5 most common Qlik Sense design mistakes

In a series of blog posts, we’ll cover some of the most common mistakes in Qlik Sense dashboard design and how to avoid them, helping you create more efficient and easier-to-read visualizations. The main mistakes are: 1) Not contextualizing data; 2) Offering “hidden” interactive features; 3) Using different chart types for the same type of information; 4) Making use colours without a defined criteria or inconsistently; 5) Not giving due attention to titles and labels

Looking at good design examples is always helpful, but analyzing mistakes or not-so-good examples can also teach us many valuable lessons. Some of these design issues in the context of data analysis are quite common and sometimes simpler to solve than you might think.

Below you will find a brief summary of the main mistakes made when creating a Qlik Sense dashboard:

Not contextualizing data

KPIs or metrics only become really useful to the user if there is comparison context to assess whether performance is good, bad, or whether the metric is growing or not.

Offering “hidden” interactive features

Dashboard interactions and exploration possibilities should always be visible to the user.

Using different chart types for the same type of information

Using different chart types to convey the same type of information is something we should never do, as it will make users spend more time trying to comprehend this information.

Making use of colours without a defined criteria or inconsistently

Colour is a very important tool when it comes to dashboard analysis, but it must be used conscientiously and consistently for it to really help.

Not giving due attention to titles and labels

This error is very common and possibly the simplest to solve. Write clearly and directly, so users have no doubt about what they are reading.

Follow along as we detail each topic in separate blog posts, where we will dive into each point with practical examples.