that fit your goals and audience.