Why this matters
A dashboard can be technically perfect and still fail. If the regional manager cannot find the number she needs, does not trust it, or opens it to find last month's data, she goes back to asking for an Excel file by email. Your work only creates value when the right people read it, understand it and act on it. That is why job adverts for MIS and reporting roles talk about supporting report users, presenting findings and maintaining dashboards, not only building them.
What this section covers
- Designing a clear report page: where to put the most important numbers, how many visuals to use, how to use colour, and how to make the page work on a phone and for people with colour blindness or who use screen readers.
- Sharing reports and keeping them fresh: how organisations publish and share Power BI reports, how scheduled refresh keeps data current, and why "publish to web" must never be used for private data.
Three questions for every report
Before you design anything, find out:
- Who will read it? A director wants three numbers and a trend. A field supervisor wants a list of communities to visit this week. They need different pages.
- What decision does it support? If you cannot name a decision, the page is probably decoration.
- Where and how often will they read it? On a phone in a vehicle on the Tamale to Bolgatanga road, or on a big screen in a monthly meeting? Daily, weekly or monthly?